New SS: Starlight Express CLOSED Indefinitely - Page 4

can we expect a Christmas gift😳

With the scenery streaming past her, faster than she could navigate cars to spot him in the empty coach, the coffee cup wobbled in her hand, dangerously threatening to cause a spill. Her eyes searching, eyebrows raised, her curls in a mess just as her thoughts were, her hand traced one seat after another until she crossed two cars. She came to terms with an unsuspecting disappointment that hadn't existed minutes before.

It was beyond her why she was chasing him, when he hadn't thought fit of his time to listen to anything she had to say. Standing for a moment there, leaning on to the side of a head rest, her hand continued to draw circles over the rim of her glass and strangely it reminded her of the downward tunnel she'd been tumbling into all along.

Partly she'd gone in search of him from the unexpected familiarity that had gripped her when she'd first seen him with the coffee cups. And then there were other things that felt almost unnatural to be attuned to. Like the soft crinkle by the corner of his eyes and the warm smile in contrast to his curt act. She rolled her eyes at how sickeningly lonely she must be to be falling for any promising attention by some weird play of chance.

Her feet found its way back to her car, taking small sips to drain half the cup by the time she was at the door. Upon stepping inside, her feet stilled and then began moving in small confused steps, her hand clutching to the cup a tad bit tightly as though she anticipated someone to grab it and run any second now, her eyes shooting straight at the man who was two seats behind and diagonally across from her own . She concluded that he must have returned to her car in the time she'd gone looking for him.

She came to a stop right where his food tray ended and waited for him to look up. It surprised her that her presence there didn't catch him off-guard and to add to her burn, he flashed a baiting smile. Leaning back into his seat, his head lifted to her eyes almost as if he was ready to handle everything that she was about to throw at him; in fact challenging her to do so.

"Thank you..." She then quickly added, "If this is your attempt to pick me up...no thank you", and she turned around to open the overhead luggage compartment above her seat and pulled out her wallet. Sorting out a five dollar bill from the bunch inside, she thrust the same onto the tray in front of him. It again escaped her why she was being quite touchy about the subject and then she swiftly walked out of the car trying to match the same rude behavior he'd displayed by giving no room to explain himself to her.

It wasn't until she closed the door behind that she realized - in an effort to give him a taste of his own medicine - she'd walked out of her own coach and that she would have to come back to her seat one time or the other. She slapped her palm onto her forehead lightly, feeling foolish in a way she hadn't in a while. Without embarrassing herself more, she went back to her car after a few minutes. He shifted his gaze from the window to her and a faint flush crept up her cheeks while she tried to feign indifference to the only company in the coach.

Not until she was reclining against her seat did she become aware that she was counting time for him to quip about the little flaw in her retaliation. As if right on cue, he spoke in an airy manner, maintaining nonchalance, and she winced even before she could hear him out.

"The Blue Bottle Coffee Co..." She blinked, a jolt from his words hitting her from the inside and she awkwardly climbed onto her seat to face him at the mention of her favorite coffee shop in the whole wide world "Two blocks from Van Ness...you are there every day at 5.30 PM, rain or shine" He ended and kept his gaze fixed at something far outside the window, straining to bring the same object into focus against the bright shining rays of the sun.

As he slipped into silence, she slid back into her seat, hiding from him to speculate the frightening possibility that he could be a stalker from SF. Then it happened, like swarming fishes her mind threw a hundred other theories to explain how a stranger could have casually mentioned a routine out of her predictable life.

"I'm not a stalker" He said as if he was tapping into her head remotely, "I just happen to come there at the same time as you do"

The information didn't bring relief to her entire being, but just enough to be thankful that he wasn't sounding obsessive or morbid as the serial killers she saw on TV and she refused to move another muscle until all her fears would be rightfully dismissed by him. It struck her then that she was hoping he would dismiss it for her. What exactly was wrong with her?

"But yes if buying coffee to gain your company seems like a pick up stunt, then so be it" Her resolve dissolved and she swiveled around in her seat to eye him with a cold stare.

"Don't get me wrong, but I hate eating alone during the holidays..." he continued with a weak smile "And you should also know that I tried to pick up other people too - men included impartially, but their interest faded once they came to know I wasn't gay"

She couldn't help the smile that forced itself on her lips, like bottled up fizz and she sat back guiding her eyes to the side of her window. It was obvious that he was waiting for her to respond and the essence of the hopeful silence that she suddenly felt in the air was coaxing her to converse back. Her choice was to remain non-committal though the eagerness to know as much about him as he did about her was getting the better of her. What if he was indeed a psycho on the loose?, she found herself asking one last time before she took a deep breath and finally decided to indulge him.

"And why did the women refuse?" She asked, without getting up from her seat.

There was a pause and she didn't quite understand the delay when he was the one who wanted to chat her up. When the long seconds began to drain her, she turned in her seat and in a stealthy move peeped through the crack in-between her seats to spot him.

"She said she is on her second honeymoon" His voice came directly from top of her head and she jerked back from his sneaky visit.

"Geez! You are creepy" She gasped.

"No...I'm not" He affirmed confidently and took the seat opposite to her, on the other side of her tray table.

"So I was saying..." He spoke, while she continued to shuffle in her place, mortified to having given away her interest in him "The charming lady is on her second honeymoon with her 40 year old husband. She doesn't want him to think her affections lie elsewhere and the others were coming onto me - which I wasn't comfortable with"

"Ah!" She exclaimed and picked up her cup for few of the last remaining sips.

"I'm Maan..." He extended his hand out and she took it without hesitation, which again disconcerted her that she was doing things with him against her reticent self.

"Should I mention my name?...Or is that going to be unnecessary?" Her tone came out sarcastic as opposed to being miffed that she thought she was.

He must have picked up on her mood which he showed by switching to a slightly apologetic tone "I didn't mean to use that knowledge about you, like that...and I'm sorry about me being brusque earlier. I was just trying to get you to have dinner with me". He ended without displaying any interest in knowing her name and that offended her, while at the same time his disinterest allayed her qualms about conversing with a possible serial killer.

"And that too by playing hard to catch?" She added wryly.

"Oh! you know women..." He retorted.

"No...I don't...you tell me"

He kept his smile, though she thought she'd cornered him. It amused her beyond words to hear him explain his theory with a touch of humor that from another man would have appeared downright chauvinistic and insulting. For the first time in a long time, she found herself smiling freely and startlingly accepting his point of view about approaching women - which he'd later corrected and stated in an appropriate fashion that applied to women approaching men as well.

"It's like tasting a new cuisine...you are either going to leave with a bad taste in the mouth, vowing to never go that way again or you are either going to keep coming back for more" He'd paused for a while, drawing emphasis to the conclusion he'd wanted to add in the end "But it's part of a life experience and you never know when it's going to taste like serendipity that was never meant to be accidental in the first place"

She couldn't bring herself to believe that the part about bitter taste wasn't aimed at her. In the little over ten minutes she was speaking with him, it had become clear that he didn't know anything else about her excepting the little detail of the coffee shop where she was a regular. Her mind kept swirling around his reference to bitter taste being part of a life experience, though she was easily engaged in a conversation - discussing the recent changes to tram schedules in the downtown area. Strangely since then, all of her past made sense to her for a few seconds and in the time that followed, the same understanding seemed to slip out of her reach. Despite the failure she faced, she was determined to keep going at the depressing cycle until she could push it out of her head altogether.

"You still haven't told me your name..." A welcoming respite his words were, to her listless preoccupation.

"Geet..." She extended her hand, already familiar with his firm shake of his hand and then she truly understood of what he'd just described only moment ago. Without doubt, the warmth she sensed later in the inside of her palms was designingly serendipitous and yet not accidental at all.

Awesome update !!
Loved it !!
Can't wait to see where this heads !!

Finally, an introduction! Can't wait to read more! Thanks for the update.


Merry Christmas!

😍 Need I say more...

Originally posted by: Soapoperasrfun

😍 Need I say more...

Of course...the more you have to say, the more I will be writing ;)

Very nice part
so the stranger was Maan indeed
Even he didn't want to be dining alone
His way of making geet comfy was very good.
though she was so skeptical she fell into conversation very easily
maan seems to be charming with his straight forwardness.
Looks like its going to be a memorable holiday for both of them
Waiting for the next part

Originally posted by: Ramhari

Very nice part
so the stranger was Maan indeed
Even he didn't want to be dining alone
His way of making geet comfy was very good.
though she was so skeptical she fell into conversation very easily
maan seems to be charming with his straight forwardness.
Looks like its going to be a memorable holiday for both of them
Waiting for the next part

Yes...Glad you liked it. But I hope you know I can't write a story without complication ;) And I'm hoping they learn to have many more memorable holidays...rather than a holiday.

I got it.
After reading the part I feel its time to pay vanness street a visit
😃

awesome updt
lovely
awww maan is straight forward n didnt want to b eating alone
omg geet thought he was picking up on her lol
finally she gave in to converse with him
his logic of approaching women was too good
cont soon!