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After the night of stargazing Molly found she tried to spend more time around John when she could, and he around her. It was quite nice to have another friend around the school; she found Clara and Amelia and Mary quite enjoyable, and Danny and John Watson as well, but her John was quite special in a way they weren’t.
Her John. It seemed to her that, perhaps, she’d developed a little bit of a crush on him. It seemed so silly but it was true. He was charming and a little awkward and a tiny bit goofy and she found him to be quite wonderful. If she ever actually dated he would be the perfect guy to date. But she was so unlucky with men. She hadn’t even been kissed! She was in her thirties and hadn’t even been bloody kissed. She was so pathetic. There was no reason a man like John Smith would be interested in her.
She walked up to Coal Hill and adjusted her hold on her handbag and her bag holding her papers for the day so she could shift her coffee to open the door. “Here, let me,” she heard John say from behind her.
“Oh, thank you,” she said, turning to look at him with a smile on her face. Her smile turned quizzical when she got a good look at him. It looked as though he’d rushed out of bed and gotten dressed in the dark. “Did you have a rough night?”
“My night last night was a disaster,” he said. “Amelia had an emergency and we live in the same building so I watched her daughter, and she was a right handful. I think I was up until four in the morning.”
“Oh dear,” Molly said sympathetically. She handed him her coffee. “I haven’t had any and you look like you could use it more than I could. It has a double shot of espresso which I think will help.”
“Thank you,” he said gratefully. He took a sip and then grinned. “Mocha, too. That’s a nice surprise. And a shot of...hazelnut?”
“My favourite type of coffee,” she said.
“I’ll have to remember that.” he replied.
She nodded in the direction of her classroom. “Come with me and we’ll straighten you up a bit before the students come in so you don’t get teased anymore than usual.”
“But the teasing is usually good-natured,” he said with a frown.
“I think today’s would be decidedly more of an ‘Ooh, who were you shagging?’ nature,” she said with a chuckle.
He blushed at that. “Yes, well, I’m not exactly...experienced in those matters,” he said, ducking his head slightly.
“Oh?” she asked.
His blush turned a darker red. “I, um, haven’t even kissed anyone yet.”
“Oh, me neither!” she blurted out. Then she flushed slightly. “I mean, I never really caught anyone’s attention.”
“But you’re quite attractive!” he said, sounding surprised.
“Why thank you,” she said, giving him a shy smile as they stepped into her classroom. “I guess I just don’t appeal to most men. I’m not...interesting enough, or the right type of pretty. I don’t know. I’ve never really tried to figure it out. I’ve just accepted I’ll probably be alone forever.”
“That isn’t fair,” he said, watching as she set her bags down beside her desk. “You don’t deserve that. You’re amazing! You’re pretty and you’re nice and you’re charming and you’re lovely. You deserve to have someone in your life who sees that.”
When she’d gotten her things settled she went back around to him and then began appraising his appearance. She smoothed his hair back before ruffling it just a little and then undid his bow tie before retying it. “It’s nice of you to say it, John, but the truth is that there’s no man that I’ve been around who is interested in me like that.”
He looked down at her as she tied his bow tie. “Well, that might not be quite true,” he said quietly.
She paused and then looked up at him. “Oh?” she asked, her eyes wide.
“I was thinking that, perhaps, we could...go on a date?” he asked, his voice sounding hopeful but guarded.
She smiled a wide smile at him, nodding emphatically. “Oh, I would love that very much, John! A date would be wonderful.”
“Really?” John said, giving her a smile that was just as wide. “Oh, excellent. Maybe tonight? I mean, if you’re free tonight.”
“I am,” she said. “Maybe we could go see a film? Or go get a bite to eat?”
“We could do both,” he said. She finished tying his bow tie. and then adjusted his shirt and fixed his tweed jacket, brushing off the shoulders. “I like spending time with you. Any reason to spend extra time with you would be good.”
“Well, I won’t object to that,” she said, taking a step back and giving him a once-over. “I think you look better now. The students shouldn’t give you any grief today.”
“I appreciate it,” he replied. He hesitated for a moment and then leaned forward and kissed her cheek. “Thank you, Molly. You’re amazing, you really are.”
“Well, it was the least I could do,” she said, blushing and looking down. “But...why don’t you come by after classes today and we’ll see when we want to have our date, alright?”
“Alright,” he replied. “I’ll see you after class.” Molly looked up and saw him walk away with a grin on his face, and he gave her a grin and a wave before he left her classroom. She felt a grin settle on her own face and knew that all day today she’d be daydreaming about this date and she hoped that it wouldn’t interfere with her duties for the day. That would be quite troublesome if it did.