"Of all the things I felt, but never really shown."
Miss Lemon was looking into her own eyes through the reflection of the small mirror. The dull noise of the train against her ears seemed to be far away. Her breathing was slow with deep inhales. She clenched her fists and burst out crying. Who was she going to fool if not herself? She was broken, unhappy, and all alone. Always in her life she rejected the helping hand she could hold onto, the shoulder she could cry on, and the arms that could hold her together.
Her legs began to tremble and she sat down on the ground. With her face buried in her hands she cried. Her tears were filled with anger and disappointment.
No one heard her and no one cared, or so she thought. She had always played the role of the cold secretary quite well.
She was perfection.
Files in a perfect order on the shelves and inside the drawers back in her office. Yes, that room in Whitehaven Mansions was her heaven. She wanted to return to London. She had been travelling with Mr. Poirot and Captain Hastings to Kiev for four days. It was another mystery to solve. At first, she was happy to accompany the two men and be away from the plain everyday happenings.
All she wanted was to return.
She was a plain woman with plain feelings. She was merely a part of a machine that should never cry, feel, or love. How could she ever fall for someone like him? She remembered his face. Those welcoming eyes and the smile he gave her everytime he greeted her in the mornings. She buried her heart into the thick stock of files and her face deeper into her hands.
She was unsure.
She kept smiling back at him and that was all. She was patient, waiting for him endlessly. She didn't want to lose him. She met those eyes multiple times a day and wished to lose herself in them.
She remembered the case of Amelia Barrowby. She and Mr. Poirot had had to investigate the place while Captain Hastings disturbed the contains of the drawers. She was furious when she found out. Men, neglectful men. Her feelings had changed since then. He disturbed her whole world. He was the man she needed.
She got up and wiped her tears away. She fixed her make-up and left the tight bathroom of the train.
She headed to his compartment.
He was standing alone by the window when she opened the door and stepped inside.
"Miss Lemon, I thought you were already asleep." said Hastings with that well-known smile that made her heart melt and her legs lose their balance.
She walked up to him and kissed him without any hesitation. She cupped his face in her hands and put all her love and care into that single kiss. She felt warm tears stream down her face and wanted to disappear. Her head was spinning around inside. She was about to faint when his arms caught her and pulled her close into a tender hug. He kissed back. Miss Lemon's heart was beating fast, almost crushing her bones to get out of her chest as their lips met from time to time.
Hastings was the one to break their gentle embrace to find the answer to his question in her eyes.
"Why now?" he whispered.
"It's not about time. It's about us." she replied with a small smile.
The characters and the quote above are not mine. The characters belong to Agatha Christie's Poirot. The quote is from the song "I won't go home without you" by Maroon 5.
