Taking the Train

He remembered the distinct smell of bubblegum. His icy blue eyes lifted and studied the woman across from him. She chewed with a force as if her whole life depended on softening and mashing her piece of bubblegum. He was mesmerized by the way her pink lips moved and formed a little circle when she tried to blow the gum into a bubble.

"Want a stick?" she asked casually, noticing him studying her. His brow creased as her secretive brown eyes studied him. Her short, chocolate curls bounced around her face sending chills down his spine.

"No thank you," he responded, rejecting the stick of gum her slender fingers offered him. She shrugged, turning and looking out the window at the passing landscape, her mind elsewhere but her lips and teeth working together once again to pulverize her chewing gum.

He shifted his weight. The seat he was sitting in was hard and cold. As he studied his chair, he noticed first off the color. It was a poor shade of blue, trying to liven up the tram that always smelled stale and musty from the slushy snow tracked in on a daily basis.

The walls were a silver color and the lights cast an almost green glow on the passengers who seemed to empty and distant. Their eyes were glazed over, their voices quiet and mumbling things.

He knew better than to attract attention by letting his gaze wander toward them, though sometimes he wondered if they even took notice.

His gaze slipped back down to his chair. The paint was peeling away leaving an ugly silver underneath. Despite the crowd of people his eyes could feast upon to pass the time, they slid back down to his chair where he took his thumb nail and began absent mindedly picking away at the stain on the chair.

The train bumped and rattled, jarring his teeth occasionally and making him pull his leather jacket tighter around him as the cold metal brushed against him. The floors were dirty with caked mud and grey slush from the outside world that didn't seem very important as he traveled along on the train.

He noticed a man standing up and holding onto the metal bars above his head to avoid toppling over. He was a dark skinned man with a grey mustache and little hair on his head. He had on a large black trench coat and carried a brown briefcase in one hand.

He studied the man in interest as he stared absent mindedly out the window, occasionally bringing his wrist up to check the time on his silver watch. The man's lips pursed as he turned his head back to look out the window, though his sleek black business shoe tapped out an unfamiliar rhythm on the muddy grey floor.

It was all so strange. It was so foreign, yet so familiar. Every day he rode this tram to his thirty floor office building, yet every day he spent little time observing the life around him. Now that he thought about it, he was used to the passengers next to him. He remembered seeing the dark skinned man, checking his watch or tapping his foot impatiently every morning, and he surely did recognize the lady with brown curls that always sat across from him mashing her teeth together in an attempt to soften her bubblegum.

Frowning slightly, he looked out the window at the familiar streets and frozen cars all heading to unknown destinations.

"Excuse me, ma'am, but I was wondering if I could still take up your offer on that stick of bubblegum," he said kindly, leaning toward the lady with brown curls. Her secret brown eyes widened in surprise that he had started a conversation. After all they had ridden on the same train for weeks now, and they had barely said two words to the other.

"Uh, sure," she shrugged, reaching into her purse and pulling out a pink stick wrapped in small white paper. He took it gratefully and began gently peeling off the paper. Their gazes locked for a moment and they both shared a smile.

"So another day in the big city, huh?" he smirked. She returned the gesture with her own devious expression.

"I suppose so."

He had finished unwrapping the piece of gum and happily popped it into his mouth. Suppose the train ride wasn't so boring anymore. His teeth bit down on the chewy candy. Bubblegum. His personal favorite.

A/N: This was just to work on descriptions and body language as well as life. It doesn't have action or adventure or fantasy but just revolves around everyday life. I decided not to describe the main character that much because that leaves it up to my readers to decide. I'm sure a picture of a person popped into your mind, or maybe it allows you to relate a bit better. It keeps it simple. It was just a new thing I was trying out. Tell me if you like it or not or if you think I should dive deeper into it.