They try to say something.
What they say is not what they want to say to each other. It is almost what they wanted to say to each other but it is not it.
It does not matter. It would not have changed anything.
The train is here.
He stands up. He puts his knapsack on his back.His knapsack had not been on his back. It had been on the bench beside him.
He bends over. He picks his suitcase up. She watches him put his knapsack on his back and then bend over to pick his suitcase up.
She is still sitting on the bench. She is holding her hands together in her lap. The train stops at the platform. She stands up. He is standing near the train. She walks towards him. She stands in front of him. She stands close to him.
She kisses him.
The station attendant opens the doors to the train. There are people on the train waiting to get off. The doors open. The people step off the train. They stand on the platform and then they walk across it. They go into the station.
They do not care that there are people getting off the train. They stand in the middle of the platform. They are young. They are kissing.
The station attendant blows a whistle. It means that the train is going to leave.
He is holding his suitcase in his hand. He steps away from her. He gets on the train.
The station attendant walks down the platform. He closes the doors to the train. She stands on the platform. She watches as the station attendant closes the doors to the train.
The station attendant blows his whistle again.
The train starts to move. She watches as the train starts to move. The train moves slowly and then it moves faster. It pulls away from the station. He is on the train. She is not on the train.
The train pulls away from the station and then it is gone.
She watches it go.
Emile is in a city. He is walking down a street. There are streetcars on the street. There are people walking by him. They are wearing long coats and they have hats on their heads. They brush against him. They do not stop walking. They brush against him and they keep walking.
He is smaller here. He is walking down a street.
In his hand he is carrying a suitcase and he is wearing a knapsack on his back. There are shops along the street. There are restaurants and bars and shops that sell clothes. It is late. The shops that sell clothes are all closed. The people who are walking by him are coming out of the restaurants and bars and going into other restaurants and bars.
He stops. He is standing in front of a bar. The people walking by him do not stop. Someone bumps into him. Emile goes into the bar.
There are people in the bar. They are drinking. There are not many people in the bar. It is not a night for people to go out to bars. But there are some people in the bar. There are people sitting at the tables and there is someone sitting at the bar. There is music playing.
Emile stands in the door. He looks at the people in the bar. They are drinking. He looks at each of them and then he looks away.
He goes to the bar.He sits on a stool. There are stools in front of the bar. He puts his suitcase down beside him. He takes his knapsack off. He puts it on the stool next to him.
A bartender comes over to where Emile is sitting. The bartender stands in front of Emile. He puts his hands on the bar. He looks at Emile.
Emile says: ‘Gin and tonic, please.’
The bartender nods his head.He walks away. He comes back with a glass. He puts the glass on the bar in front of Emile.
Emile takes some money out of his pocket. He puts it on the bar. The bartender takes the money. He walks away from Emile.
Emile sips at his drink. He looks around the bar again. He says: ‘Excuse me.’ He says it again. He says: ‘Excuse me.’ The bartender comes back.The bartender says: ‘Everything all right?’
Emile says: ‘Yes.’ The bartender is about to walk away again. Emile says: ‘Is Nicolas here?’
The bartender says: ‘No, he hasn’t started yet.’ He looks at his watch. He says: ‘He ’ll be here soon.’
Emile says: ‘Thank you.’
He picks up his glass. He sips at it. He puts it down on the bar.
He waits.
There is a straw in Emile’s gin and tonic. It is pressed up against the side of the glass. The ice in the drink is holding it there.
He touches the straw with his finger. It moves slightly.
He touches his finger against the straw again. It moves again. It does not move as much. It does not move as much because the ice does not move. He presses harder. The straw does not move. He wants the straw to move. It is frustrating.
Emile presses against the straw so that it moves around the ice. The ice moves. The straw moves forward. It does not move forward very far.
He was away from the city. Now he is back in the city. He walked down the street to get here. He did not remember what it was like to walk down the street here.
He needs to make sense of it. He is going to make the straw move to the other side of the glass. It will help him to make sense of it.
He is bent over his glass. He is concentrating. The door to the bar opens. Nicolas comes into the bar. Emile does not hear the door open. He is bent over his glass.
Nicolas moves easily. He looks older than Emile. He looks more confident.
Nicolas says: ‘Emile?’
Emile’s head jerks up.He is very young. He turns around on his stool. He looks around the bar. He sees Nicolas. Nicolas is wearing a fancy scarf. He wears it like he is very pleased that it is a fancy scarf.
Emile says: ‘Nicolas.’
He stands up slowly. He is smaller than Nicolas. He does not stand as straight. Nicolas walks over to where Emile is. He opens his arms. He hugs Emile.
Nicolas says: ‘It’s good to see you.’
Emile says: ‘It is good to see you too.’
Nicolas works at the bar.
He is not wearing his scarf anymore. He has an apron tied around his waist. He is standing behind the bar. Emile is sitting on a stool across from him. Emile is drinking another gin and tonic.
Emile says: ‘I was on the train all day.’
It is dark outside. The street lights have come on. It is late now. In the morning Emile got on a train.
