I peeked at her through the small window that was inset in the door. She had her long, ginger hair free and swirling around her shoulders as she moved from counter to counter, picking up syringes and test tubes on the way to the microscope. She paused there for a minute or two, adjusting knobs and switching out slides before she was off again in flurry of movements, picking up more instruments and setting them down again. Her lips were moving and she was shaking her head furiously and it was clear that she was having an argument with herself. A hand on my shoulder pulled me away from the door and I turned to look into the face of Moran. He held a thin folder in one hand and a mobile in the other. He made faces as he listened to the other person, a man with a deep voice from as far as I could tell, on the other line, rolling his eyes and grunting in the short pauses the man took. He hung up with a short "ill call you later with the information" and shoved the mobile back into his coat pocket.
"Here's that information you wanted me to track down for you" he said as he handed me the folder. I took it and flipped it open, scanning the pages briefly before closing it and handing the folder back to him. He tucked it inside his coat and said "so what's your plan?"
I moved back to the door and looked through the small window again at the woman. She looked like she was having a one sided argument with herself, her hands full with papers and her head shaking furiously. She seemed like she would be easy to figure out, that it would only take one meeting with her to know everything about her. "I am going to do what I do best Moran" I replied slowly, my eyes still on the woman. "I'm going to work my magic." I didn't bother looking back at Moran to know that he was smiling his knowing smile. He turned to walk away down the hall, and I heard him mutter underneath his breath "She's not going to know what hit her."
I smirked at his words. Indeed, she was not going to know what hit her. I could turn on the charm when I wanted to, and this woman was nothing compared to the other ones i've landed in the past. This wouldn't be a problem at all. I stepped away from the door to ready myself for the big entrance. To be honest, I felt uncomfortable in the tight, navy blue v-neck sweater and dark wash jeans. I preferred my suits, but in order for this to work, I needed to look drastically different.
I pushed open the door noiselessly and stood there waiting for her to look up from the file she had open on the counter. She made no move so I stepped forward, purposely knocking into a tray of small metal bowls. She jolted at the noise and looked up at me, her eyes wide and her cheeks flushing with color. She gave me a questioning confused look, as if she was trying to remember whether or not she was expecting someone and had just forgotten.
"Oh umm, hello. Was I supposed to know you were coming by?" I could hear the shyness and in her voice coming through.
"Oh no, I'm so sorry. I'm James, I work up in I-T." I stepped slowly toward her, my hand outstretched. She took it and smiled at me, a genuine smile that lit up her face. "Oh lovely to meet you, i'm Molly Hooper. Did you just start working here?"
"Yes today is my first day actually. I might be a little lost as to where the office might be though...would you mind terribly in showing me the way?"
She glanced around the lab a bit impatiently. "Oh well, i'd love to but...i'm actually waiting for someone to show up. No one really, just this guy." But the way she smiled dreamily into the distance when she said this made it quite clear it was more than that.
I tried again, a bit more insistent and pushing this time. "Oh really, i'm sure it won't take more than a moment to lead me in the right direction. And I would be ever so grateful for your kindness."
She glanced at her wrist-watch for split-second and made an impatient noise before throwing her hands up in the air and saying "Oh what the heck. Sherlock can let himself in anyways, he does all the time." Sherlock.That was the name I had been waiting to hear. The reason I was even engaging in this little charade to begin with. Because strapping some bombs onto completely ordinary morons was, to be quite frank, extremely boring. No, what I wanted, what I needed was some more fun.
I followed her out into the hallway. I stayed behind her, allowing her to lead me, gauging what it was exactly I planned on saying. "So, this Sherlock fellow. He your boyfriend?" I watched as her cheeks darkened with heat. "What? Oh no, no not my boyfriend" she said quickly, even almost embarrassingly. "Sherlock is just...Sherlock I suppose." She was quiet for a moment before adding "not to say I wouldn't want that. But Sherlock...I'm not quite sure he's capable of the emotions required to be in a relationship. Not that he has interest in that anyways. The only person i've ever seen him interact in a way that resembles that is his best friend John."
Molly looked embarrassed to have talked so much, about Sherlock in particular. She rushed to change the subject as we stood in front of the lift at the far end of the hall. "So you said your name was James right? And today's your first day?" I nodded my response to her. She continued on. "So what about your girlfriend, what's she like?"
On the outside I remained passive, but on the inside I was smirking. She was already playing into my clutches it was almost sad really. I thought up a story on the spot and ran with it, trying to pull her strings emotionally and take control of them.
"Well actually, that's why i'm here. I moved here about 7 months ago when my girlfriend got sick. She died 4 months ago, and i'm just now getting back into the hang of things." I looked up into her face and could see the shock and remorse in her eyes. "Oh i'm so sorry." She put her hand on my arm and looked like she wanted to give me a hug at the same time but at the last second resisted. I continued on as the lift dinged and we moved in. "Yeah. It was cancer by the way. She had a brain tumor and we were too late in diagnosing it. The last three weeks though...she seemed happier than she had been for a long time. She smiled more than she had in months. I think she knew it was coming soon, that's why. I think deep down she knew that all the pain would be over soon and that made her happy." I gave her a small sad smile. "I was almost relieved when she died. I hated seeing her suffer, detested it. I spent an incredible amount of time trying to find ways to help her but in the end, the pain pills they gave her were the only thing that took most if not all of the pain away. And the night that she passed on..."I let my eyes close as if it were almost too unbearable for me to recall and I took a few deep breaths, choking myself to make it sound like I was fighting back tears. "That night we fell asleep holding each other. And in the morning, only I woke up."
I sneaked a peek at her and saw tears glittering in her eyes. She was getting so emotionally involved in my story, it was quite pathetic really. I mean, who believes the sob story of a complete stranger in the first place? This Molly Hooper was just too trusting, too naive. Bad for her, good for me. The lift opened and we stepped out. She led me to a door halfway down the hall, and with a small pat on my arm she said goodbye to me in a small sad voice and walked back down the hall. I watched as she disappeared into the lift and the doors closed before I called Moran and with a smirk on my face I said "i've got her."