Part Two of Three
“Tell me to stay,” he said.
His quiet words were lost on the platform, overpowered by the tired warning that sounded from old speakers suspended from the ceiling. “In a moment the final northbound express will approach platform three. For your safety, please step away from the tracks.”
He turned to face her. Even now she remained as unreadable as ever, her true emotions somewhere locked away beyond those eyes into which he gazed. “Tell me to stay,” he repeated. In the crisp air his words rode a wisp of white vapor. Beyond the island of light that was the platform there was neither light nor sound, as if for one moment the entire world had ceased to exist, save for where they now stood.
She met his gaze with an expressionless face. Her lips parted slightly, then closed again as she looked away, into the darkness outside the platform. From the south rose a crescendo of metallic clatter, the grind and screech of wheels on rails. A breeze swept across the platform as the train arrived. The air felt bitter, unpleasant, with an industrial smell of oil and machinery.
For a small eternity they stood together while the train decelerated, brakes complaining in harsh tones as they gripped the cold wheels. The clacking metronome of cars crossing a rail joint slowed from andante to adagio, then to largo before ceasing entirely. With a soft hiss the doors slid open, and she turned toward him.
“I can’t,” she said, just loud enough to be heard over the idling train.
He drew in a long, slow breath. The chill air stung his nostrils and he felt the beginning of tears in his eyes. Reaching down, he took hold of his suitcase and boarded the waiting train.
She turned away once more to stare into the darkness enclosing the platform.