In a Heartbeat
an excerpt

Millie stood smiling to herself as the carriage rocked her from side to side, front to back. Usually travelling on the Tube could make her a little motion sick, especially so early in the morning after a late night out and only moments ago having finished breakfast. Knowing how she felt after a simple night, she dreaded to think how it would feel to travel with a hangover, or more so, still drunk.

The night had been a great one. Usually a weeknight would find her at home, snuggled on the couch watching TV with Jack and Lucy, or in her room reading, or maybe there would be a walk before bed. Of late though, she’d been spending a fair few nights away from home and staying with Max. She enjoyed being in Max’s company; he always seemed to make her smile and feel like there wasn’t anything in the world worth worrying about.

Even now, as the days passed by, she’d not told Bec about him. The last thing she had wanted was pressure from someone on the other side of the planet. And that’s exactly what would have happened is she had brought him up. Bec would have had her being bedded by him within days of heading about the guy. Millie had enjoyed the slow courting, such an old fashioned word these days, and had enjoyed just sailing along in the relationship. Lucy had been very supporting and since finding out about Max, Jack had been protective until he’d met the guy in person. Neither had cause to be concerned because Max was a great guy, but as Lucy had also pointed out, Millie was a grown woman and could make choices for herself. And that’s exactly what Millie had done the night before.

And so here she sat, just before Nine o’clock in the morning, commuting to work from Wood Green after finally losing a part of her she would never again have back. And for what it was worth, she had no complaints, it had been a tad uncomfortable to begin with, but after a while she had relaxed and found the enjoyment. Sure, to still be a virgin at her age had bugged the crap out of her, however now that wasn’t a problem anymore. In her minds eye she pictured Bec’s face when she told her, especially since it would be the first she’d heard about this guy.

She watched as the dark walls passed by the windows, watching the cables and occasional light flicker by. It seemed less crowded than she had anticipated considering she was travelling a little later than normal into the morning commute. That was the issue with sleeping in; it made you late for the rest of the day. Looking down at her watch, she knew she was all ready some eighteen minutes late for work. Thank goodness for flexible hours, it seemed easy enough to just work a little later that afternoon and no one would care if she’d been late.

Looking at the people around her to pass the time, she saw that some were reading which was a traditional way of travelling, one guy was sketching in a notebook while on occasion looking across to the woman in front of him who appeared to be posing. It made her think of Jack and Cassie, wondering how many people had seen them in the past weeks taking photos and posing and wondering what they were doing. Jack had really started to get excited, he was down to the last few photos to take and he’d have his set ready for the extended deadline date of July 20th, just under two weeks away. It was good to see him excited about it again, apparently recently he and Cass had not been seeing eye to eye. Now she just assumed they’d sorted it out because his moods had lifted again.

Millie had been surprised at how quickly time had gone by since her arrival back in March. Job number two was now paying her a descent wage, and slowly but surely her circle of friends had grown. To some it seemed like her life had grown more in a few months than it had in several years back in Melbourne. It was then she understood what people meant about travel, and about the experiences you can have which you might not be able to gain elsewhere.

The train slowed to a stop as they pulled into Kings Cross St. Pancras Underground Station. She’d been smart enough to get in the second carriage from the front in the hope to avoid some of the crush of the last dregs of rush hour. For the most part it had worked, around her there were maybe ten people, further down things turned into a sardine can. Here at least she could breathe.

Several people walked out of the doors, more came on board to replace them. Standing had never really bothered her when travelling. Only when the rocking became rough did she hate it. That and when it was really hot and stuffy and people could get closer to you then they could if you were sitting. Much to her delight, that morning she’d had amble room to move and breathe, and chose to stand at the front end of the carriage, leaning on one of the carpeted cushions they had under the window to rest on.

Looking over her shoulder, she watched as people came and went from the front carriage. It seemed people had the sense to sit in that end for the very same reason she’d found her place. Space; it was such a rare thing down here in the dark world. It seemed that some people, like Millie, had chosen to stand in stead of sit. Though for some reason it appeared more cluttered in there, or at least at the front end of the carriage. By the looks of things it was generally quiet in there and there seemed to be nothing real interesting to look at. Turning her back to that scene, she found herself watching the sketch artist again making progress with his piece of lead, casting shadows across his subjects face.

Bracing herself against the window frame as the train began to pull out, the words of a Greenday song filtered into her head. It really had some from no where; it wasn’t like she’d heard it anytime recently. But for some reason, there it was. She settled down and smiled again, thinking about Max and the previous evening. Somewhere inside her she felt peace, that rare balance when it seems that the harmony of life was all in balance. It had taken her a long time to reach that balance, though as with most things in life, good came to those who waited.

From nowhere came a lurch and glass. And then blackness.