He Stole My Cab (Benedict Cumberbatch Fanfiction)

Chapter Eighteen

He took my hand to help me out of the car. Suddenly the quiet night was full of shouts, men and women were shouting from everywhere. Questions, assumptions and “Smiles” bombarded me and it wasn’t helped by the flashes. Every second another ten flashes stunned me, their bright white lights causing black spots to form in my vision. My heart started racing and I felt trapped, enclosed, hunted. Benedict tugged at my arm, sheltering me from the view with his free arm, and guided me to the doors. Two bouncers opened the doors and thankfully all the commotion stopped.

I sat down on one of the leather chairs in the entry room, trying to calm my racing heart and clear my head. I felt a reassuring hand on my thigh and he said “It’s horrible isn’t it, I’m sorry I should of warned you, I didn’t expect so many of them to know where we were” I told him not to worry, now the shock was fading I had a weird adrenaline rush.

A thick red velvet curtain separated this room from the actual club. I could feel the regular deep vibrations of the bass pulsing through the floor. “Ready?” I said, standing up and he smiled at me, and took my hand firmly in his. I was glad of this because it showed me that he wasn’t afraid to be seen with me, that he was proud for me to be his girlfriend.

He pulled back the curtain and let me through first. The room was enormous. A DJ was set up at one end with coloured lights and numerous speakers around him. A few black leather chairs and black wooden tables lined the edge of the room but the majority of the room was taken up by people dancing, easily over 300 people. The walls were white but had contemporary art hanging on them, their random colours livening up the walls. At the opposite end of the room was a bar. It was long, stretching the whole width of the room, with slowly flashing tops and the staff hurried around behind it pulling levers and pouring shots.

We walked down the duel staircase and then, following Benedict, we turned in a 180, around the staircase and into another room underneath the entry foyer. A bouncer pulled back a rope for us to enter and in here another 100 people stood around, talking and laughing. There was no dance floor in here but lots of booths with leather seats and a huge table was laid out with a buffet. I gazed around the room and had to try really hard not to let my jaw fall open, because it would have hit the floor.

Endless celebrities stood around, glasses of champagne in hand from the waiters walking around. Everyone from Sherlock was certainly there; Andrew, Martin with Amanda by his side, Una, Louise, Jonathon, Vinette… I could go on for hours. As we walked in lots of heads turned and cheered in welcome. I could feel my cheeks burning already and stared at the floor hoping to disappear.

A waiter walked over and Benedict handed me a glass of champagne. I sipped at the sweet bubbly mixture as we walked through the crowds to stand next to Rupert, or Lestrade as I was so tempted to call him. Benedict clapped him on the back, removing his hand from mine as he held a glass in the other, wishing him a happy birthday and then pulled a box from his pocket and gave it to Rupert saying it was from the both of us which I thought was a very sweet gesture.

I couldn’t help smiling as he laced his fingers back through mine, tracing small circles on my palm trying to calm me down, and then introduced me to his friends. I shook hands with the guys and some of the girls pulled me in for a hug all being very kind and welcoming. I listened intently to their stories, loving every minute of it. I laughed with them and, after my glass was empty, began to contribute more to the conversation and soon I was feeling very relaxed around them.

Benedict excused us from the group, leaving them all laughing at a story of mine, and he led me over to the private bar where he ordered himself a scotch and then asked me what I wanted. I ordered a gin and tonic and we sat down on the bar stools, his hand resting on my thigh. He lifted the scotch up, swirling the golden liquid in the glass and looked at me, his head slightly to the side. “What?” I said blushing under his piercing gaze. His half smile swept his face as he tucked a bit of hair behind my ear, his fingers lingering on my cheek. “I just… You’re so beautiful and I want you to know that because you are, both inside and out” and as he spoke his thumb trailed over my lower lip. It was a good thing I was already sitting down because I felt my knees go weak. Slowly he pulled me closer to him and gave me such an intense kiss. I could taste the scotch on his lips and tongue and it made me shiver slightly. He held my head so securely in his hands that there wasn’t an inch of space between us and I could hear his breath getting shorter and raspier.

A quite cough behind us caused us to pull apart. My cheeks burned red hot on my cheeks as I heard a few wolf whistles. I saw Benedict out of the corner of my eye, a huge grin on his face and felt his hand lace through mine once more. Mark Gatiss stood before us, “Hi Mark, this is Theresa my girlfriend.” And Mark took my hand lightly in his “Pleasure, I have heard lots about you” Mark said and I just smiled, still in a daze from my kiss with Benedict. “Ben can I just have a word with you for a moment” Mark said. Benedict looked at me and I nodded encouragingly at him, not wanting him to stay for my sake. He smiled, squeezed my thigh and left with Mark through another door I hadn’t even noticed.

I looked around the room suddenly feeling like a new kid at school. Now what?