Her eyes snapped open when she heard the purr and felt a cat walking on her, a cat that she did not possess. Irene Adler shrieked as the creature rubbed its face against hers.
"Get off," she yelled, pushing the thing away from her. She froze as she realised she didn't recognise the location.
The room was a ghastly shade of pink, decorated with cats. There was a small wardrobe against the wall opposite the door and the bed pressed against the wall facing the door. The cat hissed as she stood up, almost stepping on its tail. She ran her fingers through her hair. Her eyebrows furrowed as she realised the hair was too thin to be her own. She looked down at her body and gasped. She looked like a child! Irene was wearing a pink, frilly night gown.
"Jesus Christ," she muttered.
She couldn't help but notice that her voice was softer and quieter than usual. The sweet voice rolled off her tongue like honey.
Irene walked over to the door, stumbling a few times. She wasn't used to these legs and she felt stupid. When she opened the door, she found a dingy flat with old furniture scattered around. There was a bottle of wine on the coffee table and an abandoned glass on the couch. She popped her head into the kitchen and grimaced. Like the rest of the flat, it was old and grimy. The owner had done her best, but it wasn't the best.
After a few minutes, Irene opened the bathroom door, revealing the cramped, spotless room. There was nothing on the bench except a toothbrush and toothpaste. She looked up into the mirror and her jaw dropped. Standing in front of her was the frumpy Molly Hooper, the one Sherlock insisted was just the pathologist and nothing more. Molly was gorgeous, but nothing compared to Irene's beauty. Besides, her frumpy clothes and childish appearance brought down Molly's attractiveness.
"For God's sake," Irene muttered, crossing her arms. "What the hell is going on?"
With a sigh, she opened a draw and found a black eyeliner pencil, some blush, a tacky red lipstick, and a tube of mascara. Rolling her eyes, Irene took them out and attempted to make herself look less childish. She framed her eyes with the pencil, applied some mascara, put the smallest amount of lipstick on as possible, and looked into the mirror.
"Not half bad," she said, admiring her creation.
She made her way back to the bedroom and opened the wardrobe. All the clothes inside were frumpy clothes that would shield her body and make her breasts look smaller than they already were.
If Irene had her credit card with her, she'd go out right now and buy some flattering clothes. To her dismay, she was stuck with Molly's mediocre possessions. Irene frowned as she pulled out one of the few dresses. It was black and did not look like Molly could pull it off. It was a very tight dress that made Irene cringe. The length did not suit it at all.
She decided it was the best she had and she took it out before looking for a strapless bra to accompany it. Irene opened a box in the wardrobe containing bras.
"Oh dear God. This has to be a nightmare. How can anyone live like this?" Irene wondered aloud.
Irene admired her work after half an hour. She had rehemmed the dress and it looked manageable. She decided to wear a cardigan over her dress so as to hide the bra straps. Irene, unlike Molly, was not a tacky person.
Looking mildly attractive, Irene wanted to show off Molly's attractiveness somewhere, preferably get an opinion from someone who is rather blunt and will speak their mind. Only one person came to mind.
There was a knock on the door and Sherlock glanced out the window by his desk to see Molly Hooper standing there. They made eye contact and he rolled his eyes as he moved away from the window.
"Answer that, John. It's Molly," he demanded while standing up and fixing his jacket.
The door to 221B Baker Street opened, revealing John Watson smiling down at Molly.
"Morning, Molly."
Irene smiled. "Morning. Is Sherlock available?"
He frowned at her. "Is everything ok?" he asked.
"Yes, I'm fine, I promise. I just need to talk with him," she told him.
John nodded and moved aside to let her in. He closed the door behind her and they walked up the stairs. Irene continued to assess Molly's influence and social status as they made their way up the stairs. Based on John's easy-going actions and the few things Sherlock had said of Molly, she currently had few friends and was not an influential or important person.
The detective was pacing around the lounge room and his eyes flickered over at Irene when she entered. "Molly. What?" he all but spat.
"I- excuse me?"
Sherlock stopped and his eyebrows furrowed. "What are you here for?"
"Don't use that tone with me," she scowled, crossing her arms in front of her chest and glaring up at him, forgetting about Molly's stutter around Sherlock.
"My apologies. What do you want, my darling Molly?" he mocked her.
Irene rolled her eyes and put her hands on her hips. "Jesus Christ, Sherlock! Have you really forgotten your manners? What would your mother say?"
Sherlock stalked towards her and towered over her. John, meanwhile, stood gobsmacked by the door. "Who do you think you are, Hooper, to lecture me on my manners?"
As Irene's hand made contact with Sherlock's cheek, there was a deafening sound that had John jump. Irene pushed Sherlock backwards.
"How dare you speak like that to me?" she growled back, continuing to push him. "How. Dare. You?"
The back of his knees hit the couch and he fell back into it. He leaned as far back as he could, staring up at Molly, gobsmacked by her change of behaviour. "Molly, what's going on?" he asked, his eyes wide, his eyebrows furrowed.
"Your tone has improved," she spat out. She thought for a second about how bullied and harassed Molly was by Sherlock, and Irene knew she couldn't allow that to continue. "I came by to let you know that I won't be working for a while."
"What? Why? You never take holidays. What's with the sudden change? What's happened?" he asked.
Irene couldn't help but feel sorry for Molly. What kind of person doesn't take holidays?
"When has changed ever hurt someone, Holmes?" she asked before turning around and stalking out, leaving the Baker Street boys gobsmacked.
It was only after she had hailed a cab and was on her way to St. Bart's that she realised she had really broken out of character. She buried her head in her hands and groaned. Molly Hooper was going to die when she found out what Irene had done.
When the cab pulled up at Bart's, Irene paid and walked into the hospital. It only took a few minutes to find the head of pathology.
She knocked on the door and after a few moments, she heard a deep voice call from the other side.
"Yes."
She opened the door to see a large man sitting in his chair, smiling up at her. Irene spotted a golden band around his ring finger and she smiled back at him, sitting opposite.
"Good morning," she said.
"Molly, I haven't seen you in a while. How've you been?" he asked.
"I'm well, thank you. How are you? How is your wife doing?" Irene asked, cocking her head to the left.
"Yes, yes, alright, I suppose. What can I do for you?" he asked, dismissing her questions and Irene frowned.
"I'm sorry to do this so suddenly, but I was wondering if I'd be able to have the next few weeks off work? There's been a family crisis."
The man sighed and ran his pudgy fingers through his thinning hair. "Well, you never take time off. I suppose I could schedual someone else for a while… Call a few days before you want to return and I'll fit you in again. I hope everything works out," he said.
Irene smiled and touched her hand to her heart. "Thank you so much. I hope I'll be in touch soon."
She stood up and said goodbye before leaving. Irene knew she had to find Molly and they had to work something out.
A/N: Hey, my darling reader!
I know what you're thinking: 'whaaat?'
Yes, I'm editing 'Fresh Perspective' because I'm not too happy with it and I think that if I edit it more, I'll be more inspired to write it for you all. I'm going through a chapter at a time, and once it's all edited, I'll post the next chapter. I'm going to leave this as 'on hold' because it will be a while before I post the next chapter.
Muchas gracias, mis amores! x