My Little Secret

(Ivan Radcliffe)

She was calm all the way back. Looking at her being upset, it was a horrible sight. Sadness did not suit Sofia Malitz. She was meant to be happy. When she was happy, there was warmth around her. Its contagious. You'd get drawn to her and you can't get away from it. I did not want to get away from it. There was always something so positive about her. But right now, seeing her like this, felt like it had been raining for years. Like I would never be able to see the sunlight again.

I was so mad at Victor. I did not want to remind her of things, but I wanted to let her know that I would be there for her.

"We can talk to people about it, Sof. We can get him kicked out. We could take action against him. I'm a witness, I'll stand by you." I told her.

She was quiet. Looking out of the window, wiping her tears after every two minutes. I tried talking but Sofia had gone into a state of shock. It was kinda scary. It was like a flower had dried up, like it was on the verge of death. In that moment, I would do anything to make her smile again.

She went to sleep and I drove to her place. I was confused if I should take her to my place instead, I could keep an eye on her then, but I didn't think she'd appreciate that. Once we reach her place, I stop the car carefully. She was still asleep. She looked so peaceful as she slept. I did not want to wake her up. I carefully push her hair behind her ear, so as to not wake her up.

Her eye twitches a little and she opens them. Her eyes were puffy and her face looked tired. She rubs her eye and tries to understand where she was. For a second, it seemed like she had forgotten about the incident. Then she seemed to remember things and her eyes looked dead. Like her soul had left her body. How I wanted to hug her in that moment and tell her that things were going to be fine. I wanted to be there for her, make sure she's okay and fix her. No matter how long it took.

"Thank you for getting me home." She managed to say. Words came out of her mouth as if it were the last few words she could speak.

"Anytime Sof." I say and get out of the car, and walk to her side. I open the door for her and extend my hand.

"I know you probably wouldn't understand this, but can you please do something for me, no questions asked?" She says weakly. I would anything for her right now. No questions asked.

"Sure!" I say and look at her.

"Of course." I nod.

"It's not because I resent you or something, it applies to everyone." She justifies. She didn't have to, but it made sense. She did not know that I knew.

"I understand. Don't worry about it." I smile to assure her that I was alright with this rule. In fact, it worked for me. I did not want her to know that I had other intentions in the beginning.

She gets out of the car carefully and I ask her if I could walk with her, till her room. She doesn't argue.

Once she gets into her apartment, I was going to head back.

"Take care, Sofia" I say and walk away.

"Why don't you stay a while?" she asks.

I was happy she asked me to stay. It felt nice, to be thought of as someone she could be with, after what she had gone through. She made us coffee while I sat on her couch, looking around. She had such a beautiful house. There were frames on the wall, of her and her friends. She had a couple of paintings gung up as well, by someone called Daphne. The paintings looked beautiful and went with the theme she had set for the house. The door to her room was open halfway, she had painted on those walls and I could see her study table. A lot of stationery.

"Here you go" she offered me a cup of coffee. She sat down beside me and Poirot at her heel. She made good coffee, I thought as I took a sip.

"Catherine, she was one lucky girl; I don't know what she was thinking when she let you go." She said looking at me.

"It doesn't matter anymore Sof, I've moved on. It does hurt, but I don't want her back." I say.

"Well, you'll get someone way better. Someone who's worth it." She says and sips her coffee.

Maybe someone like you, Sofia.