Status: Work In Progress

Believe in This

Dinner for Two

A week and a half passed by rather quickly during which I attended four rehearsals for the first episode of Season Four of Sherlock. We, the cast, had just finished our last script reading before rehearsals moved to Cardiff and filming began. The cast attended another script reading before we started actually rehearsing the scenes so as not to be completely unprepared on set. I was just placing my rather worn script in my [url=http://www.polyvore.com/back_on_set/set?id=41558802
]bag[/url] when Benedict approached me.

“Charlotte?”

Turning my head at the sound of my voice on his lips I wondered what had him looking around so sheepishly.

“Are you going somewhere? I don’t want to keep you.”

“Oh no, I’m not looking forward to getting out in the cold so keep me as long as you need.”

“Well since you’re not doing anything would you fancy having dinner?”

“Absolutely, as long as I’m not obligated to get on the back of a motorcycle. As fun as it was I don’t think my body can handle it right now.”

“Then you’ll be happy to know that the bike is safely locked up at home.”

“Oh not at all, not really eager to get outside in this weather but I’ll just have to bite the bullet.”

“Well if you don’t have any plans would you like to have dinner with me?”

Hitching my purse onto my shoulder I locked eyes with Ben, “Absolutely, as long as I’m not obligated to ride on the back of a motorcycle because as fun as it was I don’t think my body would be very appreciative of it right now.”

“You’ll be happy to know the motorcycle is safely locked up at home.”

“Then I would love to accompany you to dinner.”

Benedict suggested Tom’s Kitchen for dinner, a restaurant I had so far heard good things about but hadn’t had time to try out for myself. I settled on the Roast Sea Bass for myself and Benedict decided on Pan Fried Hake as he was in Sherlock dieting mode we were left to our own devices.

“I just want to apologize for bringing you into the tabloids. I still feel terrible about it.”

“Ben, I told you not to worry yourself about it. It comes with the territory of being and spending time with famous actors and actresses and sadly there’s people who want to know about every aspect of your private life. There could be people photographing us right now and there’s not a whole lot we can do about it except send them glares and curse words which would probably just result in us being called ‘ungrateful’ and ‘snobbish.’”

“You are too understanding but right now I’ll accept it. So are you looking forward to leaving for Cardiff Sunday?”

Taking a sip of my water I nodded my head in reply. “Yeah, Martin and Amanda offered to let me catch a ride with them to Paddington but I booked a different train. Which reminds me, do you have any recommendations on where to stay? I haven’t booked anything yet so I should probably get on that.”

“Actually, if you’re looking for somewhere to stay I have an extra room at the flat I rent during filming. And as far as getting to Cardiff my train leaves at noon so if that’s the same time as yours’ I could drop by your flat and pick you up.”

If any other person had offered to let me shack up with them for three weeks I would have been slightly uncomfortable and more than likely declined but in the last two weeks I felt that I had gotten to know Benedict rather well and not only did I feel comfortable around him I knew his sole intention wasn’t to just get into my pants; though it wouldn’t particularly bothered me he desired to do so.

“Only if you’re sure. I wouldn’t want to introduce on your personal space or cramp your bachelor pad.”

With a laugh and a shake of his head Ben smiled, “Trust me, in the past few months I haven’t had time to be a bachelor. Besides, I can sense you’re a neat freak just like me so I think we’ll get along splendidly.”

“Well that’s a relief because I was dreading trying to find somewhere to stay. And if you would be so kind as to pick me up I would be forever grateful.”

“It’s not a problem. I’ll probably pop in around a quarter to eleven in case we hit traffic on the way.”

“That sounds perfect. So tell me what Cardiff’s like.”

“A little less rainy and dreary than London but I’m afraid it’s not much warmer. There’s a lot of great places to eat, which isn’t a good thing for me being on a diet, and there’s a few night clubs I’ve had the opportunity to check out as well as a number of pubs. The cast usually gets together at the beginning of filming and goes ice skating and when we wrap an episode get together for dinner and go out to Oceana afterwards.”

“I love to go ice skating. My mum and dad used to take me every winter without fail. Poor dad couldn’t even get two feet on the ice before he fell. My mum would sit and take pictures and just watch us and use us for a few laughs.”

“Are you parents supportive of your career?”

“They actually passed away when I was twelve. Some drunkard thought he was alright to drive home from the pub and hit them straight on. My parents were carried off in body bags and he walked away without a scratch. That was probably a little morose, sorry.”

“Oh no, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have been so careless. I think the bit of my brain that censors my thoughts is broken.”

“Don’t feel bad, it’s normal to talk about one’s parents. I’m just glad I was actually old enough to remember them.”

“I can’t imagine growing up without mine. Their truly some of the best people I’ve known and I’m not just saying that because they gave birth to me.”

“My mom was the one who made all of my costumes for my school plays. I can remember her literally waiting until the day before to start putting it together. My school put on a production of ‘Cats’ once and she was literally sewing me into the costume backstage. She was a dancer before she met my dad. I suppose she’s the reason I love it so much.”

“Do you plan on keeping up with it if your career continue to grow?”

“Absolutely, I’m actually in talks to perform in a sort of burlesque show when we wrap up filming Sherlock.”

“A burlesque show? Sorry, not to be rude but isn’t that nude?”

I let out a laugh at how shy Ben was, whispering the word ‘nude’ like he was eight years old again.

“No, if you’re doing true burlesque there’s no nudity involved but a lot of clubs around here have incorporated it into their shows. The show I’m in negotiations for is kind of new age burlesque, we’re trying to stick to the original outfits though they’ll be a lot sexier but the music will be very modern. One of my friends from RADA and I actually put the show together and now we’re waiting to see if the venue will pick it up. It’s a lot different than the normal ballet and modern dance I do but I love to take risks.”

“I hope it comes through because it sounds interesting. I’ll have to see it for myself.”

I was suddenly bombarded by images of Benedict sitting in a smoky room, reminiscent of a photo shoot I had once seen of him, staring up at me on a stage like I was the only being in the room. Just the thought was enough to make me rub my legs together uncomfortably and unconsciously bite my lower lip. Shaking my head, I forced the images to be thrown out of my mind and put myself back in the present.

“Well I’ll let you know if it comes through though I’ll probably be jumping around excitedly for a week so you probably won’t even have to ask.”

Even after five minutes of protest from me, Benedict wouldn’t allow for me to pay for our dinner stating that he had been the one to invite me and it would have been rude expecting or letting me pay. As he pulled up outside of my flat I didn’t even have a chance to exit the Jaguar before he had exited himself and ran around to open my door.

“If women could see how much of a gentleman you were all hope would be lost for the rest of mankind.”

Escorting me to my front door, Benedict let out a laugh as I fumbled around trying to locate my key in the recesses of my purse. Finally pulling it out I unlocked my door before turning back around to face Benedict.

“I had a really good time tonight. It was a lot quieter than our first outing at the pub.”

“Yes, while it was nice you can’t really get to know someone in that kind of setting.”

A veil of awkwardness settled over us and I scuffed my feet across the step wondering what to say next but thankfully Benedict spoke first.

“So I’ll text you Sunday and let you know when I’m on my way to pick you up. It shouldn’t take me longer than twenty minutes to get here. I’ll probably just have my friend drive so I don’t have to worry with leaving my car at the station.”

“That’ll be good. I guess I’ll see you Sunday morning then but just to warn you I have a habit of staying up late when I’m supposed to be up early so I might be half asleep.”

“Noted, I’ll text you and remind you to sleep in that case.”

“Please do because Tumblr and Pinterest are rather addictive.”

Benedict nodded and quickly leaned up to press his lips to my cheek, stepping back to his car before
I could even process his actions.

“Goodnight Charlotte.”

I replied though I wondered if he could even hear it as quiet as I sounded. Stepping into my flat, I could feel the heat emanating from the spot where Ben’s lips had made contact with my cheek even before placing my hand there. If I wanted to I could have taken my pulse from the way the area was pulsing. ‘What am I going to do with you, Mr. Cumberbatch?’ I thought.
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