Look East | A Hozier Fanfiction |

21

One Month Later

"Hey Mol, its me. I just thought I'd call before my flight to see how you are, but apparently you're busy. Anyway, I'll try again when I get to London. Bye."

"A chroí, its me again. I landed in London. I've got about two hours before my flight to Los Angeles. I thought I'd see if you were free but you must be busy. No worries. I'll call when I land in L.A. See you soon. I can't wait."

Molly sighed as she put her phone down. She'd missed both of Andrew's calls and the guilt was starting to creep in. She checked the time. His plane landed in an hour and she still had three cases to look over before she could leave. It didn't matter; they had already agreed that she would meet him later that evening after he had a chance to check into the rental. Still she felt guilty that it had been at least three days since they'd last spoken.

The month had passed with Facetime calls and text conversations. The eight hour time difference meant it was usually afternoon for him when he called her in the morning before work and by the time she got off at seven or eight it was too early in the morning for her to call back. Still, Andrew insisted that she could call him anytime, day or night. He called her every morning without fail and their conversations, however brief, were always worth her getting up earlier. When he couldn't get ahold of her, he'd leave a sweet message that she'd get the next time she was free.

Two days after he left she came into the office to discover a dozen roses sitting in a crystal vase on her desk. A week later, chocolate covered strawberries arrived on her door step. The next week, a handwritten card filled with Andrew's looping cursive writing. Not one I love you, as requested. But she knew this was his way of showing her how he felt.

The reality was that Molly truly had been too busy to miss him. The days passed much like they did before their reunion. So when his return date finally arrived, she nearly forgot about it. If it wasn't for his voicemails, she likely would have worked the whole night through.

No matter how many times he assured her that he was okay with her forgetting their designated phone calls or not talking to him for several days, she still felt bad. At least now they had two weeks together. She sighed and flipped through the files in front of her. The sooner she got through them, the sooner she could leave.

"I still can't believe you talked to the Howard kid," Oscar said, coming back into the room with two steaming coffee cups.

"He needs our help," she replied, taking the cup from him.

"I'm aware," he said, sitting opposite her. "But there's no way Michelle with authorize you taking on a gang case. Leave that for the public defenders."

"He has no chance with them and you know it," she countered. "He comes from a good family - single mom who works three jobs just to keep the lights on, three younger sisters, he had a full ride scholarship to play basketball for UCLA before his accident. He was a good kid. Just fell in with the wrong crowd."

"Molly, I love that you have a bleeding heart and all that, but this case is dangerous," he warned. "I don't want you getting hurt. And I'm not going to lie to Michelle for you again."

"Lucky for you, I'm a big girl and I can handle myself," she replied, setting her jaw.

It wasn't the first time they'd disagreed on a case and it wouldn't be the last. Even if Michelle didn't authorize Bright Horizons funds to be used on the case, Molly could still take the case on herself independently. It would be pricey, but not terrible. She returned her focus to the files and within an hour had managed to get through them. Oscar watched her as she packed her things.