She shivered and rubbed her hands together - it really was rather cold. Looking at her watch she realised she'd missed the last bus home - the service stopped at seven in the evening and it was now five past. That meant paying a small fortune for a taxi but without her bank card she couldn't get any cash. She bit her lip worrying about what to do. Walking would take about an hour and wasn't exactly the safest option now it was getting dark. She closed her eyes and tried not to think about the pizza that was waiting for her at home or the central heating she'd been looking forward to cranking up.
"Will someone be worrying about where you are?" Adam's voice startled her slightly.
"Erm ... no." She shook her head. "I'm not actually sure how I'll get home since I've missed the last bus and my bank card has been swallowed up. What about you?"
"Yes ... I was already late and now I'm letting a lot of people down." He ran his hand over his face anxiously. "This has the potential to be incredibly embarrassing," he sighed.
Martha looked at him curiously. "Embarrassing? It's hardly your fault."
He shrugged. "Nature of the beast I'm afraid," he said cryptically.
She eyed his expensive looking suit, his shiny shoes and his crisp white shirt, and wondered what he meant. Everything about him looked expensive right down to his bright white teeth. He slumped back against the wall and sighed again.
Martha's tummy rumbled loudly and Adam smiled. "Hungry?"
"Yeah ... serves me right for working through my lunch break. I'd give anything for the pizza that's sitting in my fridge right now ... and a blanket." She shivered again.
"You can borrow my jacket if you ..."
"Don't be ridiculous," Martha interrupted, "I'm wearing a jumper and a coat! You must be much colder than I am."
Adam raised one eyebrow. "Ridiculous? I guess it's an improvement on obnoxious but I rather hoped I was being chivalrous and gentlemanly."
Martha giggled, "It was a very chivalrous offer but it wouldn't be fair." If he was obnoxious he was definitely hiding it well she thought.
He shrugged in acceptance and they settled back into a companionable silence.
--
Half an hour had passed and it was now completely dark outside, the only light coming from the moon and the occasional car driving past. Martha looked hopefully at her phone again but there was still no signal although she wasn't sure who she'd call. She pushed it back into her handbag and her cold fingers found something she'd forgotten was there. She pulled it out triumphantly. "Smarties!"
"You mean to tell me you've been hiding chocolate in your bag all this time?" Adam looked at her incredulously then grinned. He seemed more relaxed now and the sighing had stopped.
She opened the tube excitedly. "I forgot they were in there. Want to share?"
"I'm not sure if I should take chocolate away from a hungry woman, wouldn't want to spoil the chivalrous image I'm building up here." He smirked at her.
Martha sniggered slightly. "It's OK, I won't tell anyone. Give me your hand."
Adam held his hand out in the shadows and she grasped it before tipping roughly half the contents of the tube into his palm.
"Thank you." He smiled gratefully as he started eating the Smarties one by one.
Martha smiled back and putting the tube to her lips tipped her head back and let the sugar-coated chocolate slide into her mouth. A soft chuckle next to her suggested that Adam found this amusing. She turned to him as she crunched the chocolate.
YOU ARE READING
The Warmth of Strangers
Short StoryTwo strangers are thrown together under rather chilly circumstances and find unexpected warmth. Disclaimer: This is an original work of fiction. All characters appearing in it are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purel...
The Warmth of Strangers
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