A/N: Wow, another fic started. I'm beginning to feel like a genuine fanfic author! CX Anyways, if you didn't read the description this fic is an eventual Mollcroft fic. Don't like it don't read it. Used book store AU because there aren't enough of those going around. Enjoy my madness that brings fluff, angst, and yelling at a ship going "WHAT THE HECK ARE YOU DOING?! YOU TWO ARE MADE FOR EACH OTHER!" ...Because that doesn't happen often enough in the actual show.
And a special thanks to steffy2106 for giving me the bolstered courage to publish a fic with my arms spread wide open for your opinions on my OTP. Speaking of which, read her (pretty sure she's a she...) Mollcroft fic, Unexpectedly Expectant. Lots of feels, but it's totally a-ma-zing!
...I'll shut up now...
When Molly applied for the position at the used bookstore Something Old, Something New, she wasn't looking for any type of adventure, romantic or otherwise. She was simply trying to find a job to help her pay through med school, after which she planned to find a job as a pathologist. But paying for med school was easier said than done, and because of her time at school, she was often forced to work odd hours that her bosses didn't appreciate paying her for. She had been bouncing from job to job for months, and she finally had the summer off to work any hours she liked, provided she could get a job.
The man who gave her the position at the book store seemed very nervous, and gave her a generous wage considering she would be working from 6 until the shop closed at 10. The other workers informed her that was the graveyard shift, and despite the pay very few people lasted long in the place. Today had been her first day on the job, and she had met some rather nice students looking for books they'd need in college next semester, and she was even considering taking up one of their offers for coffee when the bell rang through the shop one last time for a customer that night. Molly checked her watch: it was already 9:00. The shop would be closing in one hour. She was hoping it'd be sooner, but if she knew one thing, it was very easy to lose track of time in a book store. The man in question who'd walked in was unlike the other patrons. He wore a three-piece suit, and had an umbrella hooked around his elbow even though it didn't look like it was going to rain for another week. But the thing she noticed most was his hair. It was very deep orange, almost red in certain lights. She briefly wondered if he was Scottish, before he looked over and spoke to her in a clear British accent. "I'm sorry, it doesn't look like you'll be able to close early tonight, once I start glancing over a book, it's very hard for me to stop reading."
Molly just nodded and moved to rearrange some of the books that had been taken down but hadn't been bought that day. She slowly and methodically moved through the shelves, first working through non-fiction, then moving into fiction in opposite order of her favorite genres. When she finished romance, she was just about to move into mystery when she checked her watch. It read 9:50. She silently panicked and looked over to the register to see if the man was waiting for her to hurry up. He wasn't. She moved into the mystery section she saw him again, reading one of those new novels everyone was talking about written by that overnight author named Sherlock Holmes. "Sir?" she asked timidly.
"Yes?" he didn't look up from the book.
"I'm sorry, but it's about closing time, and I need to finish putting the books away, you seeā¦" she trailed off.
He chuckled once, dryly, and shut the book with a thud. "I see. Can't get rid of me soon enough, can you?"
Molly blushed. "No, that's not what I meant at all-"
He put the book back on the shelf. "I know, I just wanted to see you blush. A bit of an initiation on this shift is always meeting me, you see, and I wanted to find out if my predictions about your personality were correct. Turns out, you're an open book. Good evening." He left the store quickly, laughing quietly to himself.
Molly turned red with anger. Just who did this man think he was? He had no right to treat her like that! Is this why the pay was so good, and why nobody stayed in this job for long? Well, she'd show everyone. She was better than this mystery man. She'd find out who he was, and she'd put him in his place. She turned out the lights and locked the door on the way out. This job wasn't going to be easy, but if putting up with everything meant paying for school, she'd put up with anything. Little did she realize her whole world was about to turn upside-down.
