Crafted by angels – Chapter 9

He checked his hair one last time in the mirror. Keys, wallet, phone. Sometimes he forgot one of them. That was troublesome. He had already lost his necklace last week. He clicked his tongue in annoyance at remembering that. He checked his shoes. They matched.

Groceries into cart, through the checkout, and into the boot. They will be a delicious dinner later. He checked his watch. He was making good time. He will be there when she steps off the train. Into the car, where is the black cable? He turns up the volume. Sometimes, he even sings along. But it is a short drive. He skips up the steps to the platform and waits.

Aha! The train is here.

He checks his phone. Yes, it should be the right train. People hurry off the train, and he closely filters the crowd.

She wasn’t there.

For a moment, he wonders if he misunderstood. Maybe she wasn’t going to come after all. Maybe something happened. Maybe it was too much to hope for. Maybe he had missed her.

Yes, he liked the last possibility the most. She was quite small, and maybe she had slipped past him in the crowd. But the crowd wasn’t that big. But maybe she did slip past him.

With that little tiny glimmer of hope, he made his way to the main entrance.

In the distance, he could see her small frame through the glass door. He knew it was her from the distance. She was twisting and bouncing in place. His pace quickened. He pushed opened the door, and she turned. Their eyes met.

 

It was weird. They hardly knew each other, but there was a familiarity about her. It felt natural to fall into step next to her, as she chatted away about snow-topped mountains and being cold. She did not like being cold. It was as if every day for the past years, he had picked her up at the station, and that they would then tell each other of the day they had had. He had never felt this way. To be so familiar, yet so foreign to another person. Why does she seem so familiar?

 

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She had arrived much earlier than she had said. And even then, she had stretched out the journey quite a bit. Where should I wait?

She had vision after vision of them chasing after each other and announcements being made through the speaker, like the lost children in supermarkets. This is why Eve stayed put while Adam was the one gallivanting around searching for her. She thought to herself. But where to stay put?

 

“If we don’t find each other immediately, go outside the main entrance. There is only one.”

 

She headed that way. It was too early, and he didn’t know she was there, but she headed that way. Opened the door,

 

Nope. Damn cold out here. Why on earth would you have me wait out in the cold?

 

She scanned the area. It occurs to her that he very might well look different from the one and only time she saw him. What if he had shaved? Would I recognize him? Oh God, is he standing behind me and I just don’t know it? She peered closely at the people around her. Nobody seemed to pay her any heed. Nobody seemed to be looking for anyone. Embarrassed and cold, she decided to go back indoors where it was a teensy bit warmer.

 

She found a triangle where she could squeeze in to sit down, and took out her journal. She loved her journal. She scribbled and scribbled with one eye on the entrance.

 

He’s probably waiting at the platform where the 7:55 is supposed to arrive. She thought to herself. Shall I go and find out where that is? Nope, Adam and Eve. Stay put.

 

She eyed the candy in the vending machine. She hadn’t had anything proper to eat the whole day, save for a sandwich and a box of chocolate milk. She patted her stomach and took out a cereal bar. *Munch munch munch*

 

She kept away her journal, threw away the cereal bar wrapper, and tried outside the main entrance again.

 

Damn it’s cold out here.

 

She looks around, no familiar face appears. Back in she goes to sit at her triangle. She kept sliding down, and the corner was full of chewing gum and fallen hair, so she made sure to steer clear of that. The last thing she wanted was to greet him with

 

“Hello”

“Hi”

“Err….what’s that?” *points to a thick wad of chewing gum decorated with curly white hair stuck to my thigh*

 

She shakes her head. She eyes the vending machine again. She gets up, picks up her bags, and makes her way outside.

 

Damn it’s cold. She shivers and tries to move around to generate heat. She cups her hand around her face. She turns.

 

 

And there he is, coming out of the door.

 

He looked different, somehow. But she knew it was him. It was weird for her. He was a stranger, but he wasn’t. Unknown, but not. Unrecognized, but familiar. She felt comfortable. She felt at home.

 

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He carefully examined her face. She had been waiting, obviously. But for how long? Should he ask? That might invite unpleasantness. He did not want that. Especially after the day he had had at the hospital. However, he must know.

 

“What time did you get here?”

“About half an hour ago”

 

His heart drops. He was in trouble. He walks a few steps forward to see her face. It is quite far down below. He peers down at it anyway.

“But I didn’t know you had arrived”

 

She has a quizzical look on her face

“Because I didn’t tell you” she finishes his sentence.

 

“Exactly” he still looks at her questioningly

 

“Because I couldn’t.” she continues; her nose crinkled up. She likes to crinkle up her nose, he notes. For a small nose, it sure moves a lot.

 

“and that’s why I wasn’t here earlier. I was waiting for you to arrive on the other train”

 

“I guessed that”

 

She is frowning a bit, but he couldn’t guess why.

 

“So are you mad?”

“Why would I be mad?”

“Because I was late”

“Because I didn’t tell you”

“Exactly”

“Because I couldn’t”

 

She pauses for a while,

“Are you mad?” she asks.

“No, I thought you were coming later, so I knew I had to wait.”

“and I knew you were coming later because that’s what I had told you”

“So you are not mad” he looks at her questioningly.

 

I’m confused, more like it. And why doesn’t he offer to take my bag? I do have two…

She shifts the weight and huffs a little. He doesn’t take notice.

 

“No, I’m not mad.”

“You know, because women sometimes….”

“Nope, not applicable here.”

 

The conversation was going in circles. She decided to talk about mountains instead.

 

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They walked to the car and drove away. There was a chocolate rabbit in the car. She eyed it suspiciously. Its eyes were disturbingly uneven. He smiled at the rabbit.

“It is for Easter. It is a chocolate rabbit” he says.

 

She shifts her foot. There were things on the floor. Do I just step on these things? She wonders. She gingerly placed one foot on what appears to be a hat of some sort. She looks at him, then at her foot. He doesn’t appear to care.

 

Fine, then. Onwards, steed.