The Devil's Charm (James Moriarty X Reader)

• three •

The bell jangled on the front door of Speedy's as you entered the cafe at twelve-thirty the next day. Your immediate impressions of the cafe was a lot of energy packed in a small space, and also the pleasant smell of coffee and sandwiches. The building had large windows at the front and back, making good use of the weak British sun.

Your eyes scanned the room nervously for a few seconds as you listened the busy chatter and clamour of utensils on plates. God, I hope Molly is here. This was the correct time, right? I double-checked the text this morning, I'm sure...

You breathed a sigh of relief as you spotted Molly reading a book in the far corner of the cafe. You hurried over to her, weaving between waiters and other customers, your f/c handbag bumping against your ribs as it hung from your shoulder.

"Hi!" Molly said excitedly, looking up as you approached. She quickly stuffed the book in her handbag as you sat down. "How're you?"

"Oh good. How're you?" you replied, noticing how the sunshine leaked through the glass back door, which Molly had her back to. It lit up half her face and made her brown hair sparkle gold slightly. She was wearing a flowy blue floral shirt and jeans with her hair in a soft ponytail. You yourself were wearing a f/c-and-white baseball tee and black ripped jeans with your hair down, the ends still showing the remains of yesterday's curls. You hardly ever found the motivation to do anything special to your hair for work, and you were happy about that particular, small victory.

"I'm great, thanks," Molly grinned. "Very busy at work recently. Yesterday was all right, but the night before that I flopped on my bed as soon as I got home." She took a sip from her complimentary glass of water. "This morning, though, I woke up with Toby lying on top of me. It's the best start to a Saturday, having a cat sleep on you."

The two of you giggled together, and spent the next couple of minutes chatting easily until a waitress came and gave you a menu each. You had only met Molly just over a month ago - two weeks after moving to London - at a mutual friend's party, but she was so talkative and nice that you had grown rather close to her in a short space of time.

"So what would you recommend?" you asked vaguely, scanning the short menu. The sheet of thick paper was laminated, and the plasticky material felt cold and smooth under your fingers as you scratched it absentmindedly with one slightly chipped fingernail.

"Oh, I usually just order a sandwich or a soup," Molly replied, reading her own menu. The waitress soon returned to take your menus, and you ordered a latte and a BLT.

"So, how've you been coping in the big city?" Molly teased, flipping her ponytail over her shoulder.

"Oh, yeah, I love it here," you replied. "A bit noisy, and I'm always paranoid about someone breaking into my flat, but otherwise I've been settling in fine."

Molly grinned and sipped more water. "Yeah well, you'd have those concerns in any city! London has a certain charm to it that I haven't found anywhere else." She grinned again, the skin wrinkling on her pale-pink-painted lips.

"It really is lovely here. So many nice shops and restaurants, so many interesting people. And so much good food!" She shifted in her seat. "So how's that job coming along? You work at...a pet shop, right?"

"Yeah," you confirmed. "It's pretty good most of the time, especially when a customer brings their dog in. Sometimes I wish we sold actual live animals, but the manager of the business is really against that." You poured a glass of water for yourself and took a sip.

"Do you have a pet of your own?" Molly inquired.

"No, sadly. My landlord doesn't allow that. I had animals growing up, and I've always loved them. But at least I get to see animals on a pretty regular basis, working at a pet shop."