In The Tunnels of Time - Arrogance (two)

So, I’m at the railways station waiting for the train to London where I am taking a connection to France or somewhere; I have sent my bags ahead separately so I have no luggage.

Ronaldo, the football and apparently my colleague is travelling with his full kit bag.

Perhaps so that I would that it was he?

Anyway, we have had a good season and we are chatting about the next; I have accepted a transfer, he is undecided but I don’t tell him where I will be playing because I’m excited that he might turn up there too.

For some reason I am sitting on a high wooden chair, a bit like a film director’s and he is sitting on the ground with his back to the white wall of the station.

The chairs and our chat conspire so that when the train arrives, a steam train, we don’t move and when the train leaves we are still sitting on the platform.

I wander over to the stationmaster and enquire about the next train to London and he informs me that there is a strike and there won’t be another until the evening, too late for either of us to pick up our international connections.

I sit down next to Ronaldo and say “good news, bad news?”

He asks for the bad and I tell him about the strike.

The good news is not much use so he says “what about the road?”

I ask him if he wants to hitch or perhaps buy a car – we earn millions obviously.

“A taxi’ he replies.

“That could be really expensive” I say, “about 200 pounds”.

We stop a taxi and ask the driver how much he wants to take us to London.

He looks at us – “30 pounds”.

We are so surprised we don’t say anything.

“18 pounds”.

We say – “we think you should take thirty “ and get in.

Ronaldo has disappeared and I am in the taxi with Alyson.

You know, Alyson!

She looks fantastic, she’s got her hair up and she’s wearing the dress that comes just to the top if her knees.

Her knees are REALLY pretty.

On her lap she has a scrapbook and we start to flick through it.

I discover a picture of me.

Then I discover another. I look at her; she blushes a little.

“I like you a bit”, she says.

“I like you a bit”, she replies.

I kiss her neck.

She smells of the enchanted meadows.

She tells me her boyfriend had been snogging someone else, that they had rowed, but she doesn’t return my kiss.

The bells of the church across the valley chime the Anglecus and I wake.