The Past, The Present, and Perhaps a Future
Chapter Eleven: Dinner With Mrs. Holmes
Texts/Thoughts/Emphasis
The next evening, Molly was just getting off of her shift at Bart's when Talis entered her morgue, a sheepish smile on her face, "I hope I'm not interrupting anything."
Molly quickly snapped off her gloves, "Oh no, of course not!" she ushered Sherlock's wife into her office, "I was just about done for the day," she hung her lab coat up, "What can I help you with?"
"Actually I was wondering if you wanted to have dinner, just the two of us." Talis' eyes sparkled with a hint of mysteriousness and mischief. "I think you and I have a lot in common."
Molly was mildly surprised by the request, "Oh, um, sure!" the pathologist bit her lip nervously, wondering what Talis Holmes could want with her.
"Great!" she offered a friendly smile, "Are you free now? There are so many more embarrassing stories of Sherly to share with you." Talis' eyes sparkled with laughter.
Molly looked at her desk, there were 2 reports that she hadn't finished yet, (reports she would have done at lunch had she not been busy reliving her dinner with Sherlock) but she couldn't find herself to be bothered with them. "Dinner sounds lovely."
Talis clapped her hands together happily, "Perfect! Let's go."
Molly followed Talis out, wondering where on earth she'd be dining tonight.
Last night Sherlock had taken her to Tapas Brindisa Soho, the restaurant John had initially planned to propose to Mary in. While she knew that Sherlock came from the upper crust of society, she was still a bit stunned by the warm and welcomed reception they received. It was one thing to get a candle on your table like with Angelo's; quite another to get seated at the private chefs table inside the kitchen and service from the head chef himself.
The evening had been perfect, far beyond her wildest dreams. Up until recently, she hadn't thought Sherlock capable of a typical date. Last night oh so pleasantly proved her wrong. She had gone on a proper date with Sherlock Holmes, complete with a quick goodnight kiss on the corner of her mouth when he dropped her off.
If it weren't for the delicious leftovers Molly had for lunch, she might have feared she dreamt the whole evening up!
"I hear Sherlock took you to Tapas Brindisa last night." Talis' voice broke Molly from her revelry as she led them from the hospital to the awaiting Maybach.
Molly blushed, "Yes, it was fantastic." Her smile was wide, "The food blew away my expectations." She paused, as she took in the car and the handsome driver. "Whoa." Molly didn't know much about cars, but she knew enough to know that one that came with a driver had to be expensive.
"Good evening," The driver tipped his hat, giving Molly a charming smile, "Where to Miss?" he opened the door for the pair.
Talis motioned for Molly to get in, and not for the first time, Molly wondered just who in the world Talis Jordan was.
"St. Johns please." Talis smiled at the driver, "It's in Farrington."
He nodded as he closed the door and got in and began to drive.
"So, Sherlock told you about our dinner?" Molly smiled nervously, after all she had just gone on a date with Talis' husband the night before.
"No," Talis smiled softly, putting Molly at ease, "I get informed whenever someone is invited to dine at the chef's table at one of my restaurants."
Recognition dawned in the pathologist's eyes, "I forgot that Sherlock mentioned that you owned it."
Talis blushed, "Well, I own most of it, Sherlock owns 30%, not that he knows that."
"Really?"
"Yea," Talis chuckled, "Although as clueless as he is with most 'trivial' things, I'm not sure even he knows he owns part of Brindisa, he probably just assumes it's Mycroft depositing money into his account every month. He typically doesn't charge that much for his services, and he gives most of the money to John. How else did you think he made money?"
Molly shrugged, "I don't know. I guess I never really thought about it. I always assumed he had family money."
"He used to have family money, but he blew most of it during his drug days and Mycroft was forced to cut him off from his trust fund. I gather it's been rebuilding, but it's nowhere near where it used to be." She shook her head, "But that's not what I invited you out to talk about."
The women chatted idly about safer topics (Tom Hiddleston, the royal baby, Molly's newest research paper on Chymera's) until they arrived at the restaurant, and Molly wasn't at all surprised that it was another London hot spot.
"Let me guess, you own this one too?" Molly stepped out of the car, smiling cordially at the driver who held the door open for her.
Talis bit back a laugh, "Guilty as charged." She held open the door, letting Molly in first. The staff all turned and greeted their owner with cheerful smiles.
"Good evening Miss Jordan." The host gave a little bow. "Just the two of you tonight?"
Talis nodded, "Yes, and make sure that Sean, our driver gets whatever he wants as well."
"Very well Miss." He smiled before leading the women to a secluded table near the back.
"I'd offer to take you to the kitchen, but we haven't put in a chef's table back there yet. Plus it's infinitely louder here than at Brindisa." Talis explained as she and Molly were seated, and cocktail orders placed.
"It's no problem." Molly looked around at the restaurant. It was packed, and judging by the groups of people mingling outside, the wait was long to get in. "I'm just feeling incredibly lucky to be given the opportunity to dine here. It made several Best Of London lists last year."
Talis smiled in thanks, "It's lovely to hear that. It was really hard being so far away from all my restaurants, so knowing that they've been doing well in my absence has been a weight off my shoulders."
"Good evening ladies." A burly man approached their table, his attire giving away his position as the head chef. "Ms. Jordan, so nice to have you join us tonight." He bowed lightly, "Did you guys have something particular in mind, or should I surprise you?"
"Hm," Talis looked over the menu before turning to Molly, "What do you think Mols?"
"There are so many delicious sounding dishes, I couldn't possibly choose one!"
"I can do a sampler of our most popular dishes." The chef supplied, saving Molly from having to choose just one dish.
"That sounds perfect," Talis handed him her menu, "Thank you Robert." She smiled, "I trust Grace and the kids are doing well?"
He perked up at the mention of his family, "They are, thanks for asking." He beamed, "I'll let you guys get settled and send over some wine pairings once the food's ready, should be about 15 minutes before the first dish comes out." He gave a little nod and headed back to the kitchen.
"To embarrassing stories about Sherly and the beginning of a wonderful friendship." Talis raised her glass to Molly, who clinked her glass in agreement.
John Watson entered 221B to find Sherlock lying on the couch, hands poised under his chin, clearly lost in his mind palace. Grabbing the nearest bobble (which happened to be a ping pong ball where did this come from?) he threw it at the world's only consulting detective, smiling in satisfaction when it bounced off his head.
"What the-" Sherlock startled, searching wildly for a moment before calming, "Was that really necessary?" he raised an eyebrow.
John was imune to the glare, "Yes you twat, I was having a lovely evening with Mary when I got your text." he pulled his phone from his pocket, "Emergency, 221B NOW!" he recited. "Didn't we go over what constitutes and emergency?"
"Yes, but-"
"Thank goodness Mary has more sense than I because she somehow knew that you're 'emergency' wasn't serious and so she stayed home." he put his hands on his hips and stared down at Sherlock, "So, what is it then? What's the big emergency?"
"That." Sherlock motioned to his mobile.
Taking a deep breath to calm his annoyance, John walked to the coffee table and picked up the phone, even though it had been closer to Sherlock. He was used to the brooding man's laziness. "So, what am I looking for?"
"Look at the last message I received."
John pulled up the messaging app and his eyes widened before he grinned like Dr. Evil. "Oh you poor poor bastard, this is an emergency." he couldn't help the laughter that followed, "just wait until I tell Mary! Are your ears burning yet?"
Sherlock glared at his supposed best friend and snatched back his phone, the 3 photo message from a member of his homeless network showed Talis and Molly out to dinner, clearly having a good time, if the number of wine glasses were anything to go by.
John was nearly doubled over by now, "Your wife, and your girlfriend, together, drinking... oh this is too good!" John wheezed, "I'm tempted to tell Mary to get down there to join in!" he wiped the tears from his eyes, however Sherlock's petulant childlike pout and grumble about useless idiot best friends was enough to send him into another fit of giggles.
A couple hours and several dishes later, the women sat, absolutely sated and content.
"That was the best meal." Molly stated as she tossed her napkin on the table in surrender.
"Better than Brindisa?" Talis teased causing Molly to blush in embarrassment.
"I-um," Molly stuttered, she still felt guilty for going out with a married man, no matter what the state of their marriage was, the fact remained Sherlock and Talis were married.
"I can see you overthinking this," Talis placed a comforting hand on Molly's. "so let me tell it to you straight, I have no romantic interest in Sherlock Holmes." Her eyes radiated the truth, "However, I do love him, and will always love him, but I'm not in love with him. Do you know what I mean?"
Molly nodded, finding that she knew exactly what Talis meant, as it was similar to how she felt about Tom.
She squeezed Molly's hand, "I meant what I said the other day, that you mean a great deal to Sherlock," she smiled that Cheshire cat smile and winked, making Molly flush all over again, "and that I think that you and I could be friends." She pulled her hand away, and Molly nodded with resolve.
"Why did you-" Molly stopped herself, not wanting to pry, but she was dying to know why Talis had disappeared, why she had stayed away for so long and why she was back now. "Why did you fake your death?"
Talis sat back, and took a sip from her drink, "Strangely enough, for similar reasons to why Sherlock faked his." She sat forward again, running her fingers around the rim of the glass, "I had a run in with Moriarty just over 10 years ago." Molly gasped at the new information, "Sherlock's been on that mad man's radar for a lot longer than he realized." She swirled the wine watching the legs drip down the inside of the glass, "I had just left Sherlock, I couldn't get him to quit using drugs, and I could no longer continue, because I discovered I was pregnant."
"With Nikolai." Molly interjected softly and Talis nodded in confirmation.
"With my darling Nikolai." She smiled at the mention of her son, "It took me a bit, but I realized that Moriarty running into me wasn't a coincidence. Once I realized that it was Sherlock he was really after, I knew I had to disappear, and do it before Moriarty figured out I was pregnant, and used that against him. So I faked my death, and lived a life always looking over my shoulder ever since." She shrugged, but Molly could tell the decision had hurt, tearing herself away from family and friends hadn't been easy. "It quite frankly sucked, but I did what I had to do to keep my son safe."
"Why not tell Sherlock you were pregnant? Why keep his son from him?" Molly figured she had already tested the waters, might as well dive all the way in.
"Because I couldn't even get him to chose me over the drugs. I was terrified of how he'd react to the news that I was carrying his child." She paused for a beat, "I knew if I told him I was pregnant and he rejected us both, I'd never be able to forgive him." Her voice waivered, but it was the only sign of distress Molly could detect. "So instead of giving him the chance to hurt me, I hurt him and left." She sighed heavily, "It's not something I'm proud of, but I'd do it all over again because my son is everything to me, and I'll protect him until my dying breath, even if it's from his own father." Talis chuckled though there was a bittersweet tone to it, and this time Molly reached out, squeezing her hand gently.
"Thankfully it wont' have to come to that. Sherlock is more than excited at the prospect of being a father."
Talis smiled, "Yea, he is." Her eyes sparkled once more, "I'm glad he'll have you, John and Mary to help him."
Molly made a face of confusion, "And you."
"He didn't tell you did he?" Talis searched Molly's face, "Why am I not surprised? He usually can't keep his mouth shut, but this he keeps a secret." She rolled her eyes as she took another sip of alcohol, liquid courage as it was, "I came back to London because I'm sick, and the prognosis isn't good." She took a deep breath, "Fact of the matter is, I'll be lucky if I make it to the end of the year."
Molly gasped as the realization sunk in, "You came back so Nikolai will have his father."
Talis nodded, "I wanted Nick to know and be comfortable around Sherlock, before I… since he wasn't going to have me around for much longer, although quite frankly, I'm terrified that he'll hate me for keeping him away from Sherlock for so long and for not telling him that I'm dying."
Molly could feel her heart breaking for the woman before her, "I'm sure everything will work itself out. From what Sherlock's told me, he's intelligent and sweet. I'm sure he won't hold anything against you."
Talis smiled ruefully before motioning to the bar, "And if he does," their server brought over an assortment of shots, "There's always alcohol," She handed Molly a bright yellow concoction, before picking up an electric blue one, "lots and lots of alcohol."
Clinking their glasses the women took deep breaths before downing the candy like shots. "Did Sherlock ever tell you that he used to get mistaken for a girl on the phone until he turned 22 and his voice dropped?"
Molly stared in astonishment at the revelation as Talis picked up another shot, a green one this time, and encouraged Molly to do the same.
"It's so strange that his voice is so deep and resonant now," Talis giggled, "because when we were younger, he sounded very much like Kurt Hummel from Glee."
Molly snorted, her drink nearly reappearing through her nose, "You watch Glee?!"
"Watch it? I've been to their concerts." Talis pulled her phone from her pocket, accessing her online photo album that showed her backstage with the cast. "Nick and Jae think I'm the biggest geek, but I can't help it, their covers are so damn catchy!"
Molly stared at the photo in awe, "That's amazing. I really wanted to see them when they came here, but they sold out so fast, and none of my friends are really big fans of the show, so none of them wanted to come with me." Molly pouted, before taking another colorful shot, "Wait, Sherlock sounded like a girl?" she just caught up with Talis' reveal about their favorite man-child.
The look of surprise on Molly's face made Talis laugh out loud. Grabbing another shot she gave Molly a saucy wink, "Why do you think I call him Sherly?"
I know you guys wanted to see what happened at dinner, with Molly and Sherlock, but my muse demanded that this happen first. The next chapter will feature flashbacks to the Sherlolly dinner from both Molly and Sherlock's perspective, as well as some more bonding between Talis and Molly… Sherlock's wife and his girlfriend… his ears will be burning I'm sure!
Happy Love day to all of you! Stay classy my friends!
Getting2KnowL
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