Page 7 of Mark

So I get up and walk over to where she is sitting, blocking her case. She glances up from her phone, her eyes wide for a moment before they narrow.

“You!”

Since I don’t know her name, I say the only one I do know. “Mellow, I didn’t know you were catching this train. I thought we were meeting at the air-rail,” I greet loud enough for the kids to hear me.

“What? We are not—”

I cut her off by placing my finger across her lips, then lean down. “Those lads are ready to rob you because you stupidly put your bag over your case.”

Her eyes widen further, and I know if I wasn’t blocking her view from them, she would have looked and given away the fact we are on to them.

“How did you…”

“I overheard them,” I admit. “What baffles me is why you thought it would be safe. Did your parents teach you nothing?”

“Excuse you?” she snaps as the speakers announce my stop. “I didn’t even see them there.”

“Because you were too busy looking at your phone,” I argue.

She gets to her feet. “Who do you think you are?”

“Someone who just saved your arse.”

“I can handle myself,” she snaps.

“Sure you can,” I placate, then turn when the doors open. Before the kids can leave, I move over to the aisle, blocking their path. “Going somewhere, boys?”

“Yeah, this is our stop,” the pimply kid tells me. “Can you move so we can get past?”

“I will in a minute,” I state as I grab my case. Thankfully, it’s padlocked and hasn’t been messed with. “First though, I thought I would give you a lesson that clearly your parents didn’t give to you. People who have nice things, worked for them. They didn’t go about it by robbing lone, defenceless women. Don’t be scumbags. Work for what you want. Because the next person might not go so easy on you.”

“We could take you,” the shorter one warns.

I snort. “Puh-lease, I could take you with one hand tied behind my back. Now fuck off before I get the train assistant to phone the police.”

When I turn around, the menaces have gone. I sigh, before leaving the train to make my way to the stairs that lead to the air-rail link. Once I get to the top, I see the doors to my train are about to close.

I spot my neighbour on the air-rail and yell, “Hold the door.”

She shrugs with a pout. “Sorry, I’m in a hurry.”

The door closes as she smiles and waves at me.

“Bitch!” I hiss, because I know I deserved that. I drop down on the bench and wait for the next one.

Mum and Dad are going to kill me if I miss our flight. I should have left the bar last night when Aiden did. Difference is, he had someone to go back to; I had no one. When you’ve had people surround you, almost smothering you, all your life, being alone sounds like a holiday. But it’s not. It’s lonely. And when most of those people have significant others, it heightens that feeling just a little bit more.

So it’s me, alone, in a box-sized flat.

I stand as the air-rail comes around the corner, and within a minute, I’m getting on, holding on to the overhead bar for balance.

Five minutes later, I’m walking into the airport. I’m surprised to find my mum and dad there waiting for me.

“Mark, honey, you’re late,” Mum greets.

I embrace her into a hug. “I’m sorry, Mum. I slept through my alarm.”

“You smell like a brewery,” Dad scolds as I pull back.