runningsoft
Well-Known Member
A chance encounter on a train leaves one person rethinking about what they want from their lives. Trapped in a tech job and in a relationship that leaves him wanting more, can this fortuitous encounter help Gavin get his life back on the right track?
Chapter 1
I don’t know why I like trains, but I find myself travelling often, and when I have the opportunity, I elect to take them. While most people think they are archaic and a time-wasted endeavor, I feel quite the opposite. I feel it brings me closer to the earth. Time slows down and you meet people in ways you would never be able to if you were in a plane or in a crowded airport terminal…
Gavin rested his head against the cool window, mulling over about his fascination with travel by rail, as the train he was on speed along the countryside. He looked out at the passing fields and small cityscapes as he travelled across Europe for a conference he was attending as a journalist. His upstart company had hired him three years ago. And, despite being old enough to be the CEOs father, he meshed with the team seamlessly and didn’t mind being sent ‘into the field’ while they preferred their Zoom meetings and their local coffeeshop tete-a-tete’s. He was a dinosaur in a modern aged world. A CD in the age of digital. But, the pay was good and the ability to break free and travel always thrilled him.
He returned his gaze back to his workstation. He was in a booth in one of the train cars that had a sliding door. There were bench seats on either side of a central table. Thankfully, he was the only occupant. The tabletop was presently littered with his laptop, an open note pad that was filled with notes he had taken from his previous assignment and a bottle of water. He looked at the tiny screen, not wanting to return to the task at hand. It was a tech conference he had attended that was presented by one of the great young thinkers of the day. He found it difficult to consolidate the presenter’s thoughts into a flowing narrative. As these Millennials tended to do, they talk expansively and passion, but there were few action steps he could coherently list. It would require some deep concentration to pull this one out.
Gavin looked out from his fortress of solitude. While he had tried earlier in his trip to begin this assignment from the preferred comfort of his sleeping quarters in a different section of the train, he found the allowed space too cramped for his needs. He also tried the open lounge area of the train, but it too was cramped. Not to mention far noisier.
Glancing at his notepad, Gavin felt he had made good progress so far. He had partially completed the first draft and wanted to send something out to his coworkers to munch on while he completed the rest over the next few days. For his present journey was a 3-day adventure from London to Spain, where he had yet another conference to attend, take down notes, and prepare another article.
Gavin closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose and thought back to the previous week that had led him to take this spur of the moment assignment when another coworker had to drop out. The swaying of the train, lulling and gently jostling him helped ease the tension in his muscles. He began to reminisce…
Chance Encounter on A Train
by runningsoft
by runningsoft
Chapter 1
I don’t know why I like trains, but I find myself travelling often, and when I have the opportunity, I elect to take them. While most people think they are archaic and a time-wasted endeavor, I feel quite the opposite. I feel it brings me closer to the earth. Time slows down and you meet people in ways you would never be able to if you were in a plane or in a crowded airport terminal…
Gavin rested his head against the cool window, mulling over about his fascination with travel by rail, as the train he was on speed along the countryside. He looked out at the passing fields and small cityscapes as he travelled across Europe for a conference he was attending as a journalist. His upstart company had hired him three years ago. And, despite being old enough to be the CEOs father, he meshed with the team seamlessly and didn’t mind being sent ‘into the field’ while they preferred their Zoom meetings and their local coffeeshop tete-a-tete’s. He was a dinosaur in a modern aged world. A CD in the age of digital. But, the pay was good and the ability to break free and travel always thrilled him.
He returned his gaze back to his workstation. He was in a booth in one of the train cars that had a sliding door. There were bench seats on either side of a central table. Thankfully, he was the only occupant. The tabletop was presently littered with his laptop, an open note pad that was filled with notes he had taken from his previous assignment and a bottle of water. He looked at the tiny screen, not wanting to return to the task at hand. It was a tech conference he had attended that was presented by one of the great young thinkers of the day. He found it difficult to consolidate the presenter’s thoughts into a flowing narrative. As these Millennials tended to do, they talk expansively and passion, but there were few action steps he could coherently list. It would require some deep concentration to pull this one out.
Gavin looked out from his fortress of solitude. While he had tried earlier in his trip to begin this assignment from the preferred comfort of his sleeping quarters in a different section of the train, he found the allowed space too cramped for his needs. He also tried the open lounge area of the train, but it too was cramped. Not to mention far noisier.
Glancing at his notepad, Gavin felt he had made good progress so far. He had partially completed the first draft and wanted to send something out to his coworkers to munch on while he completed the rest over the next few days. For his present journey was a 3-day adventure from London to Spain, where he had yet another conference to attend, take down notes, and prepare another article.
Gavin closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose and thought back to the previous week that had led him to take this spur of the moment assignment when another coworker had to drop out. The swaying of the train, lulling and gently jostling him helped ease the tension in his muscles. He began to reminisce…
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