Edge of Our Dreams

Lilly bit her lip trying to work out if she had got on the right tube or not. There was a 50/50 chance; she needed it to go north, it could only go north or south so she had a chance. There was no one to ask either, there were very few people around and this had to be the last tube to Camden. She’d moved to London over a month ago and it seemed to be taking her a while to get the hang of the tube.

She had other things on her mind though. She’d enjoyed a lush night with friends, good food, good chat and good cocktails. One of her friends had, had a really good night, he’d asked her out and she’d said yes.

Why?

Fuck knows.

But she’d said yes because she was too scared to upset him. He was such a nice guy. Nice being the main problem, he did nothing for her, he wasn’t her type and she wasn’t really interested.

Did that make her a bitch?

Probably.

Lilly sighed and the train jolted forwards, the doors had shut and she’d been joined by another traveller. She looked over at him, just wanting to check he wasn’t a murderer or rapist.

…because she could really tell that from one look.

Lilly told herself off, she was just going to scare herself more if she thought things like that. The guy wasn’t paying attention though, his eyes focused on his phone. He was sharply dressed; a suit was covered by a long black dress coat. Lilly decided he was too well-dressed to be a murder and turned back to her own phone.

The train stopped at the next two stops without fault, flying through the tunnels at breakneck speed. Clearly the train driver wanted to get home as well; Lilly didn’t blame him!
So as the train started to slow down and break before the next stop Lilly let out a sigh. She looked up from her phone at the same time as the man; she quickly looked out the window before gazing back down at her phone.

She suddenly remembered that somewhere, someone had told her if you make eye contact then you’ve got a good image of your attacker…she rolled her eyes, she worried too much.
She had no signal down there so couldn’t reply to her friends messages to let them know she’d got the tube safely. She couldn’t text her roommate to let her know she was on her way back, so all she could do was play boggle ; A game that got her through many a boring tube ride, bus journey or meeting. She’d found it worked wonders at keeping her calm and relaxed. She played offline as there was no wifi down there.

She was completely focused on the game trying to come with the longest word when the tube jolted forwards, it made it a few meters before shuddering to a stop and the lights flickered. Lilly felt her heart race, suddenly panicking about everything, and imaging the absolute worst. They were sat in a tube in a dark tunnel. She tried to remind herself this happened every day, hell only earlier today was she sat on the tube as it waited for another tube to clear the station. She needed to chill out.

What if she was stuck here? She didn’t bring anything to eat or drink with her, she had no signal, people would worry!

What if they didn’t make it to the next station? What if she was stranded at the next stop with no choice but to walk through a dark and scary London alone in the middle of the night?

What if-

“Was the last station Warren Street?” Her eyes flicked up at hearing his voice, it was soft and cultured a perfect British accent. He was watching her, waiting for an answer, as she opened and shut her mouth a few times before coming up with something brilliant…

“Oh I have no, I think so?” He smiled slightly and nodded. Nice one.

“I wasn’t listening either,” He looked down at his phone again before sighing. “No signal of course,” Lilly smiled back.

“Yeah it is really ruining my game score,” She muttered realising how stupid that sounded her eyes went quickly back to her phone. The lights flickered again and she gasped, suddenly all the horrible

What if’s… came back to haunt us.

Lilly gazed around the light flickered again and came half on, leaving the carriage poorly lit. The man had put his phone away and was looking around also. His gaze lingered on Lilly and he offered a reassuring smile.

“I’m sure it will get moving soon,” Lilly just nodded, praying she was right about him not being a murderer. He got up slowly and allowed Lilly to admire every inch of him, he was tall and lean. He walked towards the tube map and seemed to be studying it.

“God I hope so,” Lilly replied quietly pulling her knees up to her chest, and letting her heels rest on the chair. She presumed he hadn’t heard as he continued to gaze at the map. The speakers clicked in the carriage and the harsh tones of east London greeted them as the tube driver spoke.

“Evening all, we seem to be having ah’few technically difficulties, we ’ope to be moving on shortly. Thanks for your patience,”

“Well that’s helpful,” Lilly muttered checking her phone. It was getting closer to midnight and she had no want to be wondering the streets of London this late; she knew she should of left the bar earlier.

“Good old TFL,” The man chuckled.

“I know, I always pick that tube, the one that gets stuck, or someone throws up on, or-“

“Throws up on?” The man questioned with a smirk. “Pleasant,” Of course she’d bring up such a disgusting thing when speaking to someone so well spoken and clearly cultured. Lilly had a problem where sometimes he just talked and talked, without a thought passing through her mind about exactly what she was saying.

“Yeah would you believe it delayed the train for half an hour, we had to wait for a new tube and everything, some people,” She smiled as he chuckled at her story. She paused and took his appearance in again. “Were you going somewhere nice?” The man walked towards her with a small nod.

“Dinner date,” He said simply, with a bit of a shrug and sigh. “Though the dinner was more fun than the date,”

“Oh bad date?” Lilly was now just being nosey.

“We had nothing in common,” The man replied honestly, seemingly unbothered by her question.

“Oh I hate that,” Lilly muttered. “Did you let her down gently?” The man sat down opposite Lilly and nodded.

“I was of course the perfect gentleman, I told her it would never work, I don’t have the time needed to give her all the attention she deserved,” Lilly raised her eyebrows, that was quite a good line, cheesy and romantic, but still clearly a get out of jail card.

“It’s not you, it’s me, nice!” She noticed his face sour slightly.

“Said with my class I hope!”

“Eh, I read between the lines,” Lilly caught him watching her with interest. “Though may have to steal you line, it was good,” The lights flickered again and went off, Lilly gasped and then groaned. She hated this.

“It will be fine,” She heard him say softly, the dimmed lights flickered on again and lit up his face.

There was something about his voice that made her trust him, the kind of tone that came across as wise and all knowing. Although he wasn’t that old she was sure. “So have you had a nice night?”
He was trying to distract her, he could see that being stuck in the tube was making her nervous, and it worked. She started to explain her night, including the being asked out bit. He listened intently, asking thoughtful questions and giving his opinion. Lilly had to admit, if only to herself, that she was grateful for his company. He distracted her from the fear of the tube.

“So what do you do?” She asked as the conversation started to lull.

“I’m-“ He paused as the lights flickered on and the train lurched forward. They both smiled as they heard a cheer from the carriage ahead of them. “Oh good, only half an hour lost,” He smiled checking his watch.

“Due to technical difficulties this train will no terminate at Euston station,” The annoying tanoy voice came on and Lilly let out a groan, the man just chuckled at her reaction.

“It’s way past midnight this means night bus,”

“Taxi?” He suggested. “Where do you need to get to?”

“Camden, so quite expensive journey,” The man just nodded checking his watch again. Now the life or death tube journey was coming to an end she took her chance to admire the man in front of her.
He had dark hair, combed back, and sharp features, but none of them caught her attention as much as his soft smile. His whole faced had lit up when he first smiled at her.

As the tube pulled up to the station the doors flung up and those few passengers left on seemed to just leep off. Lilly was one of them, she was glad to get out of the confinement if not a little sad her conversations with the man were ending. He was good travel company, and easy on the eye.

As she started walking towards the exit she realised he was right behind her, as she stepped on the escalator he followed. It felt awkward not to turn round and say something, so she did.

“Thanks for that,” The man looked up he hadn’t been paying her attention.

“You’re welcome,” He shot her that beautiful smile. “It can be scary sometimes,” His hand slid up the escalator side. Not as scary as nightime London, she thought to herself as they came to the end of the escalator. She wasn’t quite sure what her next move was, and as she stopped in the middle of the station she felt a little lost. “The exit is this way,” She heard his voice close to her, and the moment his hand touched the small of her back she forgot everything that was around her. She jumped slightly but he ignored it and led her towards the small group of people leaving the station.
The taxi rank, and bus stops were outside and as she stepped out in the cold, she suddenly wished she’d worn more that night.

The man had stepped away and was walking towards the taxi in front of them. Lilly ignored him and just looked around trying to decide which bus she needed to go towards.

“Camden please,” She heard his voice over the noise and her heart jolted. She tried not to but her body turned to see what he was doing, just as he turned to catch her gaze. “Come on,” He called out to her holding the door open and looked straight at her, those blue eyes were piercing.

“I-I”

“It’s the last one, come on,” His voice was firm and un-wavering.

“I don’t have any cash, “

“I don’t care, get in,” He smiled at her, that smile again that probably got him out of a lot of trouble. She sighed and he couldn’t help but laugh at her reaction. She clearly had a stubborn streak. “Now!”

“Thank you,” She climbed in, his hand on her back as he followed her in and shut the cab door. Lilly gave the cabbie her address and she settled in the corner of the cab. She guessed he had money; you didn’t look like that and not.

The streets were quieter at night, though it was London and there was still traffic around, so the journey did not take long. When they pulled up at the end of her road, she was a little sad her journey with this man was over. They’d chattered in the cab about this area of London and what he knew about Camden.

“This is me,” She smiled weakly, knowing the next bit would be awkward. “Thank you,” She turned to realise he was watching her intently, his hand under his chin and elbow on the window side propping him up.

“You are honestly welcome, I don’t think the streets of London are a great place for a young woman to be walking around on her own,” He was serious. “I’ve got this,” He added nodding to the driver.

“I owe you!” Lilly smiled at him before opening the cab door and climbing out.

“I’ll hold you to it,” She heard him call before she closed the door with a small wave. He just smiled as she wondered up the stairs to her flat. She could feel his gaze on her as she fumbled with the lock before finally opening the big front door.

As soon as she stepped in she heard the cab pull away.

He’d wanted to make sure she got in safely.