Chapter Fifteen

Joe stood behind the yellow line on the landing of the subway platform for less than Five minutes.

Soon a gush of wind hit him in the face announcing the imminent arrival of the next train. It was his.

It stopped with each door opening precisely at a round marker on the floor. The doors with the upper half made of a clear indestructible plastic of some sort slid silently open and welcomed Noe into a nearly empty train car.

One man sleeping and dressed in filthy old painters pants, worn out work boots and a ratty torn jacket sat in a distant corner. The two walls of the car were supporting him.

Three young girls sat nearby in what appeared to be Catholic School uniforms. Joe wondered who had decided years ago that those short pleated skirts were appropriate attire for young girls living out in the world.

The train rattled and hissed as it started to move away from the station with a soft jerk. the girls talked in a high animated fashion whle the older man seemed oblivious to the world around him. A small breeze wafted through the car through dusty vents overhead.

Joe wondered how the man could sleep in the subway with the noise of the tracks, the swaying and the girls talking excitedly. That’s when he noticed the wine bottle rolling back and forth between the man’s feet. It rolled to and fro with each turn of the tracks or as the speed varied and was trapped between his feet. the man was intoxicated, no doubt, Joe thought. Joe sat swaying with the train and thinking.

Where do you suppose Susan and her husband were going on their honeymoon? Will I ever find another woman who will love me? What is Charlene all about?

She’s attractive, but it all seems a little too complicated for things to work out between them as one might hope. she worked with him at the office and that was a problem. And Joe had made it very clear that this excursion was to be a platonic work vacation for the both of them. Was that a mistake he wondered?”

Light flashed through the dirty windows of the long train as lights passed over or sunlight shot in from stops on the line. Joes train was an express to the airport and beyond. The train was soon moving upward as it arrived at the outskirts of town. It finally came out of a long dark tunnel and was soon above ground and passed into the airport.

Joe stood up quickly when it stopped, walked out the opening doors and headed up to the long escalator to the departing flights. he checked the boards and found his flight and gate. The three girls and the drunk stayed on the train to points unknown down the line.

Joe looked back with concern as he left the train with a worried face but soon decide that the three girls would make quick work of the man if necessary.

Charlene got into her town car when it arrived. The doorman opened the door for her and she settled in to the warm car. She had arranged for the car herself. She had come downstairs to wait in the large, warm lobby of her comfortable building. It was in a nice neighborhood and close to the center of everything. It was just the opposite of the kind of place Joe lived in.

The front of the building was made up of large glass windows over looking the busy street. She saw the limousine pull up from her vantage point and stood. The large, well dressed doorman carried her luggage to the car and through the open the door, instantly. The large trunk popped open as they approached. The driver scrambled to help Susan into the car as the doorman dropped the expensive Gucci luggage into the trunk. All her luggage nearly filled the cavernous space. She had two large suitcases, another samller one, a soft bad and a garnet bag.

Charlene was dressed to the nines with a long, thick, blue cashmere coat covering her expensive outfit. It was a very expensive coat. Her father gave her an allowance that helped her live in the style that she had become accustomed to. Her salary alone wasn’t enough to keep her living in her comfortable surroundings.

Joe had no idea who her father was or that her family had money. She dressed rather modestly in style and cost at the office. Joe came from the other side of the tracks, if the truth were to be known.

He had worked his way through school and finally landed this current job a few years ago. It was his best job since leaving college. He was working at this editors job before Susan arrived on the scene. He had started out in the mail room of another publisher and then a friend found him a spot where he was now. He had worked hard to climb further up the ladder there. It all had worked out better than he expected.

It was not what Joe saw as his final job or stop that ladder to success. It was just another stop in his hopefully long career in the publishing industry. The job hasn’t satisfied Susan, however. he thought about Susan and clinched his fist on the handle of his suitcase. She was such a handful. Why did I put up with that crap?

He knew why. She had shown interest in him and made it easy for him to approach her. He fell into into her trap gladly. He would be more carful next time.

—————————————————————-

More to come later today. Off to play tennis.

My audio books just dropped on Audible. If you listen to “Kazu, son of Osheda kamasaki” or “Sunrise, Sunset, please leave a quick review. It helps indie aurthors like me get discovered. I hope you like this story.

Have a great morning and perhaps we will see each other later today on the screen.