"That woman just smiled at you." John glanced up from his pint.
"What? Who?" Greg, holding onto a stout, looked over the rim of his glass, towards the end of the bar. John followed his gaze.
"Oh come on, Greg. No. Anyway I'm not here to meet anyone. I just want a pint and to go home. It's been a long day, I'm still out a nurse at the clinic. It's been hell this week."
"Excuse me," a woman at his elbow made them both turn. It wasn't the redhead Greg had been trying to get John to talk to though. It was a blonde woman with short hair and blue eyes and a terrific smile. John couldn't move or even speak for a moment. She smiled apologetically at them. He suddenly realized she'd said something, and he had no idea what it was. He blinked, shaking his head.
"Sorry, I-um- what?"
"I said you're on my purse."
"Oh," he hopped off the barstool, moving the leg of it back and retrieving her purse from the floor. "Sorry, I didn't even notice, it's-"
"Been one of those weeks, eh?" The woman smiled again and he felt his heart hammering away again.
"Yeah, um, listen, sorry about your purse uh, maybe I can buy you a drink?"
"Sure," the woman nodded and stepped up beside him at the bar. "And you can tell me about the nursing position."
Greg snorted into his glass, choking back a gulp and John turned red.
"Oh, um, well it is an actual job, it's-uh-"
"I know," the woman laughed, more at Greg than the misunderstanding. "I heard you,"
"Oh! Well...you know someone?" He paid the tab and turned, drinks in hand and nodded to an empty table in the corner.
"I do, she set her purse down on her lap, taking a sip of her drink. "Me." Setting her glass down, she folded her arms over the table. "This isn't the sort of place you want to do a job interview, so maybe I should come by tomorrow and you can have a proper look at me," a pause. "And my credentials." John could only chuckle, nodding.
"I'd like that very much." She smiled then, holding out her hand.
"Mary Morstan, how do you do?"
"Doctor John Watson, infinitely better at this moment." They exchanged numbers, shared a few more pints, and that night John felt himself beginning to feel life in him again, the over-tired feeling of depression ebbed for the moment, and he felt himself actually looking forward to the next morning. Yes, if this was a sampling of what Mary Morstan was like, he couldn't wait to get to know her.