It was early morning when Molly left her hotel. She had found a room in a nearby hotel with direct access to Regents Park. Molly knew that she could not stay there permanently as it was already a rather expensive hotel. She had to find something else. Maybe she could stay with her friend Meena for a few days.

Molly could not sleep very well that night. She was much too excited about yesterday. So she decided to take a long walk through the park and stop at her favourite café.
It was a sunny morning and Molly knew it was going to be a beautiful day. At least as far as the weather was concerned.
After a fresh cup of coffee and a chat with the owner of the café, she moved on to her old job. She wanted to visit her friend Meena and see what had changed.

Shortly before noon she arrived at St. Bart's Hospital and immediately breathed in the familiar air as she entered her old floor. How much she had enjoyed working here and how much fun she had had with her friend Meena, despite the actually so bleak place. A little wistful she slowly walked along the dark and tiled corridor. Then she carefully opened the door and entered the brightly lit room. Following her routine, she stopped briefly at the sink to wash and disinfect her hands and then stepped closer inside.
She took it all in. It was so different from the workplace where she was now. In Waterford she had a bigger room. The tables for the autopsy were in the front part, behind them were a few smaller cupboards and on the side were the cooling chambers. In the back part was her office and a smaller laboratory. Yes, it was anything but Bart's.

"MOLLY HOOPER" she suddenly heard a voice screaming behind her. She sounded kind of angry.

Carefully she turned to the voice and smiled.

"How can you just show up here after I haven't heard from you for so long?!"

"Um, I wanted to surprise you, Meena?" she said and put on an apologetic smile.

Meena now approached her closer, looked at her briefly from top to bottom, made one more angry look before turning it into a smile and finally pulled her into her arms.

"Oh Molly, I've missed you so much!" she now cried out in joy.

Molly also beamed with joy and only pressed her harder.

"You look great but tell me, what are you doing here?" Meena asked afterwards after she had detached herself from her.

Then Molly also explained to her what she had already told Mrs Hudson yesterday.

"So, so Sherlock was with you in Ireland? And?" she then asked curiously, grinning and elbowing her slightly in the side.

Molly sighed slightly.
"So what? He was there, solved the case and left again"
Meena knew her friend and knew when she was hiding something from her. She looked at her with a sceptical and penetrating look.

"Molly?! What happened?"

Molly felt slightly cornered and was sure that her friend would not let go. And maybe, she thought, it was good to talk to a friend about it. Talking to men about their problems with men was sometimes not so helpful after all.

"He had told me he loved me.

Meena now stared at her with big eyes.
"Oh, my God, and then what happened?"

"Then he kissed me, saved me from a lunatic who was going to shoot me, told me it was all just a game and that he didn't love me at all and off he went" Molly explained as quickly as she could.

"That bastard!" cried Meena now.
"I can't believe it! How could he do such a thing to you!"

"Oh Meena, I'm just so tired of constantly questioning his behaviour and his games. I just can't do it anymore. And to be honest, he actually did me a favour with that. Now I can live my life and the main thing is that I'm doing well. And I am!" she said then and smiled at her with a shallow smile.

"But tell me, how are you actually doing? How is Aidan, are you still together? And how are things at Bart's without me?"

"Molly, I'm great. Things are going great. It's just that Sherlock Holmes can be really intense sometimes. He's always here or in the lab, working on samples all the time. Then he asks me for the most impossible things, body parts or something," she explained and rolled her eyes.
"Oh and Aidan, that loser, I deported a long time ago. I've met someone new now and Molly, I think it could work this time," she beamed in love.

'Meena and her men. And she always says it could be the right one' Molly thought and rolled her eyes in her mind.

"Ah and who is it?" Molly asked curiously.

"So...well...you know him..." she pushed slightly and picked imaginary lint from her gown.

'Why is she suddenly so nervous? She's not usually like this. Oh, my God, what if it's Sherlock? And what if they were a couple when he was in Ireland,' she thought.
And now slowly she could feel the nervousness building up in HER.

"Meena?! Who is it?"
She just had to know, even if she was a bit scared of her answer.
"Well, it's..." she stammered slightly nervously.

"MEENA!"

"Okay! It's your friend John!" she finally blurted it out.

Molly stared at her with big eyes. She couldn't believe what she'd just heard. John and her friend Meena? But why hadn't they told her? Even though she was slightly shocked, she felt the tension in her slowly releasing.

"Oh... OK. And since when?"

"By Saturday, it'll be three months. We met here. Sherlock was here again, bossing me around. He was downright rude and he kept shouting. John had apologised to me at some point for his behaviour and invited me for coffee to make amends. We got on well right away and yes, we've been meeting regularly ever since. But we are taking it slowly. You know about Rosie"

"Uh-huh. And have you met Rosie yet?"

"Oh, yeah. She's a lovely girl. At first she just always seemed to think I was you" she grinned slightly.
"Rosie misses you very much, Molly," she said.

"Yeah, I know. I miss her too. All of you," Molly replied slightly sad and turned her eyes to the side. Now that she was here, she already felt quite strongly her homesickness and how much she actually missed her friends.

"Molly? Everything okay?" Meena asked slightly worried when she saw her look.

She freed herself from her rigidity and smiled at her friend, shallowly. Her eyes glistened.

"Of course. I'm happy for you both," she then said, wiping her hand lightly over her eyes.

"Are you sure everything's okay?" Meena asked further and cast a sceptical glance at her friend.

"What? Yes of course. You are my friends and I am really happy for you. I just suddenly realize how much I've missed you," she smiled and blinked slightly to hold back the tears.

Meena noticed her sudden change of mood and finally pulled her into her arms again.
After Molly had separated from her again, she wiped the last tears from her cheek and now looked at her friend Meena with a slightly questioning look.

"How is Sherlock coping with all this?"

"Surprisingly well, I must say. I mean it was difficult at first. He was dismissive and totally arrogant towards me. He kept saying I wouldn't be around for long anyway. He couldn't even remember my name.
But since a few weeks he seems different somehow. He has become calmer and nicer. You could almost say more pleasant. He no longer bosses everyone around. We can also meet at John's place without him getting upset. I think he has accepted it" she then stated.

At that very moment the door to the mortuary swung open. The two women turned around in surprise. When Molly saw who had just entered, she froze. Her smile disappeared instantly.

Sherlock stood at the other end of the room and stared incredulously in the direction of the two women. His mouth was slightly open. His eyes a questioning look. With his lips he formed her name.
"MOLLY?"
He was both surprised and shocked. And suddenly all the memories came back. And with them the pain. His first impulse was to flee. Just turn around and walk away.

"Molly? Is that you?" she heard her voice asking quietly after Sherlock.
Greg stepped forward and moved towards the two women. Just like her friend before him, he patterned her from top to bottom. Then he embraced them.

"Hello Greg. How are you?" she asked with a smile.

Sherlock finally decided against his impulse to flee. After all, there was a case to solve. He shook his head in disbelief and now slowly approached.
He stopped just before she did. His questioning look still on Molly.

"What are you doing here?" he finally asked. His tone was slightly cold with a hint of surprise.

Greg looked at him in horror and wondered why he was suddenly so cold. After all, he had become very sociable in the last few weeks. He even knew his name now.
"So Sherlock, is that any way to greet your friends?" he then asked, slightly indignant.

But Molly waved it away.
"It's OK, Greg" and then turned to Sherlock.

"I'm visiting my friends or is that forbidden now?" she answered him with a slightly biting undertone. Molly was surprised at herself. Actually, she didn't mean to sound so angry, but apparently her anger at him hadn't completely disappeared yet.

Sherlock now looked at her again with his mouth slightly open. He did not know what to say now. So Molly was still angry with him. OK, who could blame her. First he confesses his love to her and then he revises this and breaks her heart.

"Uh...uh, no, but -" he stammered, looking for the right words.

Meena seemed to see that Sherlock was at odds with him and before he said anything else, she interrupted him.

"Sherlock, Greg, what can I do for you?"

Sherlock breathed deeply and was relieved that his best friend's girlfriend was now speaking.

They briefly explained the case to her and that they needed a view of one of the bodies. Eventually, the two men disappeared again, not without Greg inviting Molly for a drink first, leaving a rather perplexed Meena and her friend with a look on her face that screamed with anger, despair and disappointment.

"Well, that was...strange" Meena said to her friend a little later, when the two men had left the mortuary again. She had never seen Sherlock so speechless.

Molly didn't reply, but looked at the detective angrily but sadly and disappointedly.
'Why was he so cold? Am I the one who should be angry with him? And why was he so upset to see me here with my friend?'

All of a sudden she sensed that she wasn't feeling well. Her stomach turned and again she had to fight against her tears. Yes, Molly was very sensitive sometimes, especially about Sherlock. She cursed herself for it. Maybe she should just go back to Ireland and spend her holiday there? But her friends were so delighted to see her and wanted to spend time with her. She could not do that to them. And she too wanted to enjoy the time with them.
'Okay Molly. Just swallow it and pull yourself together! It's only a few days' she tried to motivate herself and said goodbye to her friend a little later. John was expecting her for lunch and she had to hurry now.