Nicotine (Eremin)

Chapter 15

(A/N: great thanks to @173Athena_Owl whenever I write this fic I listen to 'I Will Wait' by Mumford and Sons what have you done)

February 

Armin's POV

        The bus station was really crowded. Not to mention it was around 10 a.m, and people were moving unimaginably slowly. A woman nearly dumped her coffee on me, and I didn't want to be covered in boiling hot coffee, surrounded by angry people. 

        It took me twenty minutes to figure out what bus I needed to get on, and another 15 spent actually getting on the bus. I sat near the back, and put the hood of my jacket over my head. 

        I wanted to get some sleep during the ride, but based on previous experience, trying to sleep on a bus was like trying to sleep while children screamed and threw rocks at you. 

        "Is it alright if I sit here?" a voice sounded from my left. I yanked the hood away from my head and looked over. A woman, maybe 25 or 30 years old was standing next to the open seat holding a computer bag. 

        "Oh, yeah, sorry." I said, scooting over so she'd have more room. 

        "No worries. I heard the bus would be packed, and I'd rather be stuck next to you, then some heavyweight guy, if you know what I mean." she laughed at her own joke and pulled her computer out, placing it on her lap. 

        "Uh, yeah, sure, I guess." I felt like the most awkward person in the world trying to talk to this woman. She talked unreasonably fast and I had trouble understanding her. 

        "Oh, don't be like that. I'm Naomi." she extended her hand to me. I pulled my hand out of her coat pocket and shook her hand. 

        "Armin." I said. 

        "Pleasure." she responded. She turned to her laptop and started typing at a document. I was mesmerized by how fast her fingers moved. She must have noticed me watching her, because she paused typing and looked over at me. 

        "What, never seen a lady type?" she said with a smirk. 

        "What, I, no, I mean-"

        "Why are you so nervous? We're on a bus, not a prison interrogation." she remarked. Naomi was clever, I'd give her that. 

        "Sorry, you're just... more open than most people." I said, pulling the hood back once again. 

        "I get that a lot. I am a journalist, so I guess I have to be to do my job right." Naomi pointed out. 

        "You're a journalist? Who do you write for?" I asked.

        "Oh, just a local newspaper here in Ohio, nothing important." she said. I sighed. If she worked for any more nationally known company, she might have seen my missing picture somewhere, or known who I was. I almost regretted using my real name. 

        "What are you writing about now?" I asked, pointing at her laptop. She groaned. 

        "Ugh, I'm writing about crepe recipes. Crepe recipes. I've been working my whole life to write for a big-shot newspaper, and I'm probably at the peak of my career right now, writing about damn crepes." Naomi said. I understood her frustration. Sure, she was writing for a newspaper, but crepe recipes weren't exactly a riveting story.

        "Always start small." I told her what my grandpa used to tell me in middle school when I had trouble making friends. 

        "I moved here from New York for this job, and I'm still not out of the recipes column. And its been over a year." she looked about ready to yank her own hair out. 

        "Hey, you're from New York? Me too!" I said, glad we had something in common we could talk about. 

        "No way! Hey, what brings you out to Ohio?" she shut her computer, giving me her full attention. 

        "Oh, I'm on my way to California to meet someone." I said. 

        "Oooh, is it your girlfriend?" she wiggled her eyebrows at me. 

        "Oh, no, no! My best friend, actually." I felt my cheeks grow hot. 

        "Jeez, that's pretty far. You taking the bus the whole way there?" she slid her computer back down into its protective bag. 

        "I wish. Mostly walking, occasional bus and or train rides." I said. That managed to peak her interest and her eyes shot back to my face. 

        "No way! You walked from New York to Ohio?" she asked me enthusiastically. 

        "Not all the way, but kind of." 

        "You've still got a long way to go, my friend."

        "You're telling me."

        "Hey, good luck, man. Always start small, am I right?" Naomi said, wiggling her eyebrows again. "I'm gonna try to sleep for a while, do a lady a favor and wake me up if we get there?" she asked, pulling a neck pillow out of her bag. 

        "Yeah, sure, no problem." she winked before wrapping the pillow around her neck and closing her eyes. 

        I'll be there soon, Eren.