The Cold Tea

4. The Tea Palace

The colourful lights of the small Christmas tree standing on a spare nightstand next to the couch reflected in Molly's eyes. She sat there, waiting for the dinner to be ready.

Surprisingly, Blackpool was very snowy that year. She had been given a chance to use a car to get to work every day, since her sister's office location didn't require any sort of transportation. She had already had a problem once when the vehicle wouldn't start because of a sudden temperature decrease. Luckily, a new colleague was there to help her. She also had to scratch the front window every morning. She helped Nathan, her sister's fiancé, with shovelling the driveway several times as well. It was safe to say the winter had hit them pretty hard.

It had been only a week since she left, yet her longing kept growing bigger. She'd begun missing London the minute she put her foot on a Blackpool's street and learned how much her friends meant to her when she saw Lily's face at the station. Her sister was always taller and slimmer than her, despite being two years younger. Unlike Molly, she had a dark blonde hair and blue eyes. They used to joke about this with their parents; their dad had always said that a switch must have taken place in the hospital and they took the wrong girl. Lily and Nathan had a small house, similar to the one Molly had left in London, but much more dim. Molly disliked the walls in the "washed-up" colours and peas-green couch. But they had a fireplace and lots of their photos on the mantelpiece, which kept reminding her of the loss she'd been through recently. Her room, however, was painted cream and Molly decorated it with her own bed covers and souvenirs from home. Like the photo they took on Sherlock's birthday, with his eye brow stitched, one eye completely red, wearing the Sherlock Holmes's hat. The world's only consultant detective didn't look pleased, unlike John and Molly who smiled wholeheartedly. But she knew he'd enjoy that afternoon. He seemed lighter, despite the struggle he'd been going through. She knew how difficult it had been for him to discover and manage all the feelings that'd hit him like a wave. She'd let him be. As always.

The Christmas supper was lovely. Molly enjoyed Lily and Nathan's company; her sister spotted her not entirely cheerful mood, though. Molly knew Lily wasn't going to tell anything for now, not on a holiday, but she thought she should find a way to cheer up, otherwise she would bring a hailstorm of questions on herself in the upcoming days. She didn't have to look too far; the way came to her during the Boxing Day.

The next morning she woke up early, certain that she would be the first one. Once she came down, she noticed her roommates already engaged in a conversation. It turned out they both had finished their breakfast and present opening routine, and were planning on going for a walk. They invited her, but she politely declined their offer. She greeted the opportunity to be left alone with her thoughts with a relief.

She was sitting near the Christmas tree, on the floor, looking through old family photos with a cup of tea on the table. Lily and Nathan were ready to go out.

"Molly!" Lily suddenly exclaimed, epiphany visible on her face. "I almost forgot!"

Molly frowned.

"What?"

Lily turned around in the hallway and began to dig in the big wardrobe placed there. She stepped into the living room after a minute.

"This came in the post a couple of days ago."

She handed Molly a small brown package with her name and current address. Molly tore up the outer layer to see a Christmas present wrapped in a red, starry paper and tied with a golden bow. Despite the address label on the brown paper, the package had an additional tag: Dearest Molly Hooper - SH. She froze, unable to stop staring at the gift.

"What's better on the Boxing Day than a surprise gift, right?", Lily asked, winked and left with Nate.

Molly touched the paper carefully, almost with a worshiper's admiration in her eyes. Regardless of being handled by the mail and kept in a closet, the paper had a faint scent of his cologne. His handwriting was unexpectedly clean. He put an effort in it, she thought. She untangled the bow and carefully peeled off both ends of the paper at the bottom. The box consisted of a creamy envelope titled Clueless and a cup with a saucer, which she recognised right away. She gasped, covering her mouth with her hand.