Steve stood on platform three of Edinburgh Waverley Station with the rest of the guys travelling south, waiting for the 3:05 to London Kings Cross. He stretched and smiled as he was passed a tin of beer. He shook his head and said 'No thanks Dusty, too warm for my liking, I'll wait for a cold one in London.'
Rob 'Dusty' Millar was one of those likeable guys, always joking and messing about, but never taking it so far as to make it annoying. He said 'A beers a beer Steve! Always dependable whether its warm or cold. They'll do cold ones on the train, get this down you for now, there's only two left and these greedy gits'll have it if you don't. What you going to London for anyway? You live in Leeds don't you?'
'Just going for a change, I'm flush at the moment' After five months at sea all the guys had a lot of money burning a hole in their pocket 'Thought I'd go and chat up some of those classy London girls at a night club.' He replied with a smile.
Dusty laughed 'You got no chance mate, they're after good looking blokes! You'd be OK with one of the tarts at Kings Cross though!'
Steve laughed. He knew he was attractive to women, and he never needed to pay if he went looking for a good time with the girls. He was a shade under six feet tall and twenty six years old, he kept himself in shape running and boxing and when he turned on the charm and made lots of eye contact with his large, dark brown eyes he knew that there were plenty of women that could not resist his advances.
Just as he was going to turn down Dusty's offer of a warm beer someone yelled 'Train's coming!' and everyone bent to pick up their cases and bags. Steve was travelling light with just a rucksack and he got to the door first as the train came to a stop. It was a six hour journey to London and he wanted to make sure he got a seat. He wanted to get some sleep as he had not had a full nights sleep the previous night.
The doors opened and Steve got on before the rest. He spotted an unoccupied aisle seat, the type where there is a table between four seats, and headed for it. The seat next to him was taken by a business type with his tie loosened who was reading a book, that was OK, he was not going to be disturbed much by him. The worst type for incessant chatting were old men who had been in the armed forces when they were younger or middle aged women who would insist on talking about their children who were either in the armed forces or who should have joined so that they grew into better adults. Steve put his bag between the backs of his seat and the one behind and sat down.
Opposite him was an older woman, probably in her 50s or 60s who gave him quite a disdainful look when he smiled at her, and next to her, diagonally across the table from him was a girl who was turned away looking through the window. Her long black hair was obscuring her face so he couldn't see how old she was or what she looked like. It didn't really matter, she was in the worst possible seat for him to be able to talk to her and it looked like she was in the charge of the battle axe opposite anyway.
Dusty struggled past and said 'Lucky git, there are no other seats here, I'm going to try my luck in the next carriage.'
Steve leaned his head back and closed his eyes, it looked like he had struck lucky and would be able to get a few hours sleep before London. He'd done the midnight to four .a.m watch and it was catching up with him.
Steve drifted in and out of sleep for half an hour, then the train slowed as it approached a station. He opened his eyes and saw the woman opposite was standing up and reaching for a large bag on the luggage rack above her seat. It had jammed where the long shoulder strap was caught between the rails of the rack. She pulled at the bag as she stood on tiptoes but it wasn't going to move. Steve stood and pushed the strap up, took hold of the handle and gently pulled the bag down and handed it to the woman. She looked totally surprised and stammered 'Th thank you.'
'You're welcome.' Steve smiled as he went to sit back down in his seat. The business man was also standing up and was preparing to get off so Steve moved to one side to let him out. As Steve sat back down again he saw the girl across the table was looking at him and smiling. He met her gaze and smiled back. She was a very attractive black girl with eyes even darker than Steve's and with beautiful full lips. Steve blushed and her smile widened a little before she turned back to look through the window again.
A man and a woman got on, obviously a couple, in their mid thirties, each with a heavy case. They approached Steve and asked 'Are these seats taken?' Steve shook his head and stood up to let him sit down up. The man said 'I don't suppose I could ask you to move to that seat' he indicated the empty seat opposite Steve 'so that my wife and I can can sit together?'
Steve replied 'Sure, no problem, I prefer to travel facing forwards anyway.'
Steve sat down next to the girl who turned away from the window long enough to smile at him before turning back. It was a shame that she didn't seem interested in him, she would have been a welcome distraction on the journey, he hadn't intended to sleep for the whole six hours.
He leaned back with his eyes closed and listened to the people around him chatting and the couple opposite taking off jackets and settling into their seats. He felt the girl next to him shift in her seat, she had turned so that her knee was touching his thigh. He knew she couldn't still be looking out of the window in that position so he opened his eyes and turned to look at her. She was looking at him and as her eyes met his she smiled a small half smile that he returned...things were looking up.
'Are you going all the way?' He asked.
She raised an eyebrow and he stammered 'to London, I mean.' She laughed and his heart melted, it was a beautiful, musical laugh that suited her perfectly.
She answered with an accentless, well spoken voice 'Yes, I am going home to Knightsbridge, I have been visiting family in Edinburgh. What about you?'
'I'm going down to London for a few days, sample the nightclubs, then I'm going home to Leeds for the rest of the two weeks I have off work.'
'Sounds nice, are you meeting your girlfriend in London?' She asked.
Steve knew she was fishing for information 'Nope, no girlfriend at the moment. Meeting my brother in town tomorrow, he lives in Milton Keynes and we'll be hitting the bars and clubs.'
'What about you? Knightsbridge is very expensive, your husband must be very rich.' He had already seen that she wore no wedding ring, but since she was testing the water he thought he had better find out what his chances were.
She smiled again, seeing he was playing the game. She replied 'I'm not married, I live with my parents, my father is a barrister and my mother runs a chain of fashion boutiques. No boyfriend on the scene either, before you ask.'
It was Steve's turn to smile 'Perhaps you fancy coming dancing with me tonight then?'
She laughed openly now 'You don't waste any time do you? We don't even know each other's names.'
He held his hand out and said 'Very pleased to meet you I'm Steve.' She placed a soft, cool, long fingered and beautifully manicured hand in his.
'Pleased to meet you Steve, I'm Veronique, but my friends call me Vee.'
Instead of releasing her hand he brought it to his lips and softly kissed the backs of her fingers. 'Its a pleasure meeting you Vee.' He said. She slowly removed her hand from his, her sparkling eyes never leaving his.
'You really are a fast worker Steve. What is the rush? We still have five hours to London.'
'Sorry' He replied 'I have spent the last five months at sea, in fact under the sea, and it is a pleasure to be sitting next to a beautiful girl like you.'
She laughed again, that beautiful musical laugh that was infectious and he found himself laughing with her.
'Flatterer.' She said 'That must be hard.'
'What must?'
'Being at sea for 5 months.' She replied.
'You wouldn't believe how hard sometimes.' He said holding her gaze.
