Reconciliation

This was a former short story contest entry I did. The topic was: "She tapped her watch violently, but the second hand would not move. She looked up and asked another passenger for the time, but he appeared to look right through her and turned back to his newspaper...." Word limit 1100.

As the cab ground to a stop, the young woman bailed out shouting, “No tip for you. You are the slowest cab driver I’ve ever seen!”
“7 minutes. I still have 7 minutes,” a stranger heard as she whisked past him and into the station.
“Everyone’s in a hurry.” he commented.
Misjudging her pace she slammed into the turnstile before her token could register.
“Damn this thing is slow! Oh well, just a bruised thigh. Long skirt today. No one will notice. I’ll get over it.”
“Hey lady! Watch it!”
Without even thinking she glanced at her watch as she retorted, “Shove it buddy! I’m in a hurry here!”
“The whole world’s in a hurry bitch!”
She never heard him as she raced through the station and outside. “Still have 2 minutes. That damn train had better still be there!”
“All aboard!”
The loud hiss from the brakes told her she needed to ignore her bruised thigh and the nervousness she felt about this trip. With an impressive Olympic-style leap she planted her foot on the stair next to the conductor.
“You all right mam?” he queried as he helped her inside.
“Sure... Fine… just a bit winded. Made it! Good, I think... I knew it’d be close when I switched… to an earlier ticket.” she panted nervously.
“Plenty of room mam, we’re only about half full on this one.”
“Good,” she commented, “I can stretch and relax a bit.”
As she made her way toward the back of the car past a number of filled seats her stomach began fluttering again.
‘Why should this make me nervous? I’m just trying to patch things up and make my marriage work again. Didn’t think it would be this hard!’
She settled into her seat and pulled out the letter she had received only a few days before. Even though she had almost memorized it, she read it once again, barely able to keep her shaking hand steady.
MY DEAREST PAMELA,
THESE PAST 2 MONTHS HAVE BEEN THE HARDEST I’VE EVER FACED. LIVING HERE WITHOUT YOU HAS BEEN EXISTENCE IN A COLD VACUUM WITH NO WAY OUT. ALTHOUGH I LOVE YOU MORE THAN LIFE ITSELF I KNOW YOU ARE COMING TO REALIZE THAT YOU MAY NOT FEEL THE SAME WAY ABOUT ME. WE’VE BEEN TOGETHER FOR OVER 3 YEARS NOW. 3 WONDERFUL, LOVE AND PASSION FILLED YEARS. IF I’VE DONE ANYTHING TO VIOLATE YOUR TRUST, ANYTHING THAT HAS TURNED YOU AWAY FROM ME, PLEASE TELL ME.
AS I’VE ALWAYS KNOWN, YOU ARE A FREE SPIRIT AND FREE SPIRITS CAN’T STAY CONFINED FOR LONG. I TRULY BELIEVE THIS IS WHY YOU LEFT SO SUDDENLY, WITH NO EXPLANATION. IS THERE NOTHING I CAN DO? IS THERE NOTHING WE CAN TALK ABOUT TO REGAIN OUR PARTNERSHIP, OUR PASSION, OUR MARRIAGE?
IF ONLY I COULD SEE YOU FACE TO FACE. IF ONLY WE COULD TALK. I KNOW YOUR HEART WOULD TELL YOU THAT STAYING TOGETHER IS THE ONLY WAY FOR US. I BELIEVE YOU ARE FRIGHTENED BY THIS PROSPECT; IT’S NEW TO YOU AND SOMETHING YOU’VE NEVER FACED.
PLEASE MY DARLING, COME HOME. IF EVEN FOR A DAY SO WE COULD TALK. SO WE COULD HOLD EACH OTHER AGAIN. IT HAS TAKEN ME THESE PAST 2 MONTHS TO FIND YOU AND YOU HAVEN’T MADE IT EASY. I BEG OF YOU TO USE THE ENCLOSED TICKET AND COME HOME.
I WILL BE WAITING FOR YOU AT THE STATION ON SATURDAY. PLEASE BE THERE.
YOUR DESPERATE HUSBAND,
JAMES
“A shame. Such a beautiful letter and now for once in your life you are following your heart. What a shame.” The voice startled her.
“What! You have some nerve reading my personal letter!”
“Don’t be upset dear. I know exactly what you’re going through.” The voice came from behind her.
She snapped around to give the strange woman a piece of her mind but there was no one there. Her eyes searched the length of the car but she saw no one sit down, no one moving.
‘Bitch’s got some nerve reading my letter.’ she thought. ‘Well it doesn’t matter anyway. I’ve made up my mind. I’m going back to James. I really have missed him and I honestly don’t know why I felt such a need to run, like I’ve done from all the others. Am I truly afraid of loving someone? No longer! A new me has emerged and I will finally be happy.’ With that thought she dried her eyes and sleepily lay back, watching the approaching tunnel as the countryside flashed past her window.
The bright sunlight startled her awake. ‘Must have dozed off.’ she thought looking at her watch.
“Damn! This thing’s stopped cold. Cheap piece of crap!”
Banging on the crystal did no good. The second hand was frozen solid.
“Sir,” she asked the man across from her, “would you have the time? I want to be sure I didn’t sleep through my stop.” As that strange nervousness swept into her stomach again she watched the man look at the conductor behind her, not even seeing her.
“Sir! Do you have the time please? Oh, you are so rude!”
As he looked back to his paper she felt the presence of someone sitting next to her.
“Hello my dear.” The voice was familiar. Yes! That woman who read her letter!
“I’m sorry about the watch dear. Had you only decided not to be in such a hurry this time and switch your ticket. Most people say that if you’re a few minutes late it’s not the end of the world. They’re right you know. You could have taken the later train like we planned and everything would have been fine. We tried so hard to make you miss this one. The traffic congestion, the slow turnstile, the train departing 2 minutes early. Why, I even drove the cab extra slow so you’d be late. But you didn’t get it did you? It's so sad when people live by their watch. Poor James. He’s devastated you know. ”
“I… I don’t understand.” The desperation obvious in her voice.
She watched as the man across from her tossed his newspaper toward her.
“Watch it jerk!” she shouted.
“Never mind him dear, he can’t hear you.” the woman said.
As he walked away she looked down and saw the paper scattered on the seat beneath her, as though it had been there all along.
“Who are you…?” She asked, but she already knew.
“Come dear, it’s been time for us to go since your watch stopped.”