Since Summers

thirty four : a girl

One tear escaped one corner of my eye and I quickly wiped it away before he could see it. "Nah. It's not your fault. Anyway, I better go now before I miss my train." I stepped back and his arm fell to his side.

"Well," he shoved his hand into the back pocket of his jeans and took out his car keys. "What a faster way to get to the station rather than having me drive you there?" He twirled the key in one hand as his lips formed a sexy smirk.

I rolled my eyes and gave his shoulder a light shove. With his left hand, he picked up my luggage like it weighed nothing then offered his right arm. "M'lady?"

My only answer was another eye-roll followed by a hearty laugh.

* * * * * * * *

FRAZIER

She turned around and smiled, one hand on her luggage while the other held her ticket and waved at me. I waved back and returned her smile as I watched her walk away. A part of me wanted to go with her but another part told me that I had no right.

I walked to the bench and sat. The clock in the center of the big hall was ticking. Twenty more minutes and the train would go. Twenty more minutes left for me to change my mind. "Twenty more minutes," I muttered to myself and tightened my jaw.

"Frazier?" said a familiar voice on my left. I whipped my head and saw my buddy, Kennesaw Davis (Freja's boyfriend), walking up to me with both hands shoved in his pockets. "What are you doing here? Are you off somewhere?" He looked around me and when he didn't see any bags, he raised one quizzical brow.

"Nah," I shook my head. "I'm sending someone off." A special someone and now I was thinking about whether I would regret letting her go alone or not.

"Oh." Ken smiled knowingly. "A girl."

I rolled my eyes. "Is it that obvious?"

"Since I've never seen you in Penn Station before? Yeah, it's kinda obvious," he answered with a chuckle and took the empty seat beside me. "You're not the type who would take the train anyway."

"Uh-huh," I answered with a little annoyance, "the same could be said about you. You don't look like the type who would take the train too."

Ken grinned. The thing about buddies was that they felt happier when they succeeded in making you feel annoyed. "I know. I'm here to drop Freja off, she's visiting her sister in Boston."

I responded with a nod although I had no idea that Freja had a sister let alone one in Boston. She was more of Ken's girlfriend or Margaux's best friend rather than my friend so I didn't know her well.

"So," Ken turned to face me and put one hand on my shoulder, "I heard about what happened with Margaux and Matt. I'm sorry, man, I had no idea they were into each other." He blankly stared for a couple of seconds before making a grossed-out face and shuddered in silence.

If I were honest, Margaux was the last thing on my mind right now so I gave him a small smile. "Don't worry about it. No one knew. Even I wouldn't know if Matt didn't tell me himself."

Ken nodded and patted my back. We sat there silently and I went back to stare at the clock. Ten more minutes left. Fifty-nine, fifty-eight, fifty-seven...

"Won't you go after her?" asked Ken after a while.

I tore my eyes from the clock and faced him. "What?"

"Autumn. Won't you go after her? You've been staring at the clock like you want it to stop." The corners of his lips twitched as he tried so hard to hide his smile. I narrowed my eyes and that got him laughing his ass off. "What, do you think I don't know that you like her? Everyone knows now since Margaux broadcasted it this afternoon."

I groaned. Everyone thought that I liked being popular and being talked to by lots of people, but in truth I hated it. I hated people knowing (or thinking that they knew) everything about me. I often blamed my parents for being rich or my grandmother for being royal.

No one could choose the family they were born into but everyone should be grateful nonetheless.

"It's only seven minutes left now. You should hurry if you want to catch the train."

I nodded and stood. I was about to run to the ticketing office but paused and turned. "Thanks, Ken."

He laughed and shooed me away. "Anytime, man. Now go and get the girl."

* * *

"How about 14C?" I tapped the wooden surface impatiently. It seemed that I was the only one who realized the clock was ticking and it was only five minutes left before the train departed.

Autumn's seat was 14B and I was trying to get either 14A or 14C. Since the guy behind the glass had informed me that 14A was taken, I was hoping 14C was available.

"It's available for now. Do you want to take it?" asked the guy, asking the obvious. Why else would I be asking if I did not intend to take it?!

I took my wallet and gave him my credit card. "Yes, please."

The guy moved the mouse and clicked multiple times. A small frown on his forehead deepened and I could sense trouble. "Is something wrong with the card?" I opened my wallet and was ready to give him all my cards, whichever one could work since the clock was ticking.

"No. Apparently, the seat was taken by someone else two minutes ago."

I frowned. "What?"

"Yeah, apparently my co-worker just sold the ticket," he paused and scratched his chin. I wanted to yell at him and said that 'apparently' was not a good enough reason for me. "To that guy," added him as he pointed at a man wearing a black flannel shirt who was walking away from the counter beside me.

I was so annoyed that I wanted to bang my head on the glass. Calm down, Frazier. Calm the fuck down. "Fine. Then give me the first class ticket ASAP."

Once I got the ticket in my hand, I chased that man and tapped his shoulder. "Excuse me, Sir, would you mind exchanging your ticket for mine?"

He looked at me as if I was a madman so I quickly showed him my ticket to prove that I wasn't joking or scamming. His eyes narrowed in suspicion as he asked, "Why would I exchange my ticket for yours?"

"Well, the thing is, there's a girl on that train, a very special girl, and that girl will sit next to you," I started nervously, hoping that this man would listen and be kind enough to hand me his ticket.

* * *

"You reminded me of someone," said the man as we walked to the train. He had agreed to exchange his ticket with mine provided that I would accompany him to his seat.

I shoved one hand into the pocket of my jeans while the other held the ticket as it was my most precious possession at the moment, one that required a long convincing speech to get it. "Really? Who? I hope it's not someone you hate," I mused.

"No, but I think he hates me. I've caused him a hell of a lot of trouble after all. I'd be surprised if he doesn't hate me." The man chuckled.

I smirked. This man didn't look like someone who would do something bad to someone but who was I to judge?! Looks can be deceiving. "Well, unlike him, I don't hate you. You made it possible for me to sit next to my girl." Autumn wasn't my girl but it felt right calling her one. I bit my cheek to prevent myself from smiling like an idiot.

The black-haired man laughed and patted my shoulder as he boarded the train. "You probably will if I use your love for that girl to manipulate you, just like I did to that young man." Before he left, he looked over one shoulder and smiled fondly. "Adiós."

I nodded then headed to 14c. I put my hood on and waited with anticipation. I could not wait to watch the surprised look on her face when she saw me.

© All Rights Reserved 2018 AgathaRoza

a/n: if your instinct tells you that that man is important to the plot, your instinct is right but the question remains, who is he? Can you take a guess? (; loads of pizza, agatha x