Thank you to the only reader to contact me after reading other stories. A female point of view has, I think given this something more ... squidgy?
It was a hot July day, not the hottest but enough to cause Erica to glow from exertion during her walk from the office to the station.
She stood with the all the other sheep on the platform, jostling for the best position and trying to catch the most of any breeze or downdraft from the passing trains that could swirl around her body and up her skirt to cool her off. She knew that once she got on the train, chances are that it would be full of other commuters and she wouldnāt get a seat so would spend the entire journey squashed up against all manner of hot, sweaty losers.
With a blast of warm, dirty air, the train grumbled into the platform and the doors hissed open with their displeasure at the effort of it all. Erica was right, with only a couple of passengers disembarking, the train was already full and all the seats were taken by those intent on staying there. Occupying their hard fought territory like a mother bird guards her nest.
Erica accepted the pushing and shoving of those around her with good grace as she stepped inside. Her skin stuck to her skirt and blouse, which despite the thin fabrics, both felt heavy and stiff against her. God, she thought, why did she put herself through this? Why not get a job closer to home, or marry a rich guy and never work again?
She smiled at the fantasies and resolved to bear her misfortunes with good grace. One day her prince would come! In the meantime, she had to kiss a lot of frogs. At least she hadnāt lost her sense of humour and relaxed against the handrails to make herself comfortable for the journey by placing her leather valise on the floor between her feet, bracing her legs slightly apart in order to make room for it and stabilise herself against the rattling, rickety, ride to come.
The train established a steady rhythm and she glanced at the newspapers of those around her. Some overpaid, over ego-ed, overindulged soccer player had been caught being unfaithful to his pretty wife with an even prettier women. The irony was that he didnāt deserve either of them and both were in it for the publicity enhancement opportunities that he was too illiterate and inarticulate to understand for himself unless it was explained to him.
As the journey continued, she relaxed even more and her cold wet clothing chilled and hung heavier off her tanned, trim frame. Whoever was behind her was being a real pain and bumping against her and disturbing her quiet moments.
Erica turned to growl at whoever it was and to give them a piece of her mind and looked directly into 6ā+ of rippling prince material. He smiled, revealing perfectly white and even teeth. She stopped in her tracks and her heart double beat and her stomach turned to jelly.
āHi, my nameās Mark. This heatās a killer isnāt it?ā Erica averted her eyes and down at the floor, no matter how good looking the guy was, he was still a stranger on a train and it was too humid to chit chat.
Erica relaxed again, her eyes drowsily twitching between closed and half-closed as she thought back to how the jabbing against her buttocks had not been entirely unpleasant. She looked up and out of the windows at the scenery flying past.
Or not flying past as the case may be. The backs of brick-built terraced houses crawled past indicating that they were still within the city limits and therefore there was the best part of an hour still to go of her journey. Hopefully a few of these deadbeats would get off in the next few stops before the long express run out to the suburbs. That would make things a bit more roomy and if she had any luck, it might even empty one of the seats and she could sit down. She knew that she had killer legs, especially when she wore a heel but it had been a long day and her calves were rock hard under the strain of standing for so long.
The train slowed further to stop at the final urban station. The doors sighed open and a couple of suits and a few airhead secretary types jostled their way to them and out. The remaining passengers shuffled around to absorb the spaces revealed by their exit. But no seats became vacant.
Erica cursed and shifted her weight from foot to foot, only to receive more prodding and poking from studly stranger behind her against her clenched backside. Jesus, who did he think he was? He was being a real pain in the ass.
A smile tentatively curved the edge of her mouth as she realised the literal truth of her thoughts. A pain in her ass in fact. The smile crept along her lip to catch the other side of her mouth and established itself. This lifted her mood a little and she relaxed slightly, not realising how close behind the guy behind was stood.
The result of which was for her buttocks to part and briefly permit his groin to press into her flesh and then in shifting her weight, she rubbed against it and the fabric of her skirt clung and bunched between them.
Erica jolted forward to create space between them but her skirt stayed slightly gathered into her cleft. The intimacy of the contact was not intentional and she turned her head to apologise for invading his space.
āHi. Mark, is it? Iām really sorry about clattering into you. Trains eh? Why do we commute through this hell?ā and she flashed a smile that she hoped would be friendly but not flirtatious .
āNo harm, no foul. Yes, Iām still Mark and Iām still far too hot on this sardine tube. And Iām not gonna lie to you, it wasnāt the worse experience Iāve had today. In fact, I kinda enjoyed it. My bad?ā And there was that perfect smile again that seemed to glint in the sun coming through the windows like an old toothpaste ad.