Molly just wanted to lock herself up in her office and never, ever come out. Well, she will if the management decides to throw her out. It was the 8th of July, and it was time for her quarterly review, and she knew she'd bombed it.
The day started out rather well. The body that had been wheeled in had been an open-and-shut case, or should have been, and then HE decided to show up. Damn him and his top-level clearance.
Oh, Molly knew what she was talking about, but the steady gaze and Sherlock following her and the evaluator around as she performed the autopsy, she couldn't make herself utter a single sentence without stuttering. And here she thought she was past all that and over him. Hah.
Her cuts had been precise, her demeanor steady, but her recorded comments in the log… she probably sounded like she was performing her first autopsy. She heaved a sigh.
She wished she could talk to her boss and get some reassurance, but kind as Mike was, he had no actual control or say in the evaluator's findings, so any comforting remarks he would have offered her would have been empty, and really, could she settle for empty placations?
Well, waiting here certainly isn't going to do me any good, Molly thought, so she decided to pack up her stuff and leave. Her shift was over anyway, and the pathologist who will take over would have already begun their shift by now.
Surely enough, Molly saw Dr. Cross making his preparations when she stepped out of her office. He turned to her and smiled. He was a handsome young man, only 32. with dark curls, hazel eyes, and a winsome smile.
Too bad he doesn't play for my team, Molly mused. She then giggled in spite of herself.
"You all right, Doctor Hooper?"
Molly smiled and said, "Oh, yes. Thank you. I'll… be going home now. Have a nice shift, Doctor Cross!"
"Thanks!" He called back before he went back to work.
Molly was at Little Britain when she bumped into Sherlock. Loved him she might, but she really didn't want to talk to him then. She gave him a small smile, a shy wave, then side-stepped to avoid him before continuing her walk.
"Molly! Please, wait!"
She stopped in her tracks but didn't face him. She'd humiliated herself at her job today, and in front of him. Again. After so long.
"I… I talked to your evaluator later and gave him this," the detective said. He offered a newspaper clipping with a highlighted portion on it. The highlighted part said, "The conclusive evidence in the murder was brought to light, not by the great Reichenbach hero, but by London's youngest specialist registrar, Doctor Molly Hooper of St. Bartholomew Hospital."
After reading the clipping, Molly returned the slip of paper to Sherlock and kissed him on the cheek. "Thank you, Sherlock. You really didn't have to do that."
Sherlock placed his arm around Molly's shoulders and held her close before kissing her on the temple. "I only work with the best, Molly. The least I can do for you is make sure your evaluator saw that, too."
"I'm still a little nervous, but I feel a lot better now," Molly said with a smile.
"Tea will help," Sherlock offered. "And I know just the place."