Molly was practically skipping through the market place as she searched for her dear friend Pepper. She had wonderful news to discuss, and she could not wait another moment longer. She finally spotted her friend with her bosses' daughter, Winifred Portley-Rind, who she nannied. They appeared to be on their daily stroll through town. Molly politely pushed her way through the crowd over to the pair. "Pardon me, excuse me sir, I just need to get through… YOOHOO! Ms. Pepper! It's me, Molly!" she shouted over the heads of the townsfolk.
Pepper heard the shrill voice of her companion and let out a groan. Molly sounded happy, this was usually a bad sign for the bitter and pessimistic nanny. Winnie, on the other hand, was happy to hear Ms. Monte Cristo coming. She appreciated her wit and charm. "Oh! Good morning Ms. Monte Cristo!" she greeted kindly.
Molly adjusted her dress after getting through the crowded marketplace and smiled warmly at the two. "Good morning, Ms. Portley-Rind! I hope you two are having a fine morning."
"Actually, breakfast was rather-" Pepper began to complain, but Molly cut her off, "I know I have been having a SMASHING morning myself!" She pulled a folded piece of paper out from her bosoms and showed it off to the girls. "I got a letter."
"So what? I get a letter from my sister about once a month. Never care to read'em though." Pepper shrugged.
"Ah, ah, ah! This is not just any letter. Its a LOVE LETTER!" Molly hugged the piece of paper tightly, and batted her eyes romantically.
"Oh! From Mr. Pickles?" Winnie asked hopefully. Everyone knew Mr. Pickles and Ms. Molly were desperately in love with each other, but too oblivious to see it themselves.
The blonde shook her head, "I don't know, Its anonymous."
"Its probably Mr. Pickles." Pepper rolled her eyes. Who else would write a love letter to Molly? As beautiful as she was, none of the men in Cheesebridge could get past her bold personality. Not that she was bad, she was just not the kind of lady-like, obedient, wife material, that most modern men were looking for.
"I said I don't know!" she snapped back, "but it is a nice idea." she quickly fell back into her dreamy daze.
Unfortunately, Winnie had to roll her eyes along with her nanny. It had been almost ten years since Molly and Mr. Pickles met, and at this point they were just wasting time.
Molly cleared her throat as she prepared to read her love letter aloud. "Dear Ms. Molly," she paused, "Thats me!" Her two listeners rolled their eyes once more, "Words could not describe how I feel for you. When I see you my heart leaps to the high heavens because it feels as though it has just seen an angel! Your hair is as bright as your halo, and your eyes are as green as the tall, thin, grass that flows gently with the breeze. A breeze similar to the one that blew by when I met you. I remember it so well. Never had I seen a lady so prominent and unique, like no one I had ever met before! A vision! An empress! You are my moon, my sun, and my stars, and I cannot live much longer without you. Someday I will hold you in my arms and then I will be content with life and i will never need another drink of water, another bite of food, another ray of sunshine, because you are all I need. My dear Molly. Love your SECRET ADMIRER!" She squealed with delight at the end.
"That sure was something…" Pepper nodded. Winnie agreed. Both of them were unsure of what to think. That poem was good. Too good to be Mr. Pickles'. Perhaps Molly really did have a new secret admirer.
The cogs in Winnie's head were turning, and she knew what she had to do to save Mr. Pickles and Molly's relationship from this imposing new threat. "That was lovely, Ms. Monte Cristo! True poetry! Now if you'll excuse us, Ms. Pepper and i have some very important business to attend to. I hope you have a wonderful day, and I hope you discover who this secret admirer of yours is!" She took her nanny by the hand and began pulling her through the marketplace as quickly as possible, without even giving the blonde lovestruck woman a chance to bid farewell.
"For once, I am glad you dragged me out of a conversation." Pepper admitted to the girl, "All that lovey-dovey, mushy-gushy, gunk makes me sick." She shuddered at the thought of that poem, and felt grateful that she had no secret admirers to leave her disgusting letters like that.
Winnie pulled Pepper far away from the Market place, about halfway downtown, when she began to explain her idea. "We have to plan the perfect date for Mr. Pickles and Ms. Molly to confess their love to each other, before some other creep swipes her out from underneath his giant nose!"
Pepper stopped in her tracks and shook Winnie's grip from of her hand, "Hold on, hold on! First of all, this is none of our business! And secondly, how are we so sure that wasn't Mr. Pickles' letter?"
Winnie cocked an eyebrow, "Were we listening to the same poem?"
"Alright, good point…" Pepper admitted. So the two made their way down to the old Red Hat factory to discuss date plans with Mr. Pickles. Upon arriving he was coincidentally getting ready to depart to go see Molly. "Oh, good day ladies! What brings you down here today?" he asked politely.
"I have TERRIBLE news!" Winnie stated dramatically, "Someone has given Ms. Molly an anonymous love letter!"
Mr. Pickles smiled, and looked around to make sure Molly wasn't accompanying them. He then leaned in and whispered, "I am that admirer, believe it or not! I left a love letter in her mail slot early this morning." He felt proud hearing the news from her friends; she was already out and about telling everyone about the poem he stayed up all night writing.
Pepper shook her head, "There is no way you wrote that poem."
"Oh no?" Mr. Pickles cleared his throat, and recited, "Hair as yellow as cheese glistening in the sun, eyes as green as grass, you are like an angel with no wings-"
Pepper shook her head, "Nope. Not the same poem."
Mr. Pickles paused abruptly, "I beg your pardon?"
"Ms. Molly's poem was different, it was more articulate, more romantic-"
"It was more GOOD." Winnie blurted. She stood up on a wooden chair to be at eye level with the tall man, although she still didn't quite meet his gaze, "You have competition now. If you want to win Molly's heart you have to really show her. Without being so secretive."
"Someone else? In love? With Ms. Molly?" Mr. Pickles couldn't believe it. Well he could, considering Molly was such a catch, but he couldn't believe that he had to compete for Molly's affections. He knew that he couldn't compare to anyone else, Molly would surely never pick him.
Winnie continued blabbering on, even though Mr. Pickles was clearly on another train of thought, "I think we should plan an elaborate, romantic, huge date! I can see it now… You and Molly alone under the moonlight after the perfect moment alone and then you tell her your feelings and she tells you hers! And we'll all be there to make sure it goes according to plan." She leaned over to Pepper and whispered, "So we can assure that this time he won't mess it up." Pepper couldn't help but crack a smile at the jab.
Mr. Pickles snapped back into the moment, "What? I don't- I wasn't- Whats happening?"
"You don't have to worry about a thing, Mr. Pickles. All you have to do is invite Ms. Molly over to the factory instead of having your usual Tuesday tea, and we will have the entire factory decorated for an elaborate date night for two. There will be no way you could mess this up, because you won't have to put together any of it."
Mr. Trout stepped into the room, but already heard everything. "Uh, we?"
"Yes! You, Ms. Pepper, Eggs and the other boxtrolls, and I!"
Pepper's eyes widened when she heard her name, "Oh, no, no, no, no! I am not a party planner, nor a party goer. And i certainly do not want to be part of any harebrained scheme that involves Molly or Mr. Pickles. I've been there before and I vowed I would never be there again."
"This isn't their harebrained scheme, its mine! And if everyone does exactly as I say, then it should go perfectly! Besides you don't have to do any planning, you will be the waitress."
"Waitress?" The lady groaned. She hated this date idea the more and more it was discussed.
Mr. Pickles wasn't so sure about all of this either, "I- I don't know. Are you sure this is a good idea, Ms. Winnifred?"
Winnie put her hands on his shoulders and looked him in the eyes, "I promise you that after this perfect date night you and Ms. Molly will be the most adored couple in Cheesebridge. And you will have no one but me to thank for that!" she nodded. Mr. Pickles was still unsure, but he agreed.
The day was spent planning a romantic evening and decorating the factory to look like a fancy evening restaurant. With the boxtrolls help, it got done in no time. They hung handmade banners and streamers all around, and accented the room with lovely flowers they found around town, and some the boxtrolls had even grew themselves in their gardens. Winnie "borrowed" some expensive cheese from her father, and some other fine foods from the Portley-Rind kitchen for Mr. Trout to cook an exquisite meal.
Mr. Pickles watched everything practically fly by, and grew more and more nervous by the minute. He always had a small idea of what the perfect moment with Molly would be, and to be quite honest he had that moment in his grasp many times, but he always let it slip. Maybe it was a good idea to let someone else have control over the situation. He tossed the ideas around in his head until it was finally time to go retrieve Molly.
Winnie looked around the room, extremely pleased with her handiwork. She was proud of everyone involved, but mostly herself.
Mr. Pickles took one look around the factory and couldn't help but feel like everything was far too overdone. It wasn't the setting he ever imagined confessing his love to Ms. Molly in, and he had a lot of scenarios in mind, but as nice as this all was, it was not one of those settings. The doubts began to settle in as he tossed more ideas back and forth in his head.
Winnie gave the tall man a small pep talk before sending him to fetch Molly. "Now don't give any of this away. All you have to do is ask her to have tea at the factory instead of her house. Tell her you bought some special new tea straight from Italy or something, anything to get her down her without giving away the surprise." Mr. Pickles nodded at the instructions, but everything she said to him was in-one-ear-and-out-the-other to him.
Mr. Pickles left the factory and ventured up the hill as everyone put the final touches on the date scene. As Mr. Trout was cooking up an appetizer of his own creation, Ms. Pepper chatted with him about Molly's other secret admirer. "You should have heard that poem. It was so gross! 'You are my moon, my sun, and my stars! I can't live much longer without you!' Bleh!" she mocked Molly's tone from earlier.
Mr. Trout recognized the words immediately, "Oh! That was Mr. Pickles' love letter."
"WHAT? Bu- But he said his was different."
"Yeah, well he fell asleep and I read his letter and it was bad… So I, uh, changed a few things." Mr. Trout began to feel the guilt settle in as he focused his eyes on the pan before him.
Pepper eyed him with an icy stare, "How many things?"
"The whole thing." he admitted sheepishly.
"Oh, cheese and crackers." she pinched her nose at the absurdity of the whole situation. "You mean to tell me that we practically sprinted downtown today for no real reason? All of this is nothing now? Everything is exactly the same as it was before? There is no one else in love with Ms. Molly?" The tiny woman could feel her anger boiling inside her like a kettle. Her day was wasted yet again on another infamous Cheesebridge harebrained scheme.
"Well we don't know that-"
"You know what I mean! Don't get clever with me!" Mr. Trout cracked a smile at Pepper's temper. Although he had to agree that this whole misunderstanding was disruptive to his usual daily routine. He would be painting right now, but cooking wasn't too bad either. At least he was spending time with Ms. Pepper.
Meanwhile Mr. Pickles was making the grueling trip uptown to retrieve Ms. Molly. The closer he got the shakier he felt, the more doubts he concocted, and the more he worried about this other mystery admirer. Once he reached her front door he wiped a bead of sweat from his forehead and knocked hesitantly. He adjusted his scarf as he heard her heels approaching. With one last gulp, the door swung open to reveal the love of his life. "Ah! You are here, splendid! I have some fresh tea brewing and I bought some special biscuits at the market place today if you'd like to have some."
"A- Actually, Ms. Molly- uh thank you for the trouble, but I was wondering if you would like to perhaps have today's tea down at the factory?" He fiddled with his hands anxiously as he awaited her answer. He was never good at keeping secrets, and it was taking a lot of control for him to not blurt out this one.
Molly paused for a moment, he had never made an offer like this before. She was surprised he didn't just call her; he usually did that when he couldn't make it. "Oh, but you've already walked all the way up here and i'm sure you are very tired from doing so. Wouldn't you much rather stay here?"
Mr. Pickles wasn't sure how to conceal the secret without giving even the smallest hint away, so instead he blurted out, "No. Let's go."
Molly was shocked by this remark, but shrugged it off with a smile, finding his spontaneity endearing. She grabbed a small basket filled with the biscuits, her fan, and a few other things, and they began their trip down to the factory. It was already past sunset as they ventured down the street quietly, and the farther they went the more the moon began to shine.
They reached a spot in Cheesebridge that overlooked the river and the factory, and stopped to take a small rest. Molly saw this as a perfect opportunity to give something special to Mr. Pickles. "I have a gift for you." she said as she rummaged through her basket.
Mr. Pickles was surprised, it wasn't any special occasion, what kind of gift could this possibly be? She pulled a book out of her basket, and began to explain, "I was sorting through my father's library with him, as we were donating some old books to the schoolhouse and the library, when I found this book about the universe." She opened it to the table of contents, "Its got all kinds of things about planets, and science, and philosophy, but here is the part that really made me think of you!"
She flipped open to a page that was just a large illustration of the stars and constellations all graphed out. "See! Its all those constellations and stars you keep telling me about. Now you can really look at them and find them." She handed him the book to skim. As he flipped through she put her hands behind her back and rocked on her feet shyly, "I don't care much for science or philosophy, but I know how much it sparks your imagination and I thought you would really enjoy this. Although i'm sure you probably already have plenty of books on these subjects, so if anything this is just another addition to the collection."
Mr. Pickles was flabbergasted. This was quite possibly the most thoughtful gift anyone had ever given him. And the most spontaneous. He was speechless, but Molly was awaiting a response, so he muttered, "Th- Thank you." He cleared his throat and spoke more clearly, "Thank you very much, Ms. Molly. This is very kind of you."
She lifted her shoulders and felt her cheeks glowing. "I knew you would like it."
Mr. Pickles closed the book and just stared at this woman. This perfect, beautiful, strong, intelligent, wonderful woman. She was the first person he could recall to ever give him such a gift just out of the kindness of her heart, because she found something and thought of him. His head felt clear, and for the first time in ten years he finally thought, "Maybe Ms. Molly really does love me."
"There is something I need to tell you, Ms. Molly. Something I've wanted to say for a very long time." Molly looked up at him hopefully, a glimmer in her green eyes. He continued, for once feeling confident about what he had to say, "I have very strong feelings…. For you. We- We've known each other for about ten years and ever since I first met you i've felt like you were something different. I've never met anyone like you before in my whole life. I guess what i'm trying to say is I think i'm- i'm in l- love with you."
It was silent as Molly soaked up the words she had been waiting to hear for ten years. Mr. Pickles took a moment to breath, amazed that he finally got it all off of his chest, and so clearly. The two were so astounded by the whole speech, as small as it was, that they just needed the moment to process it all.
Molly finally spoke up, "I have felt the same about you for ten years." she admitted confidently as well, "And I have been with other men before, but none come as close to perfect as you do."
Mr. Pickles hesitated, "So you love me too?"
Molly giggled, "Oh, I am head over heels in love with you, Mr. Pickles!" His face grew the biggest smile after hearing those words. The words he never thought he would hear escape Molly's lips, but tonight they did. The two of them were so overjoyed that they just burst into a fit of laughter. A laughter that rang through the town like a bell that could be heard in every dark alley as a beacon of hope for any lost soul who ever thought they were unlovable, unwanted, or never good enough for someone. The laughter of two people who felt so silly wasting so much time on anxieties that were never even true. And none of it even mattered anymore.
"Haha, so what do we do now?" Mr. Pickles asked, actually very unsure how to continue his life knowing somebody loved him the way she did.
Molly cleared her throat, "Well, I think now it would be an appropriate time to share a kiss." she stated boldly.
"A kiss?" Mr. Pickles froze up. Things suddenly felt like they were moving fast. You know someone for ten years and now suddenly you're admitting your love and kissing all in one night. Molly nodded, hoping he would agree. "I suppose that is appropriate a time as ever." he admitted. The two stepped closer to one another. Molly was beaming, whilst Mr. Pickles smile reverted back to his usual nervous furrow. Molly closed her eyes and leaned in first. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes, giving her a small peck on the lips. They parted quickly and took in the moment once more. Both of them felt butterflies inside of them. Neither had been kissed in so long that it felt almost unfamiliar.
"That was nice." Molly piped up. Mr. Pickles nodded in agreement, unable to muster up even a simple word. They looked at each other dead in the eyes, and is if they were communicating telepathically, they grabbed each other in for a much more passionate embrace and kiss.
Back at the factory, Winnie was enraged that Pickles and Molly were not back already, and sent a search party out to find them, consisting of herself, Eggs, and Ms. Pepper. "How much do you wanna bet that Mr. Pickles chickened out and just stayed at Molly's for tea?" Winnie grumbled as they marched up town in a line.
Pepper shrugged, "Or maybe he just chickened out and ran away." She smiled at the idea of no more Mr. Pickles in her life. One less imbecile she'd have to deal with in this town. Eggs followed along the ladies unsure of what was going on. He honestly just liked spending time with everyone.
The trio heard a noise from around the corner of a building, and peaked around the corner carefully to see. It was Molly and Mr. Pickles. Winnie gasped, "There they-" but Ms. Pepper shushed her quickly. As she observed the two, she could tell there was something different about their dynamic. They seemed closer, lighter, less nervous than usual. As they spied on the two for a minute longer, they noticed Mr. Pickles place an arm around Molly without any hesitation. Now Ms. Pepper gasped. "They did it…"
"Did what?" blurted Eggs. The girls shushed him and he crouched down as if to hide in his box. Although Winnie was on Eggs' side for this argument, "They did what?" she repeated quietly.
"They confessed their love." Pepper whispered.
"WHAT?!" Winnie whisper yelled, "This is NOT how it was supposed to happen! It was supposed to be in my romantic candlelit ballroom factory dinner scene! I worked hard on that, and they don't even know its there! Well, she doesn't. He knows full well we are waiting for him-" Pepper placed her hand over Winnie's mouth to quiet her down.
Pepper spoke quietly and seriously, "That doesn't matter. All that matters is that those two idiots finally did it." There was a silence as Winnie shook Pepper's hand from her mouth and pouted, crossing her arms in front of her. The nanny spoke up one last time, "I'm happy for them."
"You always said you pitied them." Eggs chimed in.
Pepper sighed, "Oh, I do, but they deserve each other. I think they're going to be much happier from now on. Much to my annoyance." She imagined the future before her. No more stupid secret love stories, or pathetic excuses. Now she would be stuck with much gushy PDA and stupid public love stories. She couldn't decide which was worse.
Eggs tapped his fingers on the building, "So if they're not going to eat any of that food back at the factory, can we eat it instead?" he asked. The two girls looked at each other, Winnie giving her nanny a cheeky grin. The girl then began to bolt back up the road, "Only if you can beat me there and eat it all first!" Eggs laughed as he ran to catch up with Winnie. Pepper followed behind, giving one last glance at the new couple on their first real date. She smiled genuinely. As much as she hated to admit it, she was happy for them. Their new life was about to begin.