LOVE IN REVERSE. doctor who

1. the one where they meet for (not) the first time

          In the background you could hear jazz music, the clinking of cutlery against plates and quiet conversations between fancy dressed passengers. Everyone in the dining car of a train had a rather relaxed and happy face enjoying the meal and their company. Ivy's dark and calculating eyes went from one person's face to another trying to make out something more than satisfaction with the food and service. Every now and then she would sip a whiskey on the rocks, which she would swirl a few times clockwise each time. The ice cubes that were slowly beginning to melt clinked against the walls of the crystal glass. And each time she did it, she received an annoyed look from one of the men from the table to her left, but because he didn't say to her anything about it she continued clinking the ice cubes against the glass with an amused smirk.

After another few dull minutes, Ivy heard the elderly woman's voice shrill from behind her, so being curious she turned around and looked at the two women a few tables away. At first she watched the older woman with curiosity, but with every sentence that left her mouth, Ivy began to worry and with furrowed eyebrows she began looking around the compartment. She hoped to see something that the terrified woman was looking at, but all she could see were the confused faces of the rest of the passengers, who began to look at the situation in front of them.

"Oh, no! Get it off! Get it off!" And suddenly the woman went limp. The blonde who was sitting with her abruptly stood up — as well as all other passengers — with panic written all over her face.

"Oh! Is there a doctor? Sorry, I need a doctor. Sorry, I don't know. She just, she just stopped."

A man started squeezing through the crowd to see what had happened to the elderly woman. Ivy, on the other hand, quickly drank her whiskey to the end and moved toward the blonde woman who was on the verge of collapse. Of course, getting through to her was not the easiest of tasks, as she was surrounded by a crowd of onlookers. But most of passengers let her pass after hearing a silent "excuse me". Well, everyone except the man she had previously annoyed with ice cubes. Therefore, wasting no time, she "accidentally" stepped on his foot with her heel, which made him glare at her, but nonetheless he let her pass.

When she finally reached the woman she quickly shifted her gaze from her to the unresponsive older woman at the table and the man who was checking on her for any signs of life. After about two minutes of tense silence, the man raised his head with a sad look in his eyes at the blonde and shook his head telling there was no signs of live. He then rose from his squat position and called out to people who worked on a train to attend to the body, while he himself began to disperse the crowd of onlookers. As most of the passengers either returned to their table or went to their cabins to sleep, Ivy turned to a woman about her age who began sobbing as she watched the men take the body of the older woman. She placed her right hand gently on the blonde's left shoulder, who jumped slightly at the unexpected touch and glanced at her.

"I know we don't know each other, but you'll be okay." She smiled gently. "I'm sorry for your loss and if you need anything you can always come to me..."

"Maisie, Maisie Pitt." She wiped the wet skin under her eyes with the back of her hands.

"...Maisie. I'm Ivy Davis." She glanced at the woman's hands, which had begun to tremble. "Why don't we sit down for a minute?" She pointed to a nearby table from which Maisie immediately looked away and swallowed thickly.

"I'd rather not here." She quietly replied looking anywhere but at a nearby table.

"Okay, okay... We don't have to sit here. Maybe to your cabin, if that's okay with you?" The blonde shook her head. "Okay then, how about spending the night at my cabin? I have it all to myself and there are two beds, so you can sleep there in peace. How about that?" She asked softly, massaging the woman's back gently.