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Time always seemed to slow down whilst one was watching it pass. It didn’t help that she was doing possibly the most boring job on the planet. She wasn’t even sure why jobs like this even existed. All it involved was typing up papers that had been handwritten. It seemed simple at the time. The only requirement was a hard worker with a minimum 70 word per minute typing speed with at least 95% accuracy, which was almost standard for her generation. Then came the sheets of almost illegible handwriting and… ugh. She was just glad the day was almost over.

Tick.

Tick.

Tick.

The third hand of the clock on the wall seemed extra slow today and the second hand seemed like it was permanently attached to the mark next to the 12. Odd that in a work place determined to transition to modern day technology, they still insisted on sticking with analogue clocks.

Tick.

The hands on the clock face gave a jerk and Tiffany sprung out of her chair and dashed towards the exit. The office was almost bare and the remaining workers who still had an hour of work attached to their day threw glares her way as she skipped down the hallway and out of the building.

The early March, wintery air greeted her and Tiffany’s breath misted before her as she exhaled. Crowds at rush hour were ridiculous. She found herself initially struggling against the flow of the crowd as they pushed her in the opposite direction of that she wished to travel. Eventually forcing her way through, Tiffany tightened her coat around her for warmth before grumbling some choice words that earned her a reproachful glance from an elderly lady who was in ear shot.

It was only a five minute walk to the subway station, but the stop-start snail pace of the crowd hindered her steps and it took a fair while longer before she arrived. Her heels clacked on the concrete stairs and as she her feet ached and she blinked her dry eyes, she realized how exhausted she felt. Checking the scrolling timetable and noting that her delayed arrival at the subway station had caused her to miss her train didn’t help. Tiffany checked the other screens and frowned when she realized the quickest way to get home would be a train taking a roundabout route to her station. Sighing, she purchased her ticket and hurried to the appropriate platform.

The platform was as crowded as the streets and her sore feet protested as she rocked from one foot to another impatiently, attempting to ease the weight of her body on either foot even if only temporarily. Hanging from the ceiling, there was a timer that counted down until the next train’s arrival and Tiffany gave it a glance. To her annoyance, it was late.

It finally arrived, accompanied by the sound of screeching brakes that were painfully reminiscent of chalk scratching on blackboard. Fortunately the doors opened right before her and after standing aside to allow the departing passengers to exit, Tiffany was one of the first ones aboard and she managed to claim a seat. As per travelling etiquette, she gave neither passenger to either side of her a second glance but instead pulled out a set of earphones and shoved them in her ears. The mildly air-conditioned carriage warmed her a little but the seat was hard and uncomfortable as well as far too small. As momentum played havoc with her inertia, she found herself and other passengers accidentally being pushed into one another as the old train went on its way. It would be a long boring journey.

Or so she thought. Fifteen minutes into the trip and as she went to change songs to something more upbeat, the glare from her screen blinded her and she glanced up to pinpoint the direction of the sun. What greeted her was a window framing a majestic view of the sun dipping below snowy peaks in the distance, the clouds hovering near the tip and the dying light staining their white surface a brilliant shade of vermillion. Her normal direct line went underground, so looking through the window was normally pretty pointless and therefore she had never had the opportunity to appreciate such a view. Forgetting to change her song, a soft ballad began whispering in her ears and it was if she was living out the scene the song lyrics painted for her in her mind. The lyrics were Japanese and therefore foreign, but true to music’s universal nature she could feel the emotion and her skin prickled and tingled as goosebumps  formed. Tiffany noted to herself that if she had the time, she would have to take this train again some time.

The train pulled up at a station and whilst no one got off an old man struggled his way on. She took a quick glance around and noting the proximity of her seat to the doors and the lack of vacancies, she stood up. The man gave Tiffany a thankful smile and sighed as he eased his limbs into the cramped space before closing his eyes. The ballad was still playing in her ears and Tiffany gave a final glance to her fading view before searching for something to hold onto as the train doors closed. She reached out to grasp a pole and just as she did so, fingers wrapped around hers and then released them with a start. Someone crashed into her as the train jolted to life and two arms wrapped around her from behind. Tiffany froze, uncertain of how to react.

“Sorry!” a distinctly feminine voice sounded from behind her as their arms loosened around her. The train suddenly accelerated again and she heard a surprised yelp and those arms were wrapped around her once again, seemingly clinging for dear life. Unable to turn around, all Tiffany could do was be thankful that it wasn’t a male copping a free feel.  Then she felt the distinct curves that came with a woman’s chest press against her back as the stranger suddenly pressed against her again. Taking a glance back she noted that several people behind her had also stumbled towards her. Looking down all she could see was a mop of dark brown hair that ended oddly in blonde tips. She tried to swivel her neck around further, but she couldn’t and that was all she could make of the girl who was clutching her in an awfully intimate backhug. All she could tell was that the girl was too short to reach the handrail and in her current state, her arms weren’t long enough to reach the pole either, and that she was quite firmly wedged between Tiffany and some person behind her.

“So, you come here often?” The girl asked and Tiffany flinched as she was jolted from her thoughts.

“H-h-huh?” was Tiffany’s stuttered response.

“Sorry, just thought I’d make a joke, since I’m kind of getting some free action with my hands here.” The girl replied with a nervous laugh.

“Oh. Nope.”

“Huh?”

“I don’t come here often. Just missed my train so I took this one instead.”

“Oh. Sorry.”

“Yeah.”

Their brief conversation lapsed into silence. Tiffany sighed. She estimated she was only about halfway there. The sweet scent of coconut milk senses and with a start she realized it was the smell of the girl’s shampoo. Tiffany managed to restrain herself from going to sniff the girl’s hair. The grip around her waist had slackened somewhat but she could still feel the girl’s head resting between her shoulders and her s pressed against her back.

The train pulled up at the next station and the crowd thinned. There were still no vacant seats but Tiffany noted that the amount of personal space available for those standing had increased significantly. However to her surprise the girl didn’t let go. Tiffany slowly turned herself around only to be greeted with closed eyes and a view down the girl’s blouse which had fallen open. The bra-enclosed cleavage rose and fell evenly and as Tiffany finally managed to tear her eyes away she realized that the girl had fallen asleep.

Tiffany debated with herself for a moment before taking the moment to quickly examine the stranger, justifying her inspection by telling herself that the girl had already ‘inspected’ Tiffany with her hands anyway.

Just as before, Tiffany took note of the girl’s unique hair style that reminded her of the Pepero sticks that her siblings enjoyed eating. The girl’s face gave her a youthful appearance. Her cheeks had a hint of baby fat, but not so much that they hid the finely crafted cheekbones that framed a small nose that she found ridiculously cute. Thin eyelashes fluttered as the girl’s eyes moved behind closed eyelids. She could make out a hint of makeup that seemed to deliberately thicken the girl’s eyebrows. Tiffany’s eyes roamed south to the girl’s lips. They were small and barely parted, shimmering with a hint of lip gloss and for some reason they seemed to be moving.

“Seven…” the girl mumbled.

Tiffany flinched and almost responded before she realized the girl was mumbling in her sleep.

“Welcome… chin… DJ”

For whatever reason, the voice sounded oddly familiar, but for the life of her she couldn’t recall where she had heard it before. The arms tightened around her suddenly and she found her own chest being used as a pillow by the girl’s head.

Tiffany was about to throw the girl off before the mumbling began again.

“Mum… miss you.”

Just then phone went off and the girl snorted into Tiffany’s chest just as her eyes flew open briefly meeting Tiffany’s. The girl gave a glance down at her ‘pillow’ before Tiffany coughed. Giving an apologetic smile, the girl reached into her bag pulling out the ringing phone and hitting a button.

“Hello? No, I fell asleep. Umm… let me check.”

Covering the mouthpiece of her phone, the girl’s eyes sought Tiffany’s once again.

“Do you know what station is next?”

Tiffany didn’t but she was saved the embarrassing admission by the train’s loudspeakers announcing the station they had just arrived at.

“Oh, I’m here. Yep. See you soon.”

The train doors opened and the girl took a step towards it before turning around to face Tiffany, a hand scratching the back of her head as she gave Tiffany a sheepish smile.

“Umm… Sorry… If I made you uncomfortable or anything.”

And with that the girl spun on her heels and rushed out of the train. It took Tiffany several moments to realize that it was probably the last time she would ever look into those eyes.

~ ~ ~

Her housemate was in the dining room reading a book with the radio on when Tiffany got home. Tiffany greeted her before entering her room, closing the door behind her. Shrugging out of her work clothes, she threw on a loosely fitting shirt and some sweat pants.

Heading back out to the kitchen, she opened the fridge door in search of some food. The radio was blaring out the end of a cosmetics advertisement before transitioning to the details of the upcoming broadcast schedule.

“How can you read with the radio on?” Tiffany asked her housemate who appeared buried in her story.

“Oh, I’m not actually listening.” Her housemate replied. “Not yet anyway. I’m not even really reading. I’m waiting for this talkback show to start. I like the DJ. She’s fun.”

“Yeah? How so?”

“Don’t know really. She’s like a massive dork on air though and she talks about interesting things. I even got to talk to her once.”

“Really? How?”

“She has this segment at the start of the show where she recounts something that’s happened to her and people can text or call in to give their own experiences. Oh hey, it’s starting.”

As her housemate turned the volume up, a familiar jingle began to play and Tiffany’s eyes widened as she recognized her stranger’s ringtone. As the music faded and the show began, an even more familiar voice began filtering through and Tiffany almost dropped the entire bundle of food she had in her hands.

“Hello everyone and welcome to Chin Chin radio with Taeng DJ! Today we’ll be open with our classic segment…”

A drumroll.

“…Talk to me! This is when I’ll tell you about something that’s happened to me or someone I know and you can call in or send a message through text or our message board to give your own experiences. Today’s topic – unexpected encounters. Every day we meet new people. Some we befriend, some we leave behind. I want to hear YOUR most memorable encounters with a stranger, good or bad. If you have a story to tell please call me on…”

Tiffany stayed to listen to her number before she sprinted back into her room and all but dived onto her bed where she had left her phone. She swiped the screen to unlock and punched in the number. Tiffany bounced from one foot to another in impatience as the dialing tone repeated itself before an automated response told her she was second in line.

Time always seemed to slow when waiting for it to pass. Tiffany glanced at the clock on her wall and wondered why she too, hadn’t switched it to a digital clock.

Tick.

Tick.

Tick.

The hands moved all too slowly but Tiffany’s eyes refused to budge. She jumped when the music ceased and a non-automated voice came through, only to hear the show’s producer telling her she would be on air next and to turn off radio so that there wouldn’t be an echo.

As she waited, Tiffany’s mind drifted back to that face.  Her lips. That nose. Those eyes.

“We have another listener on the line now! Hello and welcome to Taeng DJ’s Chin Chin radio.”

“H-hello.” Tiffany mentally facepalmed herself at her nervous greeting.

“Hi there! No need to be so nervous. Today I’m hearing people’s stories about memorable encounters with strangers. Do you have one to tell our listeners?”

Tiffany cleared her voice before responding. “Yes.”

“Great! Why don’t you start us off by telling me when this happened.”

“It was today actually.”

“Oh wow. Really? Where did it occur?”

“On a train. On my way home.”

“Did someone try and hit on you?” The DJ laughed at her own joke and Tiffany smiled.

“They did actually.” Tiffany laughed back over the phone. “Have you heard this line before – ‘So, you come here often?’”

——-

Written for the 1527 page TaeNy fanfiction collection. Please check out the other entries here: http://www.soshified.com/forums/topic/90324-taeny-in-all-forms/