Perfect Strangers

Chapter One: Unexpected.

You got off the train at Grand Central Station and looked around. It was fairly late, so not many people were there. You pulled out your phone to try to find a place to stay, but it died within minutes. Uh oh. You had been to the city before, but still didn't know it very well, and had no clue where to go from there.

"Great," you sighed. You put your phone back in your pocket and looked around the station. You saw a payphone on one of the walls and walked over to it. As you dug through your pockets you realized you didn't have any change. "Dammit!" you yelled as you slammed the phone back onto the switch hook.

"You uh— need some help?" You turned to where the voice came from and saw a tall blonde man walking toward you. He reached into his pocket, pulled out some coins, and held them out for you.

"Um, thank you." You took the change and inserted it into the coin slot. Just as you were about to dial, you realized you didn't have very many numbers memorized. You could call your friend, but she lived on the far side of the city, and it was already late. I guess I'll be staying here for now, you thought to yourself. You slowly hung up the phone for the second time.

"You're not from around here are you?"

You turned to face the man again. "What gave it away?" you asked jokingly.

"Well for starters, I've only ever seen tourists and musicians spend more than five minutes at the station if they're not waiting for a train." He motioned around you. "And since I don't see any instruments..."

"You got me," you smiled. "But I'm not exactly here to sight see either."

"Oh yeah?" He asked as he tilted his head, smiling back in return.

"I guess I just needed to get out for a bit, y'know? Clear my head."

The man looked concerned for a moment, then just curious. "What are you running from?"

"Who says I'm running from anything?"

"I know that look," he said as he crossed his arms and leaned against the payphone. "I've had that look myself."

You sighed and dropped your head a bit.

"Come on, what is it? Parents? Best friend? Boyfriend?"

You shifted your weight at the last option.

"Ah," his smile fell a little. "That's it, isn't it? Had a fight with your boyfriend? Told you, it's always something."

"No."

"No?"

"No! Okay? No, you're wrong he's-- he's not my boyfriend."

"Oh, so ex then."

"No-- well not exactly, I-- look stop acting like you know everything about me, okay? You don't even know me!" You exploded at him. It wasn't necessarily him you were mad at, he was just the only one around.

He threw his hands up in defense. "Sorry, sorry. I didn't mean to pry. I uh, I'll leave you to it then." He started to walk away.

"Wait--" He turned to look back at you. His look was soft, almost welcoming. You knew he didn't do anything wrong, it was just a touchy subject for you. "I'm sorry... You were just being nice and I flipped out on you-- I'm sorry, you didn't deserve that."

"Don't worry about it," he replied. A small smile pulled at the corners of his mouth to show he really didn't mind.

"Hey, um-- my phone died. Is there any place around here I can buy a charger?"

The man took a second to think. "Yeah actually, there's a tech shop a few blocks from here. C'mon, I'll walk you." He nodded toward the station exit.