A deafening screech echoed along the platform as the Cardiff train entered the station, its ancient brakes surprisingly still in working order. The bloody thing must have been on the tracks since 1950. Jaime stared at his watch as he sat on the plank of sticky wood that served as a bench in this shit hole of a train station.
She was late. He hadn't even met her yet and already he disliked her. Jaime was never late for anything and considered tardiness to be rude and inconsiderate. And this damn bench was making his skin crawl. God knows what had taken place on it over the years. Newport... what a dump!
Normally he never would have dreamed of sitting on the thing but his legs ached like he'd been running a marathon and all day re-arranging his snazzy new office had made his back ache. A small, slightly smug, smile spread across his face. 'Regional Manager, get in!' he thought.
'S'cuse me pal but have ye got a light?'
Dragged out of his own private mental heaven he almost fell off the end of the bench he was so precariously perched upon. A man dressed in what must have been clothing at some point but had seemed to somehow manage to change its molecular structure and turn into shit, stood over him. He held out a half burned, crumpled cigarette for Jaime's attention and for a moment he was confused as to what was required of him.
'Oh! A light? No sorry mate, I don't smoke' he said, trying and failing miserably to hold his breath.
The tramp trundled on to harass the people at the next bench as another train screeched into the station like some kind of modern day, Branson endorsed banshee. Once more Jaime looked at his watch, an Omega of course. It had cost him over a month's wages and his girlfriend at the time had gone spare but it was worth it. And anyway she was history now, money grabbing bitch. Six months without a job and she had left him, obviously he was no longer able to keep her supply of shoes topped up to an adequate level. If only she could see him now. Regional Manager; nice.
Thats it, fuck it! She was half an hour late and that's way past taking the piss. He'd seen her facebook profile and to be honest he had thought she was stunning but nothing was worth waiting in this oversized toilet any longer.
Pulling his iPhone out of his jacket pocket he began to dial the taxi number just as it started to ring. 'JANES FREIND' flashed on his screen in big white letters, he'd spelled friend wrong. How many had he had last night? It must have been a few too many to agree to this little trip.
Jane had been his friend for almost eight years and in that time she had had so many boyfriends he could no longer remember most of their faces, although to be fair he often couldn't remember his nieces and nephews faces either. Every man was "The One" for Jane and every one ended in tears. Except this time the tears had been tears of physical pain. The tosser had smacked her about a bit until Jaime had seen him do it one day and broken his nose for him.
Last night at some point she had called him. He had been out celebrating his promotion and a soft croaky voice had whispered from his phone; 'Can I chat to you J?'
Now he barely recalled any of the conversation. He had been freezing his nuts off outside the club so he could hear her through the sobs and he had been getting along pretty well with a blonde girl inside who he was desperate to get back to. Thinking back through the hazy mists of drunkenness he vaguely remembered something about a woman's refuge and Jane's ex stalking her. Whatever the case he had agreed to go cheer her up and also to accompany her friend who had just moved over from Tokyo and didn't know where anything was.
'Hello?' he answered the call.
'Umm hi, I'm Jane's friend Tsuki. Is this Jamie?' Jaime cringed; people very rarely said his name correctly in this country. Anything that wasn't Dave or John was just too....foreign for them. He gave himself a mental shake as he realised she was also foreign.
'Where are you?' he asked with an edge of impatience in his voice.
'I am in the train station. Where are you?'
'Train station. I'm wearing a blazer with a blue shirt'
'Oh I see you!' Tsuki giggled nervously and hung up.
Jaime turned in time to see her descend the stairs to his left. Nothing in her pictures could have prepared him for the real life Tsuki.
Dressed in an above the knee flowery blue dress her long pale shapely legs ended in light the blue cotton daps she wore on her dainty feet. Her hair cascaded down her shoulders in dark brown ringlets to brush gently against the tops of her breasts that peeked out above her low neckline. Her nose was small and delicate, like the rest of her, above full lips that glistened with dark red lipstick. Her large almond shaped deep brown eyes were complimented with brown eye shadow. As she approached him she flashed him a smile that gave him butterflies so intense he thought he was going to float.
'Hi Jamie' she said. Her voice was light and cheerful, her words clipped. English was obviously her second language and her accent was strong. Jaime had never been a lover of Asian women but for some reason her accent was making him hard.
'Umm its... its Jaime actually. No IE' now it was Jaime's turn to giggle nervously, to his eternal embarrassment.
She flashed him another dazzling smile and apologised.
'Oh don't worry. Everyone seems to get it wrong. So are we going to Cardiff?'
'Yes! I'm very excited!'
'You may be in for some disappointment I'm sorry'
'I'm sure you will make my day enjoyable Jaime' she said with a wink, emphasising his name to show she had it right now.
Jaime could feel his cheeks flushing. What the hell was wrong with him? He never got embarrassed around women but something about this stunning girl was sending his hormones into overdrive. He felt twelve years old all over again. Getting his first erection when Mrs. Johns bent over her desk to grab a pencil. And had she winked at him? The long day must be taking its toll. Once he'd had a pint he'd be fine...
* * *
Tsuki sat in the shelter beside Jaime as a deafening downpour of rain beat against the shelters plastic roof, drowning out any chance of conversation. He had been right, Cardiff was shit. The people were rude, the smell was overpowering and the food in the pub they had spent the afternoon in was poor at best.
One thing had made the day worthwhile though. Jaime's reaction to every little thing she did. Twice on the train his knee had accidently brushed hers sending a wash of crimson across his cheeks. She thought he was very cute.
Every time she had attempted conversation with him that day he had stuttered a barely audible reply, his eyes never meeting hers. But she could plainly see he was looking at her when he thought she wasn't looking.
Tsuki had left Tokyo two months before after her boyfriend at the time had caught her in bed with his father, in her defence, a very handsome man for his age. Unfortunately his father was the head of the multi-million dollar Hasaoki Corporation and his son had threatened to go to the papers with the story if she didn't make a pretty fast exit from the country. Little shit...
So now she was staying with her auntie in Bristol and she hated it. All her make-up had been left in Tokyo and the stuff they sold here was dreadful. The food was shit, the clothes were shit, the weather was shit and worst of all she hadn't found herself a man good looking enough to want to fuck since she'd arrived. Until now at least.