Added£0.99Add to basket(A short story of 2690 words)
The Proximity of Strangers
Literary
by Lisa Samson
A young man follows a young woman out of a tube station.
We were pressed side by side, wedged between enormous suitcases belonging to two tourists who glared at each other over our heads. As the carriage swayed round a bend in the tunnel, I grasped hold of the young woman’s arm to steady her, but she did not thank me, or even raise her eyes from her newspaper. I could smell her perfume. It was Chanel No. 5; I was sure of it. It was a sickly sweet relief to the nostrils in that sweaty carriage. My thigh was hot where it touched hers and beads of perspiration trickled down my forehead. I wasn’t used to travelling on tubes, or of the close proximity of strangers. Most passengers alighted at the stop before and the girl moved to sit down on a vacated seat, leaving me to mop my brow and recover my equanimity...
We were pressed side by side, wedged between enormous suitcases belonging to two tourists who glared at each other over our heads. As the carriage swayed round a bend in the tunnel, I grasped hold of the young woman’s arm to steady her, but she did not thank me, or even raise her eyes from her newspaper. I could smell her perfume. It was Chanel No. 5; I was sure of it. It was a sickly sweet relief to the nostrils in that sweaty carriage. My thigh was hot where it touched hers and beads of perspiration trickled down my forehead. I wasn’t used to travelling on tubes, or of the close proximity of strangers. Most passengers alighted at the stop before and the girl moved to sit down on a vacated seat, leaving me to mop my brow and recover my equanimity...