“So, you decided to take a break to let your colleagues forget about the incident?”
“Yes and no. It’s not as if they’ll miss me, but they’re not hostile either. They don’t care what the boss suspects. You remember Shaheed? He’s the only one I still see regularly — if I told him I wanted to blow up the office, he would happily wire the place,” Alex snorted. “Lately, though, my boss has been visiting more often.”
She suddenly realised she hadn’t taken off her coat. I watched, fascinated, as she stood and moved in the narrow space of the compartment, the sensuality of her body evident as she hung the coat on a hook in the corner by the seat.
I loved the dress she wore underneath. The silky material clung to her curves, accentuating her figure. Her movements grew slow and slightly clumsy when she caught me staring. Alex must have recognised the hungry longing in my eyes; she looked confused. To break the tension, I shrugged off my own coat and pretended nothing unusual had happened.
“I suppose I just wanted to escape his weekly inspections,” Alex continued, a touch nervous as she sat down again. “After I came back from hospital, he made a point of dropping by every Friday, always an hour before I finished. He had no real reason to be there. My colleagues refused to bully me, so he decided to apply the psychological pressure himself. When I announced I was taking a week off starting Friday, that jerk came to check on me on Thursday!”
Alex burst out laughing, and I couldn’t help smiling at the sheer absurdity of it — and at her boss’s childish behaviour. Still, the thought of her having to endure that nonsense made my blood boil. As if reading my mind, she countered:
“It’s nothing new. Gauls have always treated me with disdain and distrusted my work. This too shall pass.”
The hollow tone in her voice unsettled me. For the first time, I truly registered how deeply sad she was. Sadness wasn’t quite the right word, though — it was apathy. The mental state I feared most.
I was a stubborn optimist. I had always fought off depression and despair, always searching for the bright side no matter how grim things became — especially after what happened in Albion, and I was forced to flee. But I didn’t know how to express support or understanding, so I simply moved to sit beside her as she handed me a plastic cup. I slipped an arm carefully around her waist. We drank the hot tea in silence.
Our quiet moment was shattered by a loud, guttural laugh from the corridor.
“Quick! Hide under the bench – it’s the ticket inspector!” Alex whispered urgently.
She helped me slide into the space beneath the seat, then positioned her bag and my suitcase to conceal my legs. Right on cue, there was a knock at the door.
“Ticket control!” a loud female voice announced in Gallic.
“Just a moment, please!” Alex called back.
I heard the metallic click of the sliding door.
“Good evening! Sorry, I was just changing,” Alex said apologetically.
My Gallic wasn’t strong, but I could piece together the context from stray words.
“Oh, I’m sorry, ma’am,” the inspector replied, sounding flustered.
“Excuse me,” Alex lowered her voice to a whisper, “could you bring me an extra pillow, please? I like to put one between my legs for comfort at night.”
“Yes, of course.”
I heard the heavy footsteps retreat down the corridor, then return quickly.
“Here you are, ma’am.”
“Thank you!” Alex said brightly, closing the door.
She helped me crawl out, then opened her suitcase to fetch some clothes. As she replaced the seat, I caught her wrist and pulled her close.
“That was sweet of you, asking for an extra pillow for me. Though you could use my body between your legs instead,” I murmured, my lips close to hers.
Her face flushed instantly.
“Fuck off, Smith! You’ll be sleeping on this bench. There’s not enough space for two anyway,” she muttered under her breath – but I heard it clearly.
“Well, Officer, that sounds like a challenge to me.”
I grinned like an idiot as I met her furious hazel eyes.
“Don’t even think about it, Smith! Now, turn away,” she said sternly.
“Why?” I asked, amused.
“Because I want to change and go to bed!”
“Well, it’s not as if I haven’t seen it before,” I replied, fully aware I was being a complete jerk.
“Smith!” she hissed through gritted teeth.
I turned my back demonstratively and listened to the hurried rustle of her clothes coming off.
“Okay, I’m done,” she said behind me.
I couldn’t suppress a giggle when I turned around and saw her in cute pink teddy-bear pyjamas.
“Officer! Do your colleagues and detainees know what you wear to bed?”
“Shut up, Smith! Let’s have another cup of tea and go to sleep,” she grumbled crankily.
“So, which hotel are you staying at in Tolosa?” I asked as she refilled my cup.
“I won’t tell you,” she replied, instantly raising my suspicion.
“Why not?”
“Because I don’t want you to know where I’m staying. I want some time alone, away from everyone I know!” Alex snapped, fuelling my paranoia further.
“That’s fine. You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to,” I said gently. “But if you need me, here’s my address in Tolosa.” I handed her the hotel business card, adding manipulatively, “Just in case.”
She took it shyly and slipped it into her phone case.
We finished our tea and settled for the night. It wasn’t very late, but Alex said she was tired and wanted to sleep. Yet once the lights were out and she lay under the blanket, she didn’t drift off. I heard her tossing and turning.
I couldn’t sleep either — mostly because I ached to hold her, to make love to her — but I knew she wouldn’t allow it. She was acting strangely, and I feared pushing her too far. Still, I suspected her restlessness had something to do with me.
“Alex? What’s wrong?” I whispered into the dark.
“I don’t know. I just can’t fall asleep,” she replied. I heard her slip out of bed and put on her slippers.
“Where are you going?”
“To the bathroom,” she said, her voice slightly hoarse.
The moment she left the compartment, I opened her phone and scrolled through her messages. Nothing suspicious — but then Alex was reserved; she probably deleted anything compromising.
I felt like utter scum as I rifled through her purse, but I had to know where she was staying. Inside I found a small brochure for a rental log cabin in Tolosa. Surprising — I had assumed she would book a hotel, but a cabin seemed more like a family holiday spot.
I pocketed the brochure and was about to return to bed when a thought struck me.
I opened my bag, took out the pouch containing the Emerald Princess, and listened to the small inner voice that had saved my life more than once by whispering the right instinct.
This time it told me to place the necklace in Alex’s carry-on.
Before she returned, I tucked the pouch into an empty inner pocket of her bag. I was confident she wouldn’t notice it until I came to retrieve it. Since I now knew where she would be staying, the necklace would be safe there in the meantime.
Just as I closed the seat, the door slid open and Alex stepped back in. She had important news: the ticket controller had warned her that we would reach the border in less than an hour. We couldn’t sleep yet — border control was coming.
We lay quietly in the dark. Alex dozed off a few times, only to jerk awake, her eyes catching the dim light.
When the train began to slow, we knew we were approaching the border. The document and compartment checks went smoothly. I hid in the same spot as before, concealed beneath bags and clothes.
Once border control had passed and the train moved off again, I crawled out and lay on the bench. Alex wished me goodnight, wrapped herself in her blanket, and soon fell asleep.
Her steady breathing calmed me, and before long I drifted off, too.
