Entry 13

Upon returning to the Palace, residents were chatting in the lobby and traversing back and forth between rooms. Everyone seemed to be in good spirits but I couldn't help but feel that Mr Hudson was still dwelling on whatever was bothering him earlier.

I approached the desk he often stood behind and placed a bag in front of him, a delightful aroma wafting from it.

"I wasn't quite sure of your food preferences," said I, pushing the bag towards him.

"Thank you, Miss Watson," he gave me a worried but grateful look.

"Watson!"

Shirleigh practically tumbled down the stairs, still wrapped in her house robe and hair flowing behind her.

"Shirleigh, be careful!" I took a step forward. "Your arm—"

"Stand there for a moment."

I stood up straight as she held up a newspaper next to my face. I glanced at Mr Hudson in my peripheral who shrugged his shoulders in confusion.

"No, not red enough," she mumbled as she turned away.

"Not...red...?"

"There is an advertisement for a 'red-headed league' here," she handed the paper to me. "They provided the specific shade of red they were searching for. Your hair is too much on the blonde side."

"I'm...sorry...?" I apologised, not entirely sure what I was apologising for.

"You brought food—"

"I came as quickly as I could!"

Everyone turned to face the doors where a woman had barged in.

She was taller than me but shorter than Shirleigh and had a bit of a rounder figure. Her light blonde hair was twisted into tight curls that bounced like springs and her bangs graced her eyebrows. Sapphires adorned her face as eyes and her makeup was done exceptionally well. The dress she wore had several folds and pearls strung around as accessories. In one hand, she held a phone, in the other, a suitcase that matched her outfit. She had the air of someone important and I was in awe of her beauty.

"Miriam...?"

I looked at Shirleigh who was staring at the woman in the doorway, her eyes wide.

"Shirleigh! Oh, my heavens!"

The woman darted across the marble floor, leaving her suitcase at the door, her phone clattering to the ground in the process. She threw her arms around my flatmate and embraced her tightly, slightly oscillating. Shirleigh looked rather speechless as she dropped the paper she was holding and placed her hands on the woman's back.

"Are you alright?" the woman asked in a concerned tone. "What happened? What's going on? Your arm! Is your arm okay? Show me."

The woman was quite frantic and it was clear that she knew Shirleigh quite well. A friend?

"Um, I'm sorry, but you dropped this," I said, holding out the woman's phone.

"By Jove!" she exclaimed when she whipped around to face me. "You must be Miss Watson!"

Before I knew it, she had pulled me in and the three of us were crammed into a group hug.

"I apologise," she said, letting us go and patting the wrinkles out of her dress. "My name is Miriam, Miriam Holmes. Shirleigh's older sister."

"..."

I stared blankly at the woman before me, several thoughts and none at all in my mind. It felt like there were so many questions I wanted to ask but all of them were just out of reach.

The woman giggled.

"Right, Shirleigh hasn't mentioned me, has she? But she mentions you a lot."

"She...does...?" I asked, still in a state of disbelief.

"Ever since you moved in — which, welcome, by the way — she always has something to say," she stated. "Like, how you're a wonderful listener and how you're perfume—"

"Miriam!" Shirleigh abruptly interrupted. Her face was tinted with blush in an expression I never thought I'd see from her.

"Why...are you here?" Shirleigh asked straightening her posture.

"Why am I here? For you, of course! Mr Hudson called me last night," Miriam lowered her voice to a whisper. "He told me you had been shot. What were you doing?"

Miriam's voice was full of worry and it was plain to see that she loved her sister very much.

"Perhaps it would be better to speak about this in the flat," Shirleigh said. "We wouldn't want to worry the other residents."

"Oh! You're right!" Miriam glanced around and returned everyone's waves like a sort of celebrity.

"It is nice to see you again, Miss Holmes," Mr Hudson bowed.

"Please! You don't have to be so formal. You can just call me Miriam."

"If that is what you wish."

"It is," Miriam said, nearly swooning.

Shirleigh let out a long and exasperated sigh, clearly annoyed and growing impatient.

"Sorry, Love," Miriam said, retrieving her luggage from the front doors. "I'll be right behind you."

»»————-　♔　————-««

"Oh, it's so much cleaner in here than I remember!" Miriam spun around in a circle before collapsing onto the sofa.

"Oh!" She sprung to her feet in a way that resembled Shirleigh. "I wonder how Charlie's doing."

She disappeared down the hallway that led to the bedrooms.

"Charlie?" I asked, turning to face Shirleigh.

"The fiddle-leaf fig in your room, or, rather, her room that you now occupy," she explained. "Why the name 'Charlie', the world may never know."

"So that's her room," said I, thinking about the furnishings and decorations. "That makes sense now."

"He looks absolutely lovely!" Miriam said, emerging from the hallway. "Have you been caring for him?"

"I occasionally water the soil and rotate the pot from time to time," I told her. "I love gardening, so it's nice to have a plant to care for in my free time."

"Oh, that's wonderful! Shirleigh is terrible at gardening, so I always get worried when she has to tend to the houseplants."

I was unable to keep myself from snickering and I could feel Shirleigh's icy glare from beside me.

"Do you like it here?" Miriam asked, sitting beside me on the sofa. "If there is anything you need or something or someone is bothering you, be sure to let me know, okay?"

"Oh, right," I acknowledged noticing how she resembled a caring mother. "You sound as though you own the place."

"I do."

"Wh-what?"

"I am the founder of Victoria's Palace," she said, jumping to her feet and spinning in yet another circle. "I built this very place from the ground up. Well, figuratively speaking, of course. I had to hire a great deal of people to assist in making a dream a reality, but, you get the idea."

She fell back into her spot beside me. She placed an elbow on her knee and rested her head on her hand, gazing into my eyes.

"How has Shirleigh been?" She suddenly asked. "I would ask her myself, but she has a hard time conveying her feelings about certain things. She would rather bottle things up inside to keep others from worrying about her than to be true to her feelings."

"Oh, she..." I stole a glance at Shirleigh who was fixated on something outside the window. "I've never met anyone quite like her, but I would say that she's well. We have only known each other for a short time, so I am still trying to figure her out..."

"Hm..." Miriam stared into my eyes. "Do you like Shirleigh?"

Shirleigh whipped around.

"Don't answer that," she told me, her eyes glowing.

"What do you mean by 'like'?" I asked, still staring into my flatmate's oceanic eyes.

"Whatever you want it to mean," Miriam said.

Unsure of how to respond to her vague question and with Shirleigh's stare piercing daggers in the side of my head, I smiled apologetically in Miriam's direction.

"Boo! Come on, Shirleigh," Miriam slouched. "If you wish not to hear what she has to say, then just walk outside for a moment."

Shirleigh sighed.

"Now, how about you tell me of your gunshot wound?" Miriam's tone turned serious but still carried loving concern.

"I was solving a murder," Shirleigh replied casually.

"You were...solving a murder?"

"Yes."

"You realise how dangerous that is, don't you?" Miriam leaned forward. "I mean, you got shot for goodness sake!"

"I'm fine," Shirleigh murmured. "Thanks to Watson, anyway."

Miriam turned to me, gratitude in her eyes.

"That's right, you're a doctor, aren't you? Shirleigh told me as much, but I am afraid that there is so much going on up here," she pointed to her head. "I tend to jump around from one thing to another and I often do things out of order. Forgive me."

"It is quite alright, but I wouldn't say that I'm a 'doctor'," I told her, noticing how she seemed to mix vintage and modern speaking styles. "You seem to be a very busy person."

"You have no idea!" her expression became one of sincerity. "I cannot thank you enough. You have only been here a mere few weeks and have done so much for the both of us. I wish I could be here more for my sister, but my work often has me travel almost every other day and I am always on a plane that takes me someplace far away..."

She frowned as she sat silently and I wondered what she was thinking about. She and Shirleigh shared similar contemplative expressions and beautiful blue eyes. It was easy to see they were related when I looked at them side by side.

"You have a wonderful spirit about you," Miriam said aloud. "It's no wonder Shirleigh let you in. She is quite the cynic, you see. She tries to approach everyone in a neutral state, but it is really difficult when everyone seems to be out for themselves. There are very few she trusts, so the fact that she trusts you means you must be something special."

"Oh, I'm...flattered...?"

Miriam laughed and it was a delight to the ears. It was a light and feminine laugh but also a bit boisterous. It was quite contagious.

Shirleigh was sitting in her chair across from the fireplace, her hand propping her head up on the armrest. Her face was turned away, so I was unable to make out how she felt about the current situation.

"Shirleigh," Miriam said. "Will you be continuing this line of work?"

"More than likely," Shirleigh shrugged her shoulders. "It keeps me occupied."

"Hmm."

"How long do you plan on staying?" Miriam turned to me. "I can waive your fees."

"Oh, um," I twirled my bangs "I had not planned on staying long. I actually didn't expect to still be here...but..."

I watched Shirleigh's legs as she kicked them back and forth in the air. The time I spent with her was not time that I regretted. In fact, I often found myself wanting to stay by her side, to be there whenever she needed me. The thought of leaving suddenly didn't feel right. There was still so much I wanted to learn about her methods, crime-solving, chemistry, and...

"I think I will stick around a little longer," I stated. "But I insist on paying the rent."

Miriam smiled and rose to her feet.

"I will be able to stay for a couple of nights," she said, slipping into her heels. "But I am afraid that I will have to catch yet another plane this weekend."

"Where to?" Shirleigh asked.

"A beautiful autonomous community in Spain," Miriam said. "The Basque Country. I will be staying there for a few weeks."

"Sounds fun."

"Alright then, I will head out," Miriam told us. "I will be in 2-17-B if anyone should need me."

Miriam waved and closed the door behind her.

"Thank you," Shirleigh said aloud.

"What for?" I wondered.

"For not telling my sister about my...current mental state," she said. "And for not answering her preposterous question."

"I most certainly wanted to tell her about your mental health," I stated firmly. "But I felt as though it may not be the best choice for anyone in the current moment. What was the problem with her question anyway? Why did you not want me to answer?"

"Such absurd questions serve no purpose."

"You were afraid I was going to say something bad about you, weren't you?"

Silence.

"How long have they been together?" I asked, breaking the stillness.

"What?"

"Your sister and Mr Hudson," I made my way to the chair across from her.

"They are not together."

"Oh...really?"

Shirleigh intertwined her fingers. "As you have noticed, my sister has the most obvious affection for Hudson."

"But the feelings aren't reciprocated?" I wondered, a bit sad.

"I am not sure," Shirleigh shook her head. "My sister has professed her feelings to him a long while ago. But as you can see, it was in vain. It is not as though he rejected her, however. His reasoning being that his work requires his full attention and he feared that he would not be able to spend quality time with her...or something along those lines."

"You sound as though you are unsure of that which you speak."

"The concept of love is something I was never able to fully comprehend," she said, crossing her legs. "I certainly do not care to comprehend it either."

"Why not?"

"Such an intense emotion is an obstacle to logical thinking. It clouds judgement and only serves to impede reason."

"I beg to differ."

She raised an eyebrow.

"Love is capable of so many things," I told her. "It fills us with happiness and makes us stronger. Humans are not creatures made for solitude. Only when we love are we rejuvenated and reborn, given purpose and another reason to live. When one is empowered by love, we truly feel that we can accomplish anything." I frowned. "I can't imagine how it is..."

"Hm?"

"To be forbidden from loving."

Shirleigh lowered her gaze and a pensive look took hold of her features.

"Would you like something to eat?" I asked, walking over to the living room table where I had placed the takeout. "I was unsure of what you would want, so I'm afraid I just got you what I have seen you eat before."

I waited for some sort of acknowledgement but one never came. When I made my way over to my companion, I found that she had drifted into sleep. Watching her rest so peacefully made me forget everything for a moment and I basked in the tranquillity until a drowsiness washed over me.