The events of previous Friday seemed to be the main topic of discussion that Monday morning. The radios stations were going on about their usual business of over-exaggerating stories they were covering, with quack analysts openly displaying their ignorance with such absurd reasoning.
Platform 3 was packed with commuters waiting for the 6.30am train, to commute them into the business center of Ioncity. There was a light wind rustling the leaves on the trees nearby. Tracy stood on the platform wearing her usual office jacket and executive skirt, with a scarf around her neck. She couldn’t wait for the train to arrive so that she could settle down and analyze the story on the second page of the newspaper she was clutching. She could sense trouble because deep down she knew that she had a part to play in the story.
The train finally pulls into the station 5 minutes behind schedule. As usual, there was a lot of shoving and pushing as a result of people trying to board the train and Tracy was battling the avalanche of bodies trying to push past the metallic side doors of the train. After a few seconds she was settled in her seat. Just as she pulled the newspaper up to finally start reading, her blackberry suddenly came to life. She reached into her bag for the phone and checked the caller ID. It was Yvette, her childhood best friend. Suddenly, Tracy’s heart was in her throat, pounding furiously, like a man buried alive in a coffin. With a shanking hand, she pressed the answer button.
“Yvette!! Where the hell have you been?!” Tracy hissed into the phone. She was trying very hard to shield her conversation from the people sitting close to her. “I have been calling you all weekend. I am so worried about you.” she added. There was brief silence on the other end of the line, with heavy breathing. Yvette finally responded; “Have you seen what you have gotten me into? I am now all over the freaking news. What kind of a best friend are you eh?” Yvette continues the verbal attack, “I have trusted your judgement all these years. Even though most of the time they were reckless. I am screwed!”
Tracy was trying very hard to contain the emotions that were building up inside her. It was no longer fear and worry as it had been a minute before. It was turning into rage and anger. How could her best friend throw such accusations at her?
The train was fully loaded and was racing towards its destination, trying to make up for the slight delay. A lot of people were still discussing whatever news article it was in the unread newspaper that Tracy was still clutching. Tracy was almost at boiling point, gripping her blackberry so hard that, the circulation to the tip of her fingers was getting cut. She listened intently as Yvette screamed in rage at the other end of the line; “You have ruined my life Tracy! You have fucking ruined my life! I hate you! I hate you!”
At this point, Tracy couldn’t hold it together anymore. She suddenly erupted verbally with such force that the she startled the young business executive who was sitting by her. He spilled his coffee on the white uniform of an elderly nurse who was standing in the aisle. Tracy repositioned the phone on her left ear, as the right ear had gone numb from all the pressure it was receiving from the phone. She screamed into the phone, “Stop right there Yvette!” completely forgetting that she wasn’t alone in the train. “I only asked you to seduce the CEO, not fucking kill him!!”
Suddenly, all movement seized. Everyone was frozen. Sentences were cut short, motion was suspended. It was as if somebody had pressed pause on a Real-life PVR. Everyone who heard what Tracy said had their eyes wide open in shock. They all instantly knew that Tracy was somehow connected to the big headline news which was big during the weekend and that very Monday morning.
Tracy’s blackberry slipped from her palms and fell to the metal floor of the train. The silence in the train was deafening, and even with the clutter of the metal wheels of the train on the tracks, you could hear Yvette’s voice, sounding very faint and electronic from the earpiece of the Blackberry saying “Hello…hello, Tracy are you still there…Hello! Tracyyyyyyyyy…”
At that point, the brakes of the train suddenly engaged as it started its deceleration to make a full stop at the next stop. Tracy just wished the metal floor of the train would part like that red sea, so that she could disappear into the ground….
