The Imperfect Encounter

Chapter 1 : The cab

Thursday, December 21st. The streets are cold and mostly empty. I've a train to catch. I lock my apartment and press the button for the lift. I'm on the street now. Christmas is near. The buildings are covered with lights and Christmas decorations. It's cold. I can see my breath. I'm standing on the pavement with my luggage, waiting for a taxi. 
 
It's getting late, I think. 
 
I've got to be at the subway station soon, or else I am going to miss my train. It's been almost two years since I moved to San Francisco. It's a warm place. I work for a tech company. It pays well and leaves me with quite a good savings. I live alone in my apartment. It gets chaotic sometimes, and I'm still getting used to living here. I've made a few friends here. They are mostly just people in my same department with whom I share projects. They invite me to places like bars sometimes after a hard day at work, but i rarely ever go. Mostly, I sit in my apartment, work on my project, or read books.
 
It's cold out here. I'm wearing my overcoat with my cap, yet I feel how chilly it is out here. I've got to be on this train, otherwise I will be stuck at the station. The next train will not be until 10 in the morning. I carry my bag and start to walk, hoping to get a cab up ahead on the road. My train will leave from the station at 2:35 am, half an hour from now. 
 
It's 2:04 am now. I'm walking down the street, and I spot a cab. I call the cab and start to run towards it. I run as fast as I can with my luggage towards the place where it stopped. I'm almost at the cab's door, and I reach my hand towards its handle when I see someone else grabbing the door with me. 
 
"This cab is mine." says the girl who's now holding the door with me.
 
"I saw it first. This cab is mine." 
 
"Excuse me! I hailed the cab, and that's why it stopped in the first place FOR ME. I'm sorry to inform you but this cab is mine." i say
 
"OMG, please don't piss the tf out of me. I've more important things to do than argue with an idiot." 
 
"Me? Idiot? You're the one here acting like a crazy bitch." 
 
"Did you just call me a bitch!?"
 
Being involved in a heated argument with her, I didn't remember when I let go of the cab door, and so did she, which is why when the cab driver slowly started to drive away, I didn't notice it, and by the time i saw it, it was too late. I even tried to run and catch it, but the driver didn't stop. 
 
I was now annoyed and frustrated. I looked at the time, and it's 2:16 a.m. now. 
 
"It's all your fault!" 
 
I look back and see the girl there, gasping for air. I guess she might have run for the cab too.
 
"You made me miss my cab, you asshole, ughh," she yells. 
 
I just ignored her and then ran towards the station, hoping I would still find a cab in my way and don't miss my train.
 
"Where is a cab when you need one?" I say while I run.
 
 
It's 2:32 am now, and I arrive at the station.
Miraculously, I found a cab on my way after running more than one and a half kilometres. I quickly paid the driver and told him to keep the change, then ran as fast as I could, hoping I still had time to catch the train. I saw the time; it's a few seconds away from 2:35 a.m. I ran and I ran, and now I'm walking down the last stair of the subway, and I see the train standing right there, a few feet away from me. I feel like I can make it. I picked up my pace, and I'm about to make it. I extended my hands to reach it, but I was too late. I'm just a few inches away from the train door when it closes and then starts to move away. 
 
I missed it. I missed my last train just by a few seconds... I let go of my luggage, which dropped on the floor, making a thud sound. I stand there, not knowing what I should do next. When I was running to catch the train, I did see a couple of people on my way, but now the whole station is covered in silence. 
 
The whole stillness of nothing is soon broken by what seems like the footsteps of someone racing down the stairs.
 
"Noo, I'm late."
 
I heard a familiar voice screaming that. A voice that echoes in what is now an empty subway. I look back and am shocked to see it's the same girl with whom I had my cab mishaps a few minutes earlier. I look at her, and she notices me too, and something tells me she's not happy to see me as she walks towards me with such hatred in her eyes.