“All I want to do, right, is get myself a coffee from that machine,” she explained. “But I’ve got a bag in this hand, train tickets in the other. If I drop the tickets and can’t find them, I’m stuck here all night. If l lose my purse…”
Kenny laughed. It was always weirdly soothing to come across someone almost as highly strung as him at his finest. “Yes, I think I get the picture. Come on, give them here, get your coffee in peace.”
The anxiety drained from her face instantly, as she eagerly handed over both the bag and tickets. Kenny had been all set to add a “safe as houses” for bonus reassurance, and was startled to discover that it wasn’t necessary. He couldn’t stop himself grinning inanely as she hobbled off towards the machine.
It struck him that this was the first time in at least twenty years that anyone had trusted him quite so completely, without so much as a backwards glance to make sure he wasn’t mucking it up. And this from a lady who didn’t know the first thing about him. The smile began to drain from his face. It was because she didn’t know the first thing about him.
She was slotting her coins into the machine now, with still no look back. Kenny sighed heavily, and wandered off to the toilets with her bag and train tickets tucked under his arm. He locked himself in the first free cubicle, and dropped the tickets into the heart of the toilet. Them he fished out her purse, emptied the contents, and flushed them all away.
Leaving the cubicle, he stopped to wash his hands and examine himself in the mirror. That was the face she’d trusted two minutes ago. Maybe she’d still trust him enough to understand there really could be no monetary advantage to anything he’d just done.
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