A short story - Tread quietly upon the tracks - Complete

'A phone?'

Help? That too, from someone he didn't know? That would be a first - seeing how he was the kind of man who'd never lost a pen or misplaced a pair of shades so far. That being said, he HAD forgotten his mobile phone today. 'Of all days' And after having just worked out something of mammoth consequence in his head, he desperately needed to make a couple of calls. So contrary to the norm, he was quite willing to take her up on this unexpected offer - it was the matter of a couple of million pounds, after all. 'I wouldn't mind'

'Here you go...' She unlocked the screen and held it out.

As soon as he got his hands on the phone, he waved it to his right, indicating he'd have to step aside to make a private call.

No please? No thank you? 'Abrupt' It was tempting to judge him. But she decided to chalk up the abruptness to whatever crisis he might be in! 'Sure... but my 21:02 arrives in five minutes'

'So does mine!'

With a quick nod, he moved a few paces away - much too short on minutes and much too preoccupied with pressing matters, to take proper notice of the lady. In all fairness, she was a good bit shorter than him and he was not the sort of guy that stared. But just as his fingers were about to open the phone-pad, his eyes incidentally caught a fleeting glimpse of the background display - a picture of her. 'Pretty'. And her mister!

'Wait...' Next second, his brows drew into a thick frown. 'Pretty?' That was random! He didn't even remember the last time he'd chosen the adjective 'pretty' for anything. Or, anyone! So, how or why did that adjective just pop up in his head? 'Anyway' A scoff later, he was back to business 'Don't have the time for this!'