by P.J. Lowry
that in your pocket. You’re wearing jeans so it’s less likely to fall out.”
“Okay.” I slipped the memory stick into my pocket, praying that this still wasn’t some rouse to get into my pants.
“Excuse me.” George said as he abruptly put down his drink. Someone from the back of the cabin had walked up to the bar and then started to run when it became apparent that George was going to approach him. The man tried to throw a punch at George’s head but he easily blocked it and drove an open hand chop into his attacker’s inner elbow before driving his elbow from the same arm into his attacker’s chin. That shot caused the attacker to stumble back, dazed from the elbow he just received. George didn’t wait for his attacker to recover as he lunged forward and drove a forward kick into the man’s sternum, knocking the attacker clean off his feet and onto his back.
“Holy shit!” I called out as I couldn’t believe what I was seeing.
George replied by tossing twenty euros onto the bar and grabbing my hand. “Let’s find another seat.”
We transferred over to another part of the train and tried to find some new seats. Halfway through the cabin, George pointed to a seat. “Sit there and I’ll be right back.”
As much as I didn’t like being told what to do, I sat down by the window and watched as George took off for another car. I grabbed a used newspaper from the seat in front of me and pretended to read it as I watched three men ran past me, talking to each other in a language that I couldn’t understand. They never saw my face and I did my best to look like another other passenger. I waited for what seemed like hours but was only half of one before George finally returned to sit beside me. “Where the hell have you been?” I hissed at him.
“I had to do some heavy lifting.” George replied, out of breath. He had a bruise above his right cheek and there was some blood trickling down his left temple. Aware of the situation, George pulled out a handkerchief and took care of the blood with it. “I’ll be all right.”
“What happened to the other guys I saw running around?” I quickly asked. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out they were looking for him and were likely the ones responsible for his injuries.
“They had to depart early.” he calmly answered.
”But we haven’t stopped yet.”
“I know.”
There was a long, awkward silence after that. George just admitted to tossing someone off a moving train and I thought it might be best not to quibble about it just yet.
“Are you going to be all right?” George finally asked.
“I will be as long as you don’t toss me off next.” I replied.
”I guess I deserve that.” George admitted. “If it makes you feel all right, they were trying to kill me. Everything I did was clearly in self defense.”
I dug into my pocket and pulled out the stick. “Would you like this back?”
George took the stick back from me. “Thank you.” He put the stick away and then pulled out a small bag from the same picket. “Roasted almonds?”
“No thanks.”
After everything I had just witnessed, I wasn’t in the mood to chit chat and just wanted to get back to the embassy and be rid of this entire ordeal. We sat there for over an hour, just hanging out before finally George felt the need to speak again. “Where were you heading?”
“Are you going to follow me?” I asked.
“Of course not.” George answered. “Since everything you owned was in a single bag, one can tell you were backpacking across Europe. What was your next destination?”
I was hesitant to reply. “Venice.”
”Very nice.” George said as he sat back. “Especially this time of year.”
“Well thanks to my thief I might have to skip it to get back on schedule.” I said as my frustration began to boil. “There’s no telling how long it will take me to get everything back on track.”
“I’m very sorry.” George said as the conversation again grew very quiet. It wasn’t long before we were finally in the capital. I had already been there once and didn’t like being back here again.
After helping me off the train, George took my hand. “Give me a moment to get my bags and then I’ll get you a cab.”
“No offence.” I replied. “But I would prefer to go to the embassy alone.”
“No offence taken.” George replied with a grin. “I’m not going that way so there’s no need to be afraid.”
I stood there in the middle of the station’s lobby, waiting for George to return with his luggage. It took a few moments longer than I thought it should and began to worry that the spy had left me high and dry to make my own way back to the embassy. Moments later George returned to the lobby with his bags and instead of leading me to a cab, he handed me a new ticket. “There you go, for your trouble.”
I took the tickets from him and opened it. “I can’t go to Venice.”
“Well not without this.” George replied. Before I could say anything, George opened up one of his suitcases and pulled something out.
“You son-of-a-bitch!” I screamed at him. “You stole my bag!”
“No I didn’t.” George countered. “I took it away from the man who stole it from you. If it makes you feel any better, I may have broken his nose.”
I took the bag back from George and looked at it. Everything was still there. “Why didn’t you give this back to me at the station?”
“I’m sorry, Karen.” George replied. “I still needed help getting back here.”
“So you used me!”
“I couldn’t have done it without you.” George said as he handed me a card. “This is one of the best hotels in Venice. My name is on the back of it. Show this to the manager and he’ll give you one of his best rooms for free.” Before I could answer, he handed me another card. “This one has my cell phone number on it. I owe you one, so call me if you ever need help with anything during your trip.”
“Thanks, I guess.”
“I'm the one who should be thanking you Karen.” George said with a cryptic smile. “Myself as well as a grateful nation.”
“What exactly was on that thing?” I asked.
“Nothing.” George replied. “And I was never here. This never happened.” Before I could respond, George took his bags and proceeded to walk away. I would never see him again, which was a shame. He was pretty cute.