Chapter 2
Molly never thought she'd put up with the crappy food the hospital provided in its cafe at lunchtimes. Most employees either brought in their own healthy salads and pasta or went out to a proper cafe or sandwich bar and met up with friends. Obviously Molly couldn't do that. She stayed safely in the hospital, sat at the same table by the window and ate whatever was on offer. Today she chose macaroni cheese and potato wedges, which tasted much worse than it sounded.
Molly gazed out the window at the damp, windy weather that was supposed to be summer in England. She sighed and took a sip of her can of Dr. Pepper, her guilty pleasure.
"Is it all right if I sit here?" A low Irish accent voice came from besides her. Molly turned abruptly to see the face, his face. She nodded and stared wide-eyed at him as he sat down opposite her with his own lunch he must have brought in himself.
"Well... Hi, I'm Jim. And I've just been hired by the IT Department, so I'm the new guy", he said with a small smile. His dark, thick eyebrows rising as he spoke.
Jim's lips were much fuller than Sherlock's, and softer looking too. His eyes were more round and defined, also dark and mysterious looking too. Molly couldn't tare her own brown eyes away from his. And his hair was slicked back perfectly, each black strand inline.
"Oh, uh... I'm Molly. I work in the morgue downstairs", she returned the smile and bit her lower lip nervously. Wondering why on Earth would a man like him choose little Molly Hooper to sit with on their lunch break. She took a quick sip of her drink to try and clear her throat.
"Dr. Pepper! Snap!" Jim said excitedly as he pulled out his own bottle of the drink. Molly giggled but blushed at the same time.
"Sorry about that, I'm just in a good mood to be starting here today."
"Oh, its okay. I'm glad someone else likes the drink too."
"I know right! Molly is a lovely name by the way." Molly finally tore her eyes away from his and noticed what he was wearing, a dark grey V-neck shirt and jeans that looked like they'd been ironed within an inch of their life.
Her cheeks heated up a fiery red and Molly had to look down at her plate, her smile widening.
"Err... Thank you, Jim. I like your name too, its simple."
"Simple?"
"I mean it's a nice simple. It's not really weird and unheard of like some of the names you get now-a-days."
"Oh yeah, I know what you mean", he said, keeping his eyes on Molly while beginning to eat his baguette.
"Have you just moved to London?" She asked, hesitating slightly.
"Sort of, I grew up here with my parents, and then when I was a teenager we moved back to Dublin. Which is where I'm originally from."
"Oh yeah, err, I thought you might have been from around there", She murmured.
"You could tell by the accent, could you?" Jim grinned again, showing his sharp teeth.
Molly nodded and looked back up at him briefly, their eyes meeting instantly. She bit her bottom lip again as her cheeks couldn't blush any rosier, and she managed to avert her eyes.
"Why are you blushing so much, Molly? There's no need to be nervous around me... I won't bite", Jim pointed out as he swallowed another mouthful of his food, his grin changing to a smirk which somehow frightened her. She risked another look up at him, regretting it. Her eyes became glassy and her lips trembled while she desperately thought of an answer.
"S, sorry, I don't know why I am. And I don't mean to be... Can you, uh, excuse me for a minute, please Jim?"
"Of course", he replied looking at her as she stood up, thinking about how cute and pathetic she was being. After she stood up, Molly awkwardly tripped on the chair leg as she backed away from it. She whimpered but managed to catch her balance back and hurried away in as fast a walk she could do.
In the ladies toilets she stared at herself in the mirror, holding a cold paper towel over her cheeks to help lessen the obvious redness.
'Jesus! What's wrong with me?' she thought, 'There is a perfectly lovely and polite man waiting for me outside, and I think he likes me a bit? Oh no of course he doesn't, I was the only employee sat in there, that's why he sat with me! No one is interested in me... But Jim is kind of cute, and his accent is just adorable... Oh my God what am I thinking! Uh, pull yourself together Molly!'
Molly then dabbed her face dry, fixed her hair and went back out and sat down as if everything was normal, which of course it wasn't.
"Sorry about that. I think I'm coming down with something."
"Oh no, do be sorry. Its fine... Are you okay now? You looked a little flustered." Jim had finished his baguette while she had been gone, and was now just slowly drinking his Dr. Pepper. Molly decided to just ignore the rest of her macaroni cheese.
"Yes, yes, sorry. I'm fine... Are you?" She rushed out of her mouth.
Jim chucked and leaned back in his chair, his eyes never leaving her face.
"Yes, I'm okay, Molls." Molly's smile came back again. 'Molls?' she thought, 'Aww, that's so cute.'

They then talked until the end of their lunch break, and Jim asked Molly what time she finished her shift.
"Five o'clock", she replied.
"Great, I finish at four-thirty so can I come down to see you?"
"Uh, sure... Why though?"
"Because I'd like to see you again, silly."
"Oh right... Okay, well I guess I'll see you later then."
"Good bye, Molly Hooper."