A/N: I am so happy that you all seem to like the story. Thank you so much!
Thank you Pipsis for being such a wonderful beta!
Well, let's see how Molly's date with Tom really went…

Out with the old in with the new

"I have only made this letter longer because I have not had the time to make it shorter."(Letter 16, 1657)"
― Blaise Pascal, The Provincial Letters

20th October

Dear Sherlock,

As a matter of fact I have seen the press conference about the murder in New Delhi, and I even thought, "This solution sounds like something Sherlock would have figured out." But at that point I doubted any involvement on you part, because I thought you were probably still in the Himalayas. Funny that I was right. And congratulations on solving the case!

A thought has crossed my mind the other day: Do your parents know about you not being dead? Were they in it from the beginning, or did Mycroft fill them in later? Do you even have parents? I don't know that kind of stuff about you. I hope you don't mind me babbling in my letters. I know we usually never really talked about private stuff, but since there's nothing happening at work that might intrigue you, I don't know what else to tell you. I hope this is okay.

Me calling Kitty Riley "Hello Kitty" was a reference to a cartoon character called Hello Kitty. I am sure you have seen it before: It looks like a white cat wearing a colourful ribbon. One can purchase all kinds of articles with that cat on it: gift cards, stuffed animals, pens, towels, bags ...

Thanks for the compliment, I appreciate it. It means a lot to me knowing that you value my work.

Why would you have given the skull a name if it didn't hold any value to you? Additionally you have the skull labelled male and called it "he" and "him". We all are more or less made from flesh and bones, yet still we are important to someone, so the excuse of him being merely bone does not count. You told me all the stuff in your flat is important to your work. How does Billy fit in there? I hardly believe he is able to help you with your deductions or offer some advice on a case. Or do you secretly rehearse Hamlet for your West End debut? ;-)

Do you think I did not notice that you have rearranged my books and my medical journals? Last week it took me half an hour to find the issue I was looking for. You may not believe it, but I have a system too. At least I have a bookshelf and don't pile up my books on the floor... What is wrong with my collection of DVDs? I am aware that it may not contain films you would watch, but I like romantic comedies. Do you even have DVDs? I've never seen some at Baker Street.
As for the dead flowers: I am just not good with plants. I constantly forget to water them, so they die after a short time. I even managed to kill my last cactus. And no, I am not planning on conducting some experiments on them. (I've got to admit I was a bit worried you might conduct some experiments on Toby while I was at work.) I just could not find the time to throw them away and buy new ones. Although I highly doubt that the next ones will survive. Thus I am thinking about getting dried flowers instead. But since you think I have too much useless stuff in my flat, I am happy to inform you that I threw away a lot of things last weekend (including the dead plants). I went through old magazines, earrings, souvenirs and clothes that I had kept for some reason. I used to collect magazines, but now I don't even know why I kept most of them. It's not like they contain any vital information. I threw away a lot of my clothes, because I decided to buy new ones. I am sick of wearing the same clothes year in year out. Since I have not gained or lost weight significantly in the last few years (please refrain from any hurtful comment about my weight), I've had some items for years. Somehow I felt like I didn't want them anymore so I packed them into a bag and brought them to Crisis. After doing that it feels a little bit like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders. Clearing out my wardrobe always makes me feel liberated.

Mrs Hudson running a drug cartel?! I can't believe it! Suddenly I see her in a whole new light. Innocent Mrs Hudson doesn't seem so innocent anymore. No wonder she liked having you and John for tenants. She seems to enjoy having danger in the house. I YouTubed the video of her belly dancing and I am … almost scandalized. Mrs Hudson was Mata Hari, kind of… But somehow it is fitting. I agree: Mrs Hudson is way too canny not to know in which kind of business she was involved. You'll have to tell me the story of how the two of you met one day. I'd love to hear it.

What do you mean with me having masochistic tendencies? What's that supposed to mean? Like most people I don't like getting hurt – neither physically nor emotionally.

Thank you for reminding me of my single-status. But has it ever crossed your mind that maybe I like being single and prefer to be on my own? Not all women's purpose in life is to marry, build a house and have children. I think that's a very chauvinistic point of view.

I don't know how you came to think that I don't like parties. I have never said so. So why do you think so?

You did a backup check on Tom? How could you do that? You did not even know his full name. You don't have to check up on the men I am dating. I am perfectly capable of getting an idea of somebody. I don't need any help from you in that department.

Thank you for the accurate description of my date with Tom. (This is meant to be sarcastic!) How do you know about my yellow summer dress? Did you rummage around my closet while staying in my bedroom? Did you go through all my stuff? Does the word privacy mean nothing to you?
The date was not as terrible as you painted it out. Maybe to you "normal" things like having a good conversation are boring, but for me they are not. I like listing to people talking about their lives and getting to know them through that. It was definitely not the worst date I had ever had. But I admit that it was not perfect. But not everything has to be perfect. Hardly anything is ever perfect. Especially if you want something to be so. And since you don't even date, you are not one to judge. If the pub was such a boring idea, where would you take me for our first date?

But you were wrong: I texted him and we met again for lunch the other day and I had a good time. Since he knew I had known you he asked some questions about you (like what kind of person you were or how we got to know each other and if I thought any of the stuff the tabloids had written about you were true). I told him a bit about you and what I thought of Kitty Riley. Don't worry I did not go into detail about your death. I merely told him some general stuff about your job and some cases. Tom is a good listener. We agreed to meet again someday for lunch, but I think it is clear now that there won't be anything more between us than friendship.

So, I have to go to bed, because it's getting late and I have the early shift tomorrow.

Take care!
Yours,

Molly