The far end of the park by the pond was always quiet during lunch hour. Sometimes people gathered at the picnic tables under the oak trees by the gate, but other than that, the place was deserted. The quietness of the park, combined with the soothing sound of the water in the fountain, made it an ideal place to get away and unwind for an hour. That and its convenient proximity to one's workplace.
These were just a few of the things that were running through Molly Hooper's head as she sat on the park bench overlooking the pond. She hadn't been accustomed to going there often; at least not until two weeks ago, when working conditions had changed. Now, she found that she often needed to get away.
It wasn't that the job itself had changed; work at St. Bartholomew's Hospital went on much the same as it always had. However, the young pathologist thought, the fact that the police force deemed it necessary to bring in an arrogant, condescending "private eye" to work on their cases had made her work considerably more frustrating.
Actually, he was in the morgue at that moment, running a few tests to confirm his hypothesis for a suspected murder case. She wondered why she had given him access to the lab in the first place. He was invading her space. And he was rude. Terribly rude; that was for sure. But, he was brilliant; terribly so. And quite good looking.
Molly mentally kicked herself. There were times when she felt very pleased with herself over things that she had accomplished. This was not one of those times.
If I wasn't so good natured and socially awkward, she thought, I might not get used as a doormat so often. Easier said than done.
Although really, the more she thought about it, she had to admit that she did rather like the consulting detective (as he called himself) in spite of everything.
Perhaps she could get used to this arrangement.
A few minutes later, Molly rose from the bench and began her trek back to the end of the block and St. Bart's. All the while she tried to convince herself that her situation wasn't really that bad.
When she stepped in the door to the lab, she found the detective right where she had left him an hour ago; analyzing things under a microscope.
He didn't look up when she entered, or give any sign that he had noticed her presence.
Before setting her things down, Molly took a few moments to study him. He had black, very curly hair, which stood in stark contrast with his pale skin. High, defined cheek bones gave him a regal air, and his gaze was intense and focused.
"You might want to be a bit more subtle, Miss – " His voice startled her.
"Hooper. Molly Hooper." She was a bit annoyed that he hadn't remembered her name. Again. "And I wasn't staring at you." She paused, and then back tracked. "Well, I was staring, but not like that – at least, not how you were implying that I was. Well – I mean; were you implying something?"
He didn't answer her question. "Where were you?"
"Clearing my head." She hadn't expected that question. "It was my lunch hour; I can do with it what I like."
"In the future, if you do not plan on actually having lunch, stay and make yourself useful. It's distracting to have to rummage around looking for tools while I'm working on a case."
Molly opened her mouth to answer, but she couldn't think of a single thing to say.
"Now. Show some competency and fetch me that eyedropper."
On second thought, perhaps this arrangement wasn't going to work very well after all.