4. Fantasy

Photo credit: Dee Larkin (taken in New York when I was there)

I was pleased how the day had gone for me. It had passed me by very quickly as I sat reading and learning more about Darrell's new invention. 

I entered the subway with a smile on my face. My first day had been awe-inspiring. I hadn't expected to see Darrell's project so soon. He must have trusted me enough to share his achievement with me. I felt proud of myself and excited to go to work tomorrow. I looked forward to it.

Coming to New York City from the UK had appeared to be successful for me so far. I had picked this city because I'd always loved visiting here on holidays with my family years ago. It was a place I had grown to love over the years. So, now here I was waiting on a platform at the subway.

Even my apartment had been easy to find. It had all fallen into place once I'd arrived. The place where I now lived, which was not too far from work was only a train ride away. It was a two bedroom apartment in an old building. It had been preserved and looked after over the years. It was a secure building with a luxurious lobby entrance that amazed me every time I saw it. Friends of my parents living in New York had helped me find it and I was thankful to them for it.

I stepped onto the train and sat myself down. I didn't feel tired from my first day at work. For me, it was the opposite of exhaustion. I was more invigorated by it than anything else. I felt alive and looked forward to my future in this new job. My confidence at this precise moment was ecstatic.

As I sat down the train started to move. I began thinking about what would happen at work for the rest of the week but as I did, I felt someone staring at me. I looked up and a man with dark hair wearing a black coat was sitting opposite me. He stared at me in a nice way, but it made me want to look down and not right at him. When I looked up again he smiled at me. His pupils were a bright blue. He was handsome in a rugged kind of way. I smiled, slightly, back at him. He didn't seem to want to look away, so it made me feel awkward and embarrassed, although I didn't know why. It was as if he wanted to keep on glaring at me. Perhaps, he knew me from somewhere, but then why wouldn't he say something to me. Of course, he didn't. I looked down at my hands in my lap thinking he would not look at me if I just ignored him, but when I looked back up, his eyes gazed into mine. I was entranced by him by this point.

Then the train stopped and he got off and walked away. Of course, his face stuck with me and I kind of wished I had found out who he was. I felt drawn to this man's face. He could have been someone interesting but I would never find out now. I didn't know his name and he didn't know mine. He was a complete mystery to me.

I sighed, wishing I had seen him someplace else other than on a train. It was a shame. He seemed decent and business-like from the look of him.

Two stops later, I got off the train and walked the rest of the way home. It took me ten minutes, but all the way there the man with the dark hair occupied my thoughts. I wanted to know more about him. I opened my front door and I realised that I could probably use 'the chair' to find out who this mysterious man could be. It would help to see how 'the chair' worked when looking for people you wanted to know more about. After all, Darrell usually invented things like this to help the government with identity problems. He'd said I would learn more about 'the chair' as time went on.

I had a feeling it would work and it would be a good idea to see if it could find people we didn't know much about. Yes, I would ask Darrell if I could try 'the chair' again tomorrow. I wanted to find out more about this man. I was curious about him, but at the same time, I wanted to use 'the chair' again. This would give me the opportunity to understand Darrell's invention.

I was, suddenly, very excited about returning to work the next day as I settled down on the settee later and wrote a list of things down along with a description of the man I'd seen. I was going to see if I could find out who he really was when I sat in the chair! Would it work? What would I find? I wasn't sure but I couldn't wait to find out!

To be continued.....

Read Chapter 5

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