Chapter I

Wet. The word formed on his lips before he could even prompt his mind not to say it. “That’s true, it is”, she said. The rain had fallen on the ground and left both of them stranded, stuck under a lonely bus-shelter in the middle of nowhere. It’s strange the people you meet when you’re travelling via public transport, he thought to himself. He was taking the bus because his car had broken down a couple weeks before. He looked at her. She couldn’t be much younger than him; twenty-two, maybe twenty three at most. She had a dark, reddish hair colour that he could tell wasn’t all natural. This part of the world almost everyone had black hair and brown eyes. Her eyes, however, were hazel, and it is this that he first noticed about her. He gazed at her, and by some instinct bred in her through generations of paranoid women, she felt his stare and turned to him quizzically. He fumbled for his words. “Um, excuse me, hi, my name’s Jeremy”, he started lamely. Almost as soon as he had started he felt the hot blush of shame on his cheeks. She probably thinks your crazy, he thought to himself. She stalled for a moment, and for that crucial moment he thought he had lost her.

Then she spoke, her voice filling his heart like the song of an angel. “Hi, I’m Samantha, but my friends call me Sam”, she responded. It’s not often one meets individuals waiting for public transport who are willing to speak to their fellow commuters. This is mainly because when one volunteers to speak to someone on public transport, most of the general population thinks that such a person is crazy at best or soft-headed at worst. She, not being the general populous, viewed such exchanges as exciting, bordering on adventurous. “Nice to meet you Samantha…” he said, holding his hand out for her. The soft touch of a woman was no new feeling to him, but as she stretched her hand out to meet his, he felt as thought something would pass between them that would be impossible to ignore. The feeling passed as her hand clasped his and he felt the smooth, gentle grip of her hand. “…You can call me Sam you know”, she responded with a smile. She always thought that smiling was the easiest thing one could do in a new situation. It always put the other person at ease. She read somewhere that a smile in the animal kingdom meant something totally different. To bare one’s teeth was a sign of aggression, something of a threat or a warning. Human beings were definitely strange creatures. “I thought only your friends were allowed to call you Sam?” he asked, a small smile dancing on his lips. She smiled, so that was a good sign.