The others

Train stations and cafe's

"Where too?" A charismatic taxi driver wearing a flat cap questioned as Joe hopped into the back of the vehicle. The drivers thick, Welsh accent instantly putting a smile on the younger mans face.

"Umm... hang on." Joe muttered as he grabbed his phone out of his pocket, finding his girlfriends information on his phone, before reeling the information to the man sat in front of him.

Pulling the jacket he had thrown on earlier that morning closer to his body, Joe allowed an unwelcome shiver to flow through his bones. The cold weather of the Welsh city seeming to freeze him more than he appreciated, as an equally unwelcome thought ran through his mind.

It had been a long time since he had come down here to surprise Holly. At the beginning of it all he used to come down here on a weekend to spend some time with her in her home town. Spend time playing board games with her parents and sister, walk down to the docks and watch the sun go down across the sea.

He used to do all of that for her. But now it had been four months since he had made the journey out west to see her in her home town. Four months for him to come down and forget her address. Four months to come down and break up with her.

Watching the city buzz past, Joe allowed his mind to go blank. Since his conversation with Dianne on Tuesday, Joe had been nothing but excited for this moment. For the moment where he could close one door and open up another, but now that he was here - the small speech he had thought of on the train swimming through his mind - Joe had never felt so petrified in his life. Yet still he allowed himself to zone out, until eventually the taxi stopped in front of the familiar black door. The ginger cat sat protectively in front of it, cleaning itself as it looked out across the street.

"Here you are lad." The driver said with the wide, crooked smile he had shown Joe earlier. The cap on his head now at a jaunty angle as he scratched the top of his brow.

"Thank you." Joe replied softly as he handed the driver some cash in payment for his services.

"No worries." He responded as he took the money and began counting it. "Say, you've got a bit of an accent going on there, you from London by any chance?" The driver questioned, resulting in a gentle nod from Joe who pulled the bag beside him up onto his shoulder. "Oh I see, what're ya doing down here then?"

"Oh... just visiting my girlfriend." Joe responded politely, slightly alarmed by the older gentleman's forward questions.

"Oh, I know what that means." He joked with a gentle wiggle to his bushy eyebrows and a smirk across his features. "Well, good luck young man... umm, enjoy it."

Smiling gently, Joe chuckled a little as he made his way out of the car. The sheer awkwardness of the cabbies words sending yet another unwelcomed shiver down his spine. Shutting the car door to a close behind him, Joe watched as the driver drove away, allowing Joe to let go of the breath he wasn't aware he was holding.

Turning on his heel, Joe took a step towards the front door of his girlfriends family home. Having to spend half her life in hotels in London and half her time here, Holly had made the decision not to waste her money on her own home here in Cardiff, and had instead made the somewhat questionable choice of moving back in with her parents once she had finished university. A fact which at first Joe had found endearing, yet now that he was back here - his hand raised to knock on the door, whilst the family cat rubbed himself up against his left leg - Joe found it nothing but an inconvenience.

Taking in a deep breath, Joe pushed his raised arm forwards. Knocking on the door a few times, and waiting patiently for it to open as the world passed him by. A feeling not too dissimilar to the one he had endured a few nights back, the idea of a tough conversation with the other woman in his life running through his tired and achy head.