This Charming Man

Six

It rained the next morning and it was mine and Spencer's job to go round the whole building closing all the windows and doors. I paused by a window in the corridor leading to Mr Trohman's office on the top floor and peered out onto the vast ocean before me. The train track was just visible under the rising water and if I squinted and squished my nose against the window, I could just make out a small dark square platform in the far distance in the middle of the ocean. It was the train station Ryan and I would have had to go to to get to Valnesse City. I smiled and gently patted the music box in my pocket. I'd forgotten to take it out the night before and made a mental note to put it somewhere safe in my room later.

"Brendon! C'mon!" I heard Spencer call for me from the other end of the corridor.

"Coming!" I replied, eyes still fixed on the view. I turned from the window and froze when I heard a train whistle blow in the distance. Immediately, I turned back to the window and saw the train wade steadily through the water. I grinned like an excited child and ran to the opposite window to watch it drive off into the distance. The window was clouded with condensation and raindrops and I pushed it open, not caring about getting wet, to watch it.

"Brendon, hurry up!" Spencer yelled impatiently.

I laughed and slammed the window shut, before running over to him. "Sorry, Spence!"

"What on earth were you doing?" he asked and started walking towards the elevator.

"Watching the train," I grinned happily, then paused. "Oh! Hey, Spence, what time is it?"

He frowned and looked around, spotting a grandfather clock at the end of an adjacent hallway and squinted to read it's clock face. "Uh... 6:30?"

"Perfect," I said simply.

He raised an eyebrow. "Why do you want to know?"

"I want to be on the bridge tomorrow to watch the train. I didn't know it went past this early. I've always been in the kitchen at this time."

He rolled his eyes. "You and that damn train. C'mon, we're gonna be late."