The Girl on the Train

"Today's the day." David thought to himself as he collected his things, ready to leave work for the day to catch the 18.15 train.

"Today is the day that I finally speak to her."

David had been taking the same train to and from work for the past year and everyday he saw the same beautiful woman in his carriage. He had been working in London for just over six months when he first saw her.

The day started like every other. He woke up, showered, got dressed while drinking his morning coffee and left the usual time for the train. He had recently bought himself an apartment in Epping, having just moved from Leeds to London for his career. He had trained as an apprentice for three years to become a fully qualified accountant. It wasn't an easy three years, having to hold down, what felt like, more than a full-time job while also studying and doing exams, but it had paid off. He was now exactly where he wanted to be, hired by a big, accountancy firm in Moorgate, an apartment near the city, no debt except his mortgage, but he was single and had been for over a year.

When he entered the station that morning, was the first moment he saw her. A medium height, blonde girl, buying her tickets at the automated booth, trying to juggle her purse and her coffee as she worked the machine. David looked her over, automatically drawn in by her beautiful green eyes and red lips.

He was about to offer his help when the ticket was finely spat out of the machine. He walked down the stairs to the platform, wondering what train she would be on and where she was going. It only took a minute to see that she was on his train. He boarded, choosing the same compartment as her hoping to talk to her. It was only a twenty-minute ride into the city and he never got the chance. She was sitting opposite him, looking around her at the scenery and the other passengers. She was in a long black dress, clearly dressed for work, covering her well, while still exposing her amazing figure. Even though she was slim, he could see that she had a large chest pushing out from her chest. When she looked at David, she smiled to him before returning to her phone.

When they got off the train at the same stop, David cursed himself as he thought it would be the last time he would see her. He was wrong, he had seen her again on the way home. He was going to try to speak to her again, but the train journey seemed much faster than normal and she disappeared away with the crowd as all people do.

That night David sat on his balcony thinking of the girl. He had never been good at picking up strangers, or girls in general for that matter, but he had wanted to speak to her. She seemed interesting to him, looking around the train, not letting any thoughts escape with her looks. He wondered what her name was, what she did for work, what she looked like naked. He soon went to bed, masturbating to thoughts of the mysterious girl on the train, wondering what she was doing, wondering if she was doing the same.

The next morning, he had put the girl out of his mind as he made his coffee, getting dressed. He assumed it was a one off seeing her but again he was wrong. When he got to the platform on the way into the city there she was, wearing a blue dress this time, looking just as beautiful as she had the day before. David wasn't bad to look at himself, he stood a little over 5ft 11, had medium length, blonde hair, a slim build, and was dressed in a grey suit. It wasn't that he didn't feel confident, he had just been out of practise for too long and his fear held him at bay, preventing him from talking to her.

It had been like this for a year now. He saw her almost every day, always carrying the same bag, a coffee cup and looking just as beautiful. Neither he nor her had changed but they both kept seeing each other, smiling, or nodding to each other either on the way to or from work. Over that year, David had been on a few dates with Sarah, one of the office girls. He knew it wasn't a good idea to date someone at work but after being single for so long he couldn't help himself. It didn't last long, they dated for a couple of months, spending more time in his apartment, more specifically his bedroom, than on a date but it had worked for them. Sarah had been beautiful, younger than him at twenty but looked and acted much older. They had gone out to some bars after work but always headed back to his apartment quickly. She was fantastic in bed, athletic and flexible, but he still couldn't help thinking about the girl on the train. She was so beautiful, so mysterious to him that he even imagined it was her he was with instead of Sarah. It had ended suddenly when Sarah had got back together with her ex, she had expected him to be upset with it, but he agreed with the amicable split. He knew it wouldn't have gone anywhere, they had nothing in common.

"Today's the day I finally speak to her." David told himself again leaving his office on the Monday evening. He locked the door, not seeing anyone else as they had already left an hour ago and headed down to the tube station ready to board the same train as usual. Today was no different, there was the girl, standing on the platform in the black dress and heels that he had seen her in that first morning. They boarded the train taking two of the empty seats but this time sitting next to each other. He was about to say something when she pulled her phone out of her bag and settled into looking at something. The train pulled in at their station with neither of them speaking or making eye contact.

David was kicking himself for his lack of courage as he waited by the door for it to open. All he had to do was turn around and say hi to her, but it was much easier said than done. How do you start a conversation with a stranger? He thought to himself for the hundredth time.

He stepped off the train, about to turn around and speak to her when he heard a loud 'crack'. He quickly turned round seeing that it was the girl, her heel had snapped as she had stepped down and had lost her balance. David reached out and grabbed her arm to catch and steady her on her feet before she could fall over.

She had felt the heel snap under her and could do nothing to right herself. She felt herself lose balance, her ankle giving way underneath her. As quickly as it happened, she hadn't noticed the man in front of her reaching out to grab her. She looked up to see it was the same man she saw every day on the commute to work.

"Are you OK?" David asked her, helping her keep balance, slightly loosening his grip on her arm.

"I think so, I knew this heel was going, I could feel it all day." She replied shifting herself over to the seats on the platform.

David let go of her, knowing she was fine on her own.

"I'm sorry miss, I didn't mean to grab you like that." David said to her. This wasn't exactly the way he had wanted to speak to her, but he was speaking to her, the ice had been broken and he was proud of himself.

"It's OK, if you hadn't, I probably would have fallen over completely, no one else gets off at this stop. I'm Dominika." She said this through a slight accent, nothing strong, but still a hint of a foreign accent he couldn't quite place.

"I'm David, nice to meet you." He wanted to say something else but had no idea what to say.

"You too." She replied.

"How's your ankle, does it hurt? Can you walk on it?" He asked her, concerned for her wellbeing.

"It's fine, it was more the shock and surprise of it. I will just have to hop home; I don't live far away." She said smiling at him to let him know that that was joking.

"Do you want help? I could walk back with you if you like?"

"No, it's fine. It's only a two minute walk but thank you. You've been very sweet." She said smiling so widely at him he could almost see all of her pearly white teeth; it was a great smile. David felt himself go red but quickly covered it with a small cough of discomfort.

They got up from the seats, and walked to the exit of the station, Dominika walking unsteadily next to him. He wanted to offer to walk her home again but didn't want to sound creepy or weird.

"Well then, I guess I will leave you to it. Have a good night." David said as he was about to part from her.

"You too. And thanks again. I will see you on the morning train." Dominika said to him, waving goodbye.

In his apartment David was very happy with himself, he had finally spoken to the girl on the train. It hadn't been as smooth or cool as he wanted, actually it was about as bad as it could go, but he was still pleased with himself. He ordered himself a takeaway not wanting to bother cooking for himself and ate it out on the balcony. He liked to sit there, eating or drinking and enjoying the view of the city ahead of him, especially on a warm spring evening like today's. He had worked hard to get where he was and was hoping that now they had broken the ice he might get to speak to Dominika more. Dominika. It was a beautiful name and matched her well. He still couldn't place her accent and made a mental note to ask her about it the next day. He went to bed early watching a movie and continued to think about her.

The next few days passed without any incident. David kept seeing her on the commute, but now saying good morning or hello to each other. It wasn't until Friday until they had another proper conversation.

"Hi Dominika, do you mind if I sit here?" He asked her, gesturing to the empty seat next to her.

"Of course, please do." She replied. "How's your week been? Saved any other girls?"

"No just you I'm afraid. Been a busy week though. What about you?" He replied chuckling.

"Let's just say I'm glad it's the weekend. I could do with the rest. What do you do?" She asked interested.

"I'm an accounts manager for an accounting firm. You obviously know where I work as you see me leave the train every day. What about you?" He asked.

"I'm a junior banking assistant in Moorgate. I'm still training, but I enjoy the work."

"Are you an apprentice?"

"Yeah, the money is crap but it will be worth it, another two months and I will be fully qualified." She told him.

"Will you be staying on after you finish your apprenticeship?"

They continued chatting away for the remainder of the journey, David happy to keep the conversation flowing. It wasn't long though until the journey home had finished and both of them were standing on the platform.

"Well, goodbye David, have a nice weekend. See you on the train on Monday morning?"

"Yeah, you will, have a good weekend." He watched her walk off for a second before he plucked up his courage again. He quickly caught up with her, gently grabbing her by the arm.

"Dominika, have you got plans tonight?" He asked her shyly.

"Actually, I do. I have a meal that I'm meant to be going to go." She told him looking slightly awkward.

"Oh OK, no problem. Is your boyfriend taking you out?"

"No, I'm single. It's a family meal thing, we do it like once every couple of months. What about tomorrow night?" She asked him. She wanted to go out with him as much as he wanted to go out with her.

"I could do tomorrow night. Want to go for a drink or something?" David asked her.

"Yeah sure. Look here's my number," She quickly took his phone off him and typed in her number. "Drop me a text and we can arrange something."

He quickly called her phone as he stood in front of her. When her phone started to ring, he hung up.

"Now you have my number." He told her. "Well have a good meal tonight and will see you tomorrow then?"

"Definitely, I'm looking forward to it." She told him with a big smile on her beautiful face. He didn't notice at first but when she smiled, the corners of her lips rose slightly.

With that, she left him and he watched her as she passed around the corner. It was only a few minutes' walk home, but he made it much quicker, almost skipping in his happiness.

David was happy that he had finally asked Dominika out. Talking to her had been easy, she was friendly and outgoing and he was looking forward to seeing her the next day.

It was hot in the apartment, so he quickly opened all the windows and the door to the balcony. As it was Friday, he poured himself a vodka tonic and enjoyed it out on the balcony thinking about the next day and where to take her. He thought about different places but decided on the posh cocktail bar in town. It was expensive, but to be honest, everywhere was expensive in comparison to Yorkshire. It didn't matter though; with his job he could afford it and he wanted to impress this girl.

He sat around the apartment for the next couple of hours watching TV, trying not to think about Dominika too much. He had picked up his phone twice to message her and ask how her night was going but he stopped himself, not wanting to come across too keen. It was just before 9pm when his phone vibrated with the arrival of a text. It was from Dominika.

"Hi David, how are you? What you up to? X"

David was surprised to be getting a message from her so quickly. He thought that he wouldn't hear from her until the next day. He quickly typed out his response.

"Hi. I'm good, just sitting here about to watch Gogglebox. How about you? You enjoying your meal? X"

He had another sip of his scotch, no longer bothered about what was on the TV. The show started without him even noticing, more interested in his phone.

"It was really nice. Typical family thing. I was wondering, if you were still up for it, did you want to meet up for a drink tonight? X"

David's face lit up with the message. He was hoping that she was just confirming the next day, not bringing it forward.

"Yeah sure. Whereabouts, are you? X"

He quickly got himself dressed. He got out of his comfy lounge wear, had a quick two minute shower refresh and got dressed into a shirt and trousers. He knew where he lived there was a strict dress code on weekend nights which meant shirt and shoes.

When he had finished getting ready, he checked his phone to see where Dominika was. She was actually at the cocktail bar he was going to take her the following night.

"No worries. I can be there in five minutes. You are only around the corner from my place. See you soon. X"

He was looking forward to seeing her again so soon. He wanted to get to know more about her and what kind of things she was into. He didn't even know how old she was.

He swiftly made it to the bar, nodding to the bouncer as he was let in. He looked around the bar to see Dominika sitting at a booth towards the back of the room. She hadn't seen him yet as her eyes were buried in her phone.

"Now what is a beautiful girl like you sitting here all by yourself?" David asked her as he made his way to the table.

"Maybe she is lonely, and you should keep her company? I should warn you though, I am meeting someone."

David laughed with her at her little joke, glad she had a sense of humour, he couldn't stand people who took themselves far too seriously.

"Sorry it took so long, had to get dressed and make my way down here. Let me get you a drink. What you having?"

"Its fine, I did message kind of late. I should be getting you a drink."

"Don't be silly, what are you having?" David asked her seriously.

"Gin and tonic please."

"Coming right up."

While he waited at the bar, he kept looking back at her. He kept looking her up and down as she played with her phone, probably messaging a friend. It only took a few minutes for the barmaid to come to him.

"A vodka tonic and a gin and tonic please, and one for yourself." He told her. He always bought the bar staff a drink, generally resulting in faster service throughout the night and he hoped that tonight would be no exception. The barmaid made the drinks, and he was back seated with Dominika within a few minutes.

"Thanks." She said as she held her glass out to his. "Cheers."

"Cheers." He took a quick swig of his drink making sure that he hadn't got them mixed up. "So how come you're done so early? I wasn't expecting to hear from you till tomorrow?"

"Oh, the meal just didn't last as long as normal that's all. Besides I thought a cheeky drink with you might be fun. You know I don't much about you apart from your work. Tell me about yourself."

He gave her the important details that he would have expected from her, his age, family situation, why he was down in London instead of back home. It turned out that she had only been in the country for the past five years. Her dad had moved to the UK from Poland, bringing her and her brother along. She continued her studies here, securing an apprenticeship. Her accent wasn't too strong, but he could hear little twangs on certain words. Luckily, they were only a few years apart both in their ages and careers making it easy to relate to each other, her being 22 to his 24.

They sat and had a second drink, David again insisting that he got it for her. He was still hoping that she would want to meet up again the following night. They stayed together for around an hour before David stifled a yawn behind his hand.

"I'm so sorry, it's not you I promise, it's been a very long week." He told her apologetically.

"It's OK." She started yawning as well, him starting had made it hard to resist. "I'm tired too. Would you walk me home?"

"It's fine, we don't have to go, unless I'm boring you?" He asked seriously.

"Not at all. I'm honestly just as tired as you. Also, I want to enjoy tomorrow night with you." David was glad she still wanted to go out the following day.

"OK, let's go then." He downed the last mouthful of his drink and took his jacket from the back of the chair. She held her hand out to him leading him out of the bar.

"So, where's home?" David asked her as they walked down the road hand in hand.

"It's just down here a bit, it's only about a ten minute walk." She told him leading the way.

They continued talking about how much work had taken out of them that week and that they both wanted to escape London.

"Well this is me. Looks like dad is still up otherwise I would have asked you in for a coffee." She told him. She wanted to kiss him but had never been good at making the first move.

"No worries, we still have tomorrow night. Well goodnight." He leaned in and gave her a kiss on the cheek, pulling away slowly seeing her looking at him. He moved back in closer this time brushing his lips on hers.

Dominika kissed him back, putting her arms around him holding him to her. She opened her mouth and pushed her tongue into his mouth, rubbing his tongue with hers.

They stayed like that for what felt like hours but couldn't have been more than a minute. He pulled away from her breaking the kiss with reluctance.

"Well goodnight." He told her again.

"Goodnight." Dominika repeated her face showing a wide but slightly shy grin. She turned around to face the house before he gently stopped her.

"This might be nuts, but do you fancy going away to the beach tomorrow? We could go to Southend or Wickford?" He asked out of the blue.

"What just go? How would we get there?" She asked surprised.

"Well, it's not as if it's a foreign country, it's only an hour away. I will drive us."

"I didn't know you had a car here. Yeah, sod it, let's go. What time you want to leave?" She was surprised at herself for agreeing to go. She barely knew this man but somehow felt safe with him.

"Would 10am be OK? Or is that too early, try and beat the crowds of people?"

"That's fine. Just message me before you leave so I know to be ready."

"Will do. Goodnight." He said leaning back in for another kiss, this time only giving her a little peck on the lips."

"Goodnight."

He waited until she had gone into the house and closed the door. She gave him a beautiful smile as she closed the door extinguishing the light behind her. He only lived a few hundred metres from her place and made it home in less than ten minutes. He was as surprised as she was about his sudden idea. He hadn't planned or even thought about it, but was excited about the prospect of spending the whole day with her. Besides, he hadn't taken out his Jaguar F-Type for a long drive in weeks.