The Date
Love, Modern.
The rain pelted her heavily, as she stood at the edge of the tracks, waiting for her train to finally show at the station. The rain fell heavily beneath her gaze, and it pelted her long, leaving streaks through her long hair, and making her body shiver just so very slightly, for it was too terribly cold right now.
She stood, her umbrella pelted long by the water, and her eyes gazed sweetly towards the distance, towards where the train should be coming. The future laid in that direction, where a new job would rest, and all things considered, it was where she would be happy. Right now, she rested her fingers against her suitcase, and breathe din a soft breath, to clear her lungs of the dryness that had accompanied her during the entire trip to the station.
Looking long, she saw the people mill about and draw as the train became to be seen in the distance. Looking, she also saw the train, and her right hand waved at the conductor who was busy putting the brakes down. A heavy squeal began to fill the air, and she had to laugh a little, though the sound was painful it was a sound she would not mind at all. It was the sound of tomorrow, the future.
She lifted her suitcase up, then set it at her side, upon one of her saddle bags. And she stepped towards the loading platform. But the ground was slick, and she felt the her paw slide forward, and her body twisted, she falling to her side as she lost balance. Her side gave suddenly and she felt a light pop, and looked at the train as it approached her. Her right hand reached to pull herself up, but she could not find the purchase she needed to lift her body from the position she held, much to her fear.
Her body trembled a bit as she tried to pull her body up, but the ground was far too slick, and her paw slid forward again, sending her even more off the edge. "Help!" And only then did someone notice she was in danger, that she had any need of help. A hand then grabbed her own, and pulled her up quickly, though the train, as it drew by, nicked her ear and made her give a stifled sound. The hand held tightly, and she gripped it, then clung to the body that had pulled her up, while others even noticed something had been awry, and they moved forward, with shocked sounds and sudden questions.
Her eyes looked about suddenly, as she saw an older woman holding a kerchief out, and a young man talking into a radio, and a conductor whom had leapt from the train to check on her. Passengers were getting off, and the crowd started to surround her, leaving her in a swell of people, and the hand, the hand that had lifted her, was gone, leaving only a small clump of fur in her palm.
"Where did he go?" She asked, her head turning, and her eyes looking about rapidly, wanting to see the hero again. Others spoke loudly, and got into her way, leaving her to wait for someone to help her through the surprise through the fear of being alone. Her hand gripped for the hand that was not there, before she pulled the fur to her chest, while others talked, and rambled on.
She stood, looking out and over the window out of her office, while holding the small locket in her hand, holding the six strands of fur she had. Looking long, she gazed out through the window towards the many people who walked below, wondering which had been her savior, which had helped out was. Every lunch break was the same, just watching and wondering, alone in her great tower of glass and steal.
"Cindy." The voice was soft, as a wolf gazed at her through the doorway, his fur slickened back, and his hazel eyes looking at her reflection. She turned her body about, her rear legs flexing slightly and leaving her to face him. She felt her right ear twitch at something, which made her wince - the wound still hurt, even two weeks later.
"Yeah?" She asked back, "What do you need?" She sat herself down gently on her long mat, and clasped her hands together in her lap, leaving her to look at him. He smiled to the taur, and sat in a chair, while his fingers laced and his feet pressed against her desk, a touch.
"I was just wondering if you would care to share lunch with me and a few friends; we worry about you, up here alone. We don't see you eat that much, and you taurs have high metabolisms. Your loosing weight, and its not good." She looked back out the window, lost in the revelry of the memory, of the hero she had never got the chance to thank. "Cindy, come on." Her head turned to look at him when he stood, and she just gazed back through her almost haunted eyes.
"No, I'm fine. I'm just thinking about the Delrun' Project. It's a bit low on successful trials, and I am not that happy with it. If I do not take care of the situation, my tail is in the fire." It was a lie, of course, "Don't worry about me, hon; please. Go eat, I'm just going to work this out on my break."
Knowing she was damn near impossible to argue with, not first being she was his boss, he just nodded and stepped out, though making sure too note to have something brought up for her in a few minutes. Right now, he played the sensitive role, and walked out as she smiled to him for the span of a few moments. It wasn't enough to change his mind; but she knew he meant the best for her, like so many others after the accident earlier in the month.
With care, she sat herself back at her mat after adjusting it, and began to loose herself in the project data, making sure it was doing as well as it had been supposed to be. It was, which came as a sign of relief for her, it would not do well to loose a job so soon in her career.
The project occupied her for a time, before she gazed up, and looked out at the setting sun, having been completely lost in the work, and in the moments of time where she thought of the mysterious one, who left her so little. Avoiding letting herself on a train of thought that would be self destructive, she just sett he page down, when five at night struck, and she closed the book , letting it stay there for the next morrows meeting and work. Tonight, though, she had other thing son mind, though it was tempting to stay late.
Her car revved to life as she put the key in, and turned the system completely on. With the safety disabled, she turned the music up to its maximum level and rolled the windows up the same, before getting into the feel of the beating sound of the retro techno. The thumping caught her, and she put the speed on as she made her way out of the garage and into the street, which was full of everyone who wanted to head home at so late in the day.
Her new care picked its speed up quickly, which was a favor for her; it was more efficient than the long lines at the station like she had waited on in Manhattan, now she only had to compete with the lights, which were almost predictable. She drove along the streets, avoiding the heavier throng of traffic and, instead, took her time to pass down the older areas of the city, the areas pre-quake which had been rebuilt only so long ago. It was a beautiful place, now that the area was cleaned and cleansed And it was here that her apartment was, a nice, one bedroom fit for a taur of her active lifestyle.
Down the road, she turned into the small parking lot for those fortunate enough to own a vehicle, given the high prices, and she just leaned back, resting her haunches and allowing the song to play itself out. The music was incredible for her; I touched her spirit and soul, and made her body tingle most pleasantly.
.Then the song was over, and she carried herself up the steps towards her apartment, disdaining the stairway for the smell inside that had not been cleaned. She walked her way up, giving a smile and nod to her neighbors who agreed with her walk, and waved softly to the one who lived closest, a black fox who tended to play his music a touch too loud, a bit too late. She'd grown used to it.
She stepped into her apartment after pawing the door code, and she looked inside to see that nothing was changed, a good sign for her that the apartments were safe as they could be. She walked past the plants hanging, and walked to the answering machine, to look at the number of messages. With hope, she read the number, and with a sigh, she ignored the blinking Zero.
The TV popped on after a few minutes, and she stepped into the kitchen, then into the fridge, to gather food for the dinner meal. The news played on, talking about the stock prices rising, and the economy recovering, but that was little improvement in less time, so all in all, it was ignored as was the commercials that were a bit too prevalent for her tastes.
Turning the stove on, she looked out the window and held her locket again, while watching quietly for a few moments, just a few. Her hand held the locket tightly, and she prayed for her savior to find her, though her heart knew it'd not be a likely prospect at all. But hope kept on her, and she refused to let it go.
Her attention shifted suddenly, and with a jump, she looked towards the door, listening to the sound of someone knocking on it, as well. Her hand gripped her locket and she walked towards the sound, blinking a little from the sudden soreness that filled her, a soreness of working too hard on the computer and files, and as well from the people who had bent her ear the day long.
"Who is it?" She asked, looking through the small peephole at the top. On the other side she saw her neighbor, the white furred wolf from the other side, and he smiled up at her. Her hand undid the lock and she peered, before he chuckled a little, and sniffed.
"I heard you rustling' around in here, and I was wondering if you would care to share dinner with me. I have it set up already, and what'd be the use of wasting a perfectly good Italian meal, eh?" She raised a hand up to protest this, but his hand lifted up.
"I already have the table set up, you'd not make me waste a perfectly good meal, would you?" And she bit her lower lip, then ever so soft, sweet chuckle at his comment; he knew how to woo a lady. Or at the very least her, as far as felt, someone cooking for her was high on her list of turn-ons. The musk about him was the same, having the lightest hint of peppermint and old pine wood, actually a good combination.
"I suppose not." She offered back just as easily, and murmured for her computer to turn the fire off, and to let the water settle itself down from the bubbling. She walked out and locked the door behind; then she walked behind him as he lead her to his apartment, where the sweet smell of cooked garlic and sweet bread made her mouth water. It would taste just as good, she hoped.
She sat across from him, and rested her hands together in her forepaw lap, and he merely smiled back, while pouring a red wine for her, and after lighting the candle he dipped his head in prayer over the meal, she did the same, surprised someone would think to do the same.
"So, how was your trip here? I never got around to asking; but I heard you came from New York." He took a bite of his spaghetti, while she began to nibble gently at her toasted bread, enjoying the rush of garlic against her soft tongue.
"New York, is a hell of a town." She licked her lips clean of the garlic. "I lived there most of my life, but here is a better place, it's a lot cleaner at least. I worked as a secretary there; but its easier being management, since I knew my bosses job inside and out." She twisted her fingers around the fork, and grabbed a goodly portion of noodles, before taking a bite, and chewing it while looking at this not too handsome, but quite gentlemanly host.
"Story of my life, I lived in Sacramento a while back, I was out visiting family a while back in New York though, now that's a nice place to live; provided you can handle the stress of driving through that heavy traffic, or the smell of smog." He made a face, then laughed again as she nodded her head, most understandably.
"Well, I miss my old apartment, but this one has a lot less bugs, and a lot more nice people who help with groceries." She teased him softly, while taking a drink of the heavy wine, finding it to be both good in taste, and the buzz in the back of her head to be even better. But it was odd, she usually didn't get drunk. Of course, she never really drank. "Though, it was nice living near family, I really do miss having them around. I'd have loved to share dinner with them. My mother's been a bit down lately with a cold."
"I hope they never cure that." She heard him say, and she looked up, in surprise. But he just nodded, half done with his plate, and his hands held together, in thought. "If they got rid of that, then no one would really get any sick days off." She smiled at that, not really getting the joke, but finding that someone who thought differently was always refreshing.
"Well, my father is working on getting his mortgage paid off, just one last payment and they own their house; he's an assistant director and is doing very well, wish I can get paid like him." She lightly burped and blushed, he just laughed at that, and pushed his plate away, when she did the same.
"An excellent meal." She murmured back, while purring a little, despite herself. She felt rather relaxed, and turned to look out the window. He cleared the plates, while she walked to his balcony, and looked out at the city below, her hand reaching for the locket, almost instinctively.
The smell of the candles and garlic were less heavy outside, and she could only enjoy the sweet scent of the plants he had growing. Her fingers traced the leaves of one, then, just then, she looked back out at the wild yonder, towards the west, and just clasped the locket tightly in her soft palm.
Just the seven strands of fur were all she had, and she wanted the rest, for even a night. White as snow, strong in musk, she turned, and looked through the glass of his balcony door, at the neighbor, and just smiled. Now that was a sweet man, but her heart didn't call for him.
Inside, he was busily cleaned the dishes, while looking at the window, while she looked at him in return. Maybe it was the kiss of alcohol, but he found a hunger for her, a hunger for the taste of her lips, if even it was in a gentle kiss. She was lovely, but he felt as though he'd met her somewhere, probably school; taurs were prevalent where he grew up.
His eyes caught her locket, and he scratched his chest lightly, feeling a light bite of an itch over her heart; he wanted to know her deeper, and, ever since he met her, his heart had fallen; but he had the feeling she had someone else in her heart, or above it, like the locked locket's message. He sighed, drinking in last of his wine in his glass, and began to wash that too.
Outside, she glimpsed the first stars of night through the smog, and wished gently upon them, as though a young girl in spring wishing for her first love. She glimpsed the many stars twinkling softly and sweetly, and she held her locket up to them, a smile actually creeping up.
She looked at him, as he walked out to the balcony with her, and a hand fell softly on her lower back, which she smiled for; his touch was really rather nice and gentle, all things considered. He smiled, and she smiled back, before she leaned in, and took a soft kiss from his softer lips. He flushed dark and was taken aback.
"Uh, Cindy, isn't this a bit sudden?" He asked, while licking his lips clean, but enjoying that soft flavor against him, wanting to let the sensation last. She put a finger against his lips, and shushed him, a little bit.
"I may never find the man who saved my life; but I think... You're good for me; you have treated me nicely since I've gotten here." She offered quietly, while caressing her fingers down the length of his back, and softly, she twirled her fingers through his long fur. "I may never find the person who saved me, but, I'm not going to spend more than two weeks moping about it." She smiled to him, while savoring him.
"Saved you?" He asked, his head tilted to the side, and he feeling her fingers creep up to the back of his neck. His hand drifted down, and he touched the locket just above her breasts, and she nodded, letting him open it and look into the golden container, to see the seven strands of fur.
"Yeah, someone pulled me up from the tracks before I'd have gotten my head knocked off by the train. I never got to meet him; the crowd got too thick for me, but, well, I have a part of him." He tilted his head down, and gently sniffed at the strands, then looked up at her once more. His eyes glanced up at her, and she smiled softly, kissing him once more.
"I think I know this scent." He murmured, looking at his hand, then at the fur in the locket; then she looked on up into the eyes for a few moments, carefully and sweetly. Breathing in soft, he set it down in her hand, and then drew a strand of fur, and laid it beside the rest.
Her mouth fell open, in realization...