Dinner at Angelo's (One-shot, Rating G)
Post-The Sign of Three spoilers.
Mollydoescount aka Bencumber prompted me to do something based on this post. I tried love, I tried (aka I am theprivatelifeofsherlockholmes if there is any confusion).
“Oh John – lovely to see you – where’s Sherlock?” said Angelo who was still donning a ponytail eyeing his wife Mary, as they’d just taken off their coats stepping inside the restaurant.
John frowned as he settled down by a table, “This is my wife Mary, actually.”
“Oh – oh – right - hello,” said the man rather flustered, “Well – well – it’s on the house!”
They were soon seated, menus and glasses of water handed out, while John tried to ignore answering any of Angelo’s questions concerning ‘Sherlock’.
Mary however was grinning at him wickedly, hidden behind her menu, but the second Angelo wandered off John’s bubble burst - “Don’t,” he said with a stern voice, as she broke out in laughter making him soften instantly.
“Does everyone think you’re gay? Since pretty much all the shops near Baker Street are filled with people asking about your boyfriend,” she said in a low voice before adding, “Though sometimes it does feel like I am married to two men, minus the-,”
He grimaced, “God – no – don’t - oh shut up, or I’ll-,”
“You already have,” she said, “So – bringing me to the restaurant you and Sherlock had your first date in? Fun.”
He snorted, closing the menu before him shut as he said, “You’re really not helping, anyway like I said – you know – there was the woman…but I just don’t think he’s built that way.”
“What – way?” said Mary with raised brows.
“You know, he’s kind of – well – he’s not – he can barely talk to people in general without it having to be about murders and stuff, so I can’t actually imagine him having a girlfriend,” he said taking a sip of his wine.
“Ok, let’s just imagine he had a girlfriend – what kind of woman would that be?”
“I really hope you’re not suggesting-,”
“Janine? Oh no, she didn’t fancy him at all, thought he was nice, except he seemed to be-,”
Angelo reappeared at their table, and John noted that they hadn’t received a candle, “Have you two decided then?”
“Err – yes-,” said John smiling, giving their order, and upon receiving it Angelo muttered something indistinctively, “Sorry – what was that?”
“Oh well, err -,” said the man clearing his voice, “Sherlock brought a woman years ago…obviously to prove a point as well…and believe me-,”
“What?” said John gaping.
Somehow Mary hadn’t at all been surprised when Angelo announced that a sweet woman named Molly had accompanied Sherlock to disastrous effect. The evening ended with her sitting alone, eating a large size of complimentary chips, when Sherlock had to handle a case (which sounded more like an excuse due to nerves according to Mary).
John couldn’t understand how it wasn’t amazing that his best friend who at large was ‘married to his work’ had gone on an actual date with an actual woman, except the bit with him having left of course. He wasn’t a stranger to suddenly looking at the end of the table in the middle of a meal to find the man had vanished, but it still counted as a ‘date’. Considering everything somehow it wasn’t entirely mad that Sherlock was interested in Molly. After all they had a lot in common, and he used to spend a lot of time at St Bart’s before…except after Molly’s engagement.
His smugness was short-lived when Mary pointed out that Janine had more or less spotted Sherlock staring daggers at Molly’s fiancé Tom, while keeping an eye on the woman in yellow most of the evening, “She wondered a bit about that really. He didn’t once go and talk to her, kept his distance – and she didn’t realise until she knew Molly was engaged.”
“He’s been going on about engaged women being off-limits lately.”
“Do you think…” it lingered in the air, the idea that his best mate had finally become very human. He had always been human, but it was the first time Sherlock seemed to acknowledge that he was.
“If he is…I don’t think me talking to him would help,” said John clearing his throat awkwardly.
“You’re actually nervous, aren’t you?”
“That if he gets a girlfriend he might only bring her to cases, instead of you.”
“Well – he already did that with Molly, and he actually –,”
“You’ve gotten married and you still haven’t forgotten him! Look – we – even went to Angelo’s tonight, and you’ve said that you’ve been worried he’d get lonely…A girlfriend would be a good thing. He has to grow up at some point.”
“Except Molly’s engaged, isn’t she? And she even seems happy…no wonder he’s been keeping his distance lately.”
Mary’s smile dropped, remerging again as she said, “I don’t suppose Tom’s an evil mastermind either, is he?”
“No, Sherlock checked,” said John, before he laughed, “God, he’s been so bloody obvious. He knows Tom’s name, but he never ever remember Greg’s – even asking Molly for help about the stag…He actually properly fancies her-,”
“Not that it helps him much in this case with her being engaged, and all-,”
“No, I suppose not…so…I better not say anything?”
“Let’s just wait and see what happens…”
“Sherlock! John! How lovely to see you here – it’s been ages-,” said Angelo in his booming voice, shaking Sherlock by the hand enthusiastically.
“Yes, it has,” said Sherlock smirking, “Angelo, you remember Molly?”