Are you ready to board the Romance Express?
British couple Charles and Olivia have a great relationship-at least they think they do... While travelling through India, they board a train which, unbeknownst to them, turns out to have magical abilitie...
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New Delhi Train Station, 3:39 pm
When are we finally gonna get on that damn train? thought Charles. Ah, there we go!
With relief, he observed how the line to the ticket counter was getting shorter and shorter. Despite wearing light clothes, he felt the heat of the Indian sun creeping through the rail station, and he noticed how Olivia's blue summer dress was sticking to her back, while he had already unbuttoned his beige shirt halfway.
"Be careful. Is that even allowed here?" she smiled at him and pointed at his bare chest.
"Hey, don't get too distracted," he said, trying his best to grin back at her. "That woman behind the ticket counter should have all our attention. You want these tickets, don't you?" Of course, he knew how badly she wanted to get on that train; how for the past three months she had reminded him daily that I need to do this trip, it will be the trip of a lifetime, you'll love it! Eventually, he had run out of excuses and now here he was in the queue at the railway station, the epicentre of New Delhi's buzzing stop-and-go way of life, relieved that Olivia's good mood had turned out to be contagious. Hey, she was happy, so at least he could be happy for her being happy, right? And didn't he deserve a pat on the back for not even mentioning this morning how little he thought of trains, let alone sleeping in them?
"We're getting close!" exclaimed Olivia as an entire Indian family moved ahead to the ticket booth: a father, a mother, five children and a pile of suitcases. As soon as everybody in the family received their tickets, the way to the booth was clear. Charles and Olivia stepped forward while dragging their suitcases behind them.
An elderly Indian woman greeted them from behind the counter while peering through her large, round spectacles. "How can I help you?" she asked with almost perfect British pronunciation.
"Two tickets for the Varanasi Express, please," said Olivia. "And we would like our own compartment with air conditioning if possible."
The ticket lady leaned forward and continued to scan them like a bouncer would at a high-end London nightclub, looking at Olivia first and then turning to Charles, letting her gaze linger on him. Charles felt a large drop of sweat crawling down his back. He wasn't sure: Did that come from the heat or was it that piercing glimmer in her eye?
"The Varanasi Express, with your own compartment, I see, I see. Hm..." She paused and stared at the screen in front of her. "Not so sure if I have tickets left, although I might have some set aside for special occasions. Are you on your honeymoon?"
Charles laughed. "No, no, just a fun couple's holiday."
"When couples want to go on a fun holiday, they go to Greece or Portugal—not India; and they certainly don't take the Varanasi Express."
"I would call it a fun couple's holiday with a spiritual finale," Olivia said with a smile and Charles could sense how hard she was trying not to sound desperate. "The ceremonies in Varanasi sound fascinating and I—I mean we—love the idea of relaxing there a bit before returning to hectic London."
