The Bookish Love Affair #3 (Free Short Story)

The next day, when Daniela boarded the train, the lady in the floral blouses was already sitting in the seat opposite hers. She was wearing a blouse with a colorful pattern of hydrangeas, which contrasted with the gray of that autumn day. Daniela thought about sitting somewhere else, but then she thought it would be unkind of her and ended up sitting in her usual seat.

“Good morning,” greeted the lady, holding out a notebook.

“Good morning,” replied Daniela, in a whisper, not understanding why the lady was giving her a notebook.

“Take it!” insisted the woman, seeing that Daniela hesitated to accept. “It’s for you to write the title of the book!”

Daniela’s eyes widened. The woman must have been crazy. If she did that, everyone would stare at her. She was already imagining the embarrassment. Besides, he would think she was interested in him. Daniela just wanted to finish her master’s degree and get a job. At that moment, the last thing she needed was wasting time with another man. The sight of Rafael, caught red-handed cheating on her with her best friend, was still fresh in her memory.

“You don’t know which book the quote is from?” squealed the lady, who seemed unwilling to give up.

Daniela felt offended. She was getting her Master’s degree in Literature and had already read thousands of books. Of course, she knew which book it was from.

“Yes, of course I do!”

The woman looked at Daniela for a long time, as if she was appraising her. Daniela was 26 years old, but she looked younger. The long red hair framing her porcelain face gave her a youthful look.

“If you don’t know, I can help you,” insisted the woman.

Daniela put the notebook down on the bench beside her and prepared to open her book and end the conversation. She had had enough of it.

Someone took the notebook off the seat. Daniela looked up. It was the bald gentleman.

“Good morning,” he greeted, as he sat down next to Daniela. “Don’t you realize that he’s challenging you?”

“It’s a literary challenge!” said the lady in the floral blouses, laughing out loud and clapping her hands.

“Write down the title of the book, please,” asked the bald gentleman, giving her the notebook and a pen that he took from his pocket.

Daniela looked at the man. Behind the thick glasses, gentle eyes stared at her expectantly. He wore a dark suit every day and carried a brown leather briefcase, worn by use. Were it not for his love of reading and she would never have noticed him.

Daniela grabbed the notebook and the pen and wrote down the title and author. The lady in the floral blouses sketched a smile of victory. Daniela remained very still, with the notebook in her lap and a knot in her stomach. They didn’t exchange another word. As the train approached the Agualva station, she became more and more nervous. It was silly, she knew, but she couldn’t help it. She was a shy and introverted person and this situation was making her get out of her comfort zone. “I just hope he’s not on the train today”, she thought.

When their train stopped at the station, the other one was already on the opposite track. The lady in the floral blouses wiggled on the seat, feeling impatient.

“There he is!” she said, pointing to the carriage in front of theirs, while letting out a high-pitched laugh.

Daniela hurried to grab her hand. The embarrassment she was about to experience was enough. There was no need to be even more conspicuous. The lady crossed her hands in her lap and smiled as she noticed the young woman’s nervousness.

Daniela gathered her courage and looked at the other train. He was in his usual place, reading. For the first time she noticed that he had brown hair and a neatly trimmed beard, which looked very nice and gave him a nerdy look. For a moment she thought he wouldn’t raise his eyes from the book, but he turned to the window and smiled. When their eyes met, Daniela felt a chill run through her body. She lowered her eyes to take the sheet of paper out of the notebook and stood there motionless, holding the sheet of paper in her hands.

“Come on, don’t be shy!” said the lady in the floral blouses, encouraging her.

Daniela put the paper against the glass and waited for his reaction. He remained impassive for a few seconds. Daniela thought that maybe he wasn’t expecting her to guess the title of the book. But then she remembered that all she had to do was to google the quote. Anyone with a smartphone could find out which book the quote was from. The train whistled, getting ready to leave the station. He grabbed the book and leaned it against the glass window with the cover facing outward: 1984 by George Orwell. He was laughing. For the first time, Daniela laughed too. Even though she already knew she was right, she felt victorious.

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This is the third chapter of my short story “The Bookish Love Affair” that I’m publishing here on the blog. It’s a sweet romantic comedy about two strangers on two different trains who share a passion for books.