'Train E will be arriving shortly' The overhead speaker announced. Everything was running late today and the platform was more crowded than usual.
"Finally." I muttered shoving my phone in my bag after checking the time. I had twenty minutes to get to work and the train ride would be a ten minutes. Which left me ten minutes to get to my desk which was a five minute walk from the station and--
"Fancy meeting you here, Rossy." I jumped and looked at the man now standing next to me. Vincent stared back at me. "Do you always ride this train?"
"I do. Do you?"
"Of course. It's to get to work on time." Vincent said.
"I hardly even believe you have a stable job." I mumbled to myself, fixing my bag as the train pulled to a stop.
If he heard me, he didn't say anything. The doors opened and the mess of getting on the train without getting trampled started. Once I got in, my eyes swept the packed car for an empty seat. I saw two seats open and made a beeline for it. But before I could sit, a lady with an overflowing grocery bag sat down and she set her bag down on the seat next to her. I deflated.
"Find any seats, Rossy?" Vincent asked behind me.
"Seats? Plural? Sorry, no, and even if I did, I don't plan on sitting next to you." I said looking back at him and grabbing onto the pole in front of me.
"You two," The same lady said. "Come sit here so you can be next to each other." The lady stood and grabbed her bag.
"Oh, we don't need--" I said then got cut off my Vincent ushering me into the seats.
Before I knew it, I was sitting trapped between a window and my rather annoying neighbor who smelled of cheap cologne and coffee. And waffles? I looked at him and he had his everlasting smile on his face which caused me to glare slightly at him.
"How long have you been dating?" The lady said. She had a thick British accent. "I would say married, but there's no ring! Hasn't popped the question, now has he?" Man, she was loud.
"We aren't dating, he's just--" I said and Vincent puts his arm around me, making me stop talking.
"She has a weird sense of humor. We are dating. Quite a while, actually. How long has it been, dear?" Vincent said and looked at me.
"Two weeks from never." I said dryly and pick his arm off of my shoulders.
"Wait," The lady said. "So are you two dating or not?"
We speak at the same time.
"We are not."
"Of course we are!"
The lady looked confused. She looked at me then Vincent unsure of who to believe.
"Look, we are not married. Or even dating! We are neighbors and that is it." I explain to the British lady.
She still a little confused and now disappointed. As if us being married was the happiest thing that has happened to her. Maybe it was, but I'm still not going to pretend that I'm married. Especially to Vincent. I sighed, feeling bad about it.
"She's such a kidder." Vincent says and he nudges my leg. I somewhat reluctantly take his hand and force a smile. "One of the reasons I love her."
The lady broke into a grin. "Oh, that's just lovely! I knew it. You two look so cute together. The train announced its next stop coming off. "That's me, I better be off."
As she was moving towards the doors, she turned her head. "There better be a ring in the future!" She grinned again as the train came to a stop and she hurried out.
"I hate you." I said when she was gone and threw his hand down.
"Aw, I love you too, Rossy." He said with his stupid grin.
"Shut up." I said and pull a book out of my bag
"Whatcha reading, Hermione?" Vincent cranes his neck to read over my shoulder.
All I did was scoot closer to the window and show him the cover and sigh. Wasn't his stop coming up soon?
"The silent treatment?" Vincent waited for me to reply, but I didn't. "Fine. I see how it is."
He kept rambling on, but I did my best to ignore him. It wasn't working. Still, I kept my eyes on my book. I wasn't going to give him the satisfaction that he made me close my book.
"My weekend was pretty awesome. I went to the movies to see that new action movie with my friend, Jon. It was loud so he liked it."
I was usually pretty good at blocking out annoying guys on the train but I couldn't focus on my book with Vincent talking. Was it because I knew him?
"Okay so the reasons the silent treatment is bad..." I heard Vincent say and he went on to list random things about it.
I sighed as he continued to talk and I felt his eyes on my for a moment. Why was he so annoying? And more than usual. Today was not shaping up to be a great day. First, I woke up late, then the train was late, then Vincent had to show up, then--
"You just missed your stop and--"
My head shot up. "Wait, what?"
"It was about four stops ago."
"You're kidding me right?" I didn't even bother to ask how he knew what my stop was. I shove my book in my bag.
"No and mine was about five stops ago." He said it so carelessly. So it looks like I was right and as a reward I should like to take my non-wife on this fine Monday morning to this amazing waffle place a block from the next stop." Vincent looked at me and grinned. "Their speciality is strawberries and waffles. The best ever."
I wasn't going to ask if he knew that was my favorite breakfast food. My stomach growled in response. I usually ate breakfast when I got to work at the office. "I'm not going to eat waffles, I have to go to work, now get up!"
"Your stomach says otherwise, Rossy." He said and pulled me to my feet as the overhead announced the next stop. "So strawberries and waffles on this fine Monday Morning?"
He looked at me with that ridiculous grin. I couldn't help but smile a little.
"I'll take that as a yes." He said and we were off towards the opening doors.
