The train stopped at the university town of Maynooth. No one disembarked. Not unusual for the first Ragmullin to Dublin commuter train of the morning. No, the college students would crowd the seven a.m. train. The platform was full, though. Coffee steamed in the frosty air and commuters shuffled towards each other for warmth and seats as they boarded.

Mollie hoped the man sitting opposite her would get out. But she wasn’t going to be that lucky. Like the other mornings, he was travelling to Dublin.

With his arms folded and his face turned to the window, she studied him again. Though his eyes were averted, she could feel them on her. Yuck, she thought with a shiver. Rubbing her hands up and down her arms, she tried to ward off the cold. But the feeling was something more than the open doors breathing in the outside air. The chill was emanating from the man sitting across from her.

She watched as he slowly turned away from the window and smiled. Thin pink lips turned up at the corners without the smile reaching his chill blue eyes with their dark pinprick pupils.

‘Did you study at Maynooth University?’ he asked.

His voice cut a shard into her heart. He sounded different from when he’d spoken earlier. Enquiring yet accusing. Gulping, she shook her head.

‘What college did you attend?’ he probed.

She really should tell him to bugger off. It was none of his business. Hell, she didn’t know who he was. He didn’t know her. Or did he? Furrowing her brow, she squinted at him. Was there anything vaguely familiar about him? No, she concluded. Nothing.

‘Cat got your tongue?’ That smile again. A smile that wasn’t a smile at all.

Biting the inside of her mouth, she wished she could get off the damn train. As far away from him as possible. You’re being irrational, her inner voice warned. He’s just being friendly. Making conversation. But no one made conversation on the early-morning commute.

Wanting to move away, she looked around, but the train was filling up and she might have to stand. She glanced across the aisle and caught the eye of a young woman sitting beside the opposite window. There was a spare seat beside her. Should she move over there? Would it appear odd given that there was still an empty place right next to her? But she didn’t know the man, so what did she care?

Pulling her black laptop bag towards her chest, she stood, grabbing her scarf before it hit the floor. She edged into the aisle and plonked herself down beside the young woman. But even as she exhaled with relief, she felt the cold air dissipate, to be replaced by the heat of an unspoken anger.

Blindly she stared straight ahead, hoping the girl wouldn’t try to strike up a conversation. No such luck.

‘My name’s Grace, what’s yours?’ The young woman flashed a gap-toothed smile.

Mollie groaned and scrunched her eyes tightly shut. It was definitely one of those mornings.

---

Two rows down, the man snuggled his chin into his scarf. He’d watched the young woman get up from opposite the annoying chatty man and sit over beside the gap-toothed girl. He knew it was a good thing that she was on edge. The guy had distracted her. Made her fearful. He smiled into the wool of the scarf. She was playing straight into his hands.

If that other bitch hadn’t escaped, he wouldn’t have need for her. But he always liked to be one step ahead of himself. His mother used to say that.

The thought of his mother caused his smile to slip, and he shoved his hands deeper into his pockets as the trembling began to shake his joints. It was cold, and the heat was always hit and miss on the train, but now he felt certifiably freezing. Shaking his head, he tried to dislodge the image of his mother and replace it with the girl gripping her laptop to her chest. She’d kept her jacket buttoned up and he wondered what she was wearing beneath it. Did she change her clothes when she arrived at work? He knew a lot about her, but he didn’t know what she did once she walked through the doors of the nondescript office building on Townsend Street.

The train stopped and started at all the fiddly suburban stations and the carriage warmed up considerably with the pressing crowd. The aisle was now full of people clutching bags and phones, the air clogged with the smell of feet and body odour. It was so crowded that he could no longer see her. He closed his eyes, conjured her up from memory and touched her straight dark hair with an imaginary finger, all the while stroking himself through the pocket of his coat. He couldn’t wait much longer. This evening he would see her again.

The train swayed and chugged, speeded up and then slowed down as it entered Dublin’s Connolly station. An air of anticipation rose with the heated breath of the passengers as they readied themselves to disembark. He’d have a long day ahead thinking about her, waiting for her. But it would be worth it. Come 6.30 this evening, she would be his.