The Bookish Love Affair #5 (Free Short Story)

The following day, Florinda was the last to board the train. She was carrying a new book under her arm. She sat down, putting the book on her lap with the cover down.

“What have you got there today?” asked Augusto, pointing to the book.

Florinda didn’t answer right away, which was unusual, because she talked a blue streak. Daniela and Augusto looked at each other puzzled. Florinda grabbed the book and turned the dark cover upwards.

“I don’t want to hear any jesting comments!” she warned.

The cover, in shades of gray, showed a man’s tie. Augusto put on his glasses so he could read the title. On the cover you could read: Fifty Shades of Grey. Augusto couldn’t help but smile.

“What? I have read all the Nicholas Sparks books at the public library and the librarian said I should give this trilogy a try. She told me it was different and edgy, but that she thought I would like it. I decided to give it a try,” Florinda concluded, with her chin up.

Daniela stifled a laugh with her hand. She had never read the book, but a colleague of hers had made sure to tell her the whole plot. It wasn’t the kind of book Daniela enjoyed, but she had no preconceptions about that genre.

“Augusto, you should offer your wife a copy. It might spice up your relationship,” added Florinda, with a provocative smile.

Augusto lowered his eyes, embarrassed.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to embarrass you. I have nothing to do with your personal life.”

Augusto stared at her with a sad smile on his face.

“I’m not married.”

“You wear a wedding ring,” said Florinda, pointing to the ring on his hand.

“I’m not married,” Augusto twirled the ring with the fingers of his other hand and took a deep breath, “but I used to be. My wife passed away three years ago.”

Florinda lowered her eyes, embarrassed. She never thought he was a widower. She knew she couldn’t have guessed, but she felt bad for having brought up the subject. “Sometimes I talk too much”, she thought.

“I’m sorry,” she said in a whisper.

Augusto continued to twirl the wedding ring between his fingers.

“My son has told me that it’s time to take off the ring and move on with my life, but I haven’t been able to yet.”

Sometimes when he arrived home and turned the key in the lock, he still expected his wife to be in the kitchen, busy preparing dinner. She was a hands-on cook and loved to cook Augusto’s favorite dishes. But from the kitchen there came no sound or smell, only silence.

“Look, we are arriving at Agualva!” said Florinda, trying to change the topic of conversation.

Daniela felt a tightening in her stomach. With the conversation, she had completely forgotten about the young man. She still didn’t know how she had gotten into this literary challenge. It was Florinda’s fault, with her high-pitched voice and her inability to be quiet, she thought. Daniela felt like getting up and sitting on the other side of the train, where he couldn’t see her.

The train began to slow down as it entered the station and Florinda stirred in her seat.

“I can see him!” she said, waving to the other train.

Daniela suppressed the urge to tell her to stop waving. Most of the time she just wanted to be invisible. Florinda, on the other hand, with her colorful clothes and nails, seemed to shout to the world “Here I am, look at me!”

“He’s writing something!”

Augusto stretched his neck to see what was happening on the other train. Daniela was curious too. She slowly turned her head and looked at the other train. He had his head down and was writing.

Florinda giggled. Daniela reminded her of her younger daughter, shy and introverted, but full of life inside. She noticed that on that cold morning Daniela had exchanged her usual sweater and jeans for a gray polka dot dress, which looked very nice on her.

“Look, look!” squealed Florinda, drawing the attention of the other passengers.

Daniela shrank back in her seat. Florinda couldn’t be discreet.

The young man was sitting in his usual place, and that morning his hair was a little wet, as if he had just taken a shower. He looked even more attractive, Daniela thought, with a sigh. He smiled at her through the train windows. She looked away from his face and focused on the sheet of paper. On the white sheet he had written Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. For a man, his handwriting was actually quite nice, round and well-defined, Daniela thought.

“I knew he would guess,” Florinda said, feeling victorious, as the train resumed its journey.

“I’m sure he googled it. I doubt he has ever read a Jane Austen novel.”

“Why not?” interjected Augusto, who seemed to have forgotten the conversation about the wedding ring.

“Have you read Pride and Prejudice?” asked Florinda.

“Yes, I have, and I enjoyed it a lot.” Then he looked at the book on Florinda’s lap and added, laughing, “but I haven’t read Fifty Shades of Grey yet.”

Florinda blushed. At least it seemed to Daniela that, underneath all the foundation and blush, Florinda blushed. The middle-aged woman grabbed the dark-covered book with both hands, opened it and lowered her eyes, pretending to read. Daniela smiled. Augusto had managed to leave Florinda speechless.

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This is the fifth 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 the love for books.