'I know that jacket' I thought to myself. I'd seen it somewhere before - leather with fake fur around the collar and half way down the sleeves. Not perhaps the nicest piece of fashion you're ever likely to see, but certainly distinctive.
I racked my brains trying to think where I'd seen it, and was almost at the point of giving up when I saw the legs of the woman wearing the jacket. Those I most definitely remembered. Last Tuesday - delayed train, she was sitting opposite me wearing a pink dress made of some sort of scrunchy material, and her legs were remarkable in their tanned smoothness. They were the sort of legs you just wanted to run your hand up, knowing that it was just the owner's will, not friction, that would put an end to the journey.
It was perhaps the first time ever that I'd been happy for a delay to my train. The line I lived on was notorious for late, or cancelled trains, but this time I left it up to my fellow passengers to endure the impotent frustration - I just focused on not being caught looking at those legs. When I heard her speaking into her mobile phone, I was surprised - it was a half posh accent - either a well bred person trying to be a little 'street' or the other way around. Either way, when I looked up I noticed that she was attractive, with the added bonus of dimples and very sparkly eyes. She was telling her friend that she was hung over like never before, giving the usual speech about not drinking ever again, and that she was going home to 'die.'
As she got off, I tried valiantly to get a look up her dress, but to no to no avail, yet when she got up t leave, I was afforded a look down her impressive cleavage - and it was enough to keep me smiling for days.
Anyway - so - here she was again, and I relished the prospect of sitting near her once more. Thing was - the station was teeming with people, and I had no clue which of the ten carriages she would get on. So - I made my choice and sat down near the front of the train, craning my neck to see if she was anywhere to be seen. She wasn't. Not immediately, anyway. Two minutes later, the connecting doors opened and she walked through our carriage, glancing at me briefly before moving further to the front of the train.
Cursing my luck, I opened my book to get my mind off what might have been. I hadn't even got past the first paragraph before my attention was wrested away - by a pair of glorious legs, gorgeous dimples, and very naughty eyes - sitting dead opposite me. I glanced up briefly, only to see that she was staring straight at me with a half smile playing across her mouth.
'You were on the train the other day, weren't you?' She asked.
'Yes' I replied. 'The delayed one'.
'I remember you', she said simply.
'And I remember that you had the hangover from hell, and that you were going home to die - which obviously never eventuated.' I ventured - throwing whatever caution I had firmly into the teeth of the roaring gale.
'You listened in to my conversation! God, that's so bad - that was a private chat with a friend!' She was mocking me now.
'Yes, private for your friend, very, very public for you.' I defended myself - even when I knew she was joking.
There was a silence for a minute or so, when I could think of nothing to say, and she looked as if she'd said all there was to be said.
'So, did you see what you wanted to see?' She asked me.
'I'm sorry -' I answered, genuinely unsure as to her meaning.
'You were looking at my legs for most of the trip, and I was wondering if you saw anything of any interest?'
I never blush, but right now I think I came very close.
'Um - Everything I saw interested me greatly.'
'But you never got your glory, did you?'
'Meaning?'
'You never got a flash of my knickers, did you?'
I was struck almost dumb. Somewhere in the back of my mind I was glad of the fact that I was on the late train which meant fewer people to be embarassed in front of. I wasn't sure if she was working up to a very public humiliation of her victim, or whether she just wanted to play.