Project: Socialize (Chapters 1-197)

124. Intermission

I followed behind Loriana as we made our way towards the exit of the station. The sound of her heels making contact with the floor was pretty prominent, but it was masked by the numerous other footsteps and conversations in the station. However, it was a pretty calming and pleasant sound, especially the sound of her footsteps. Seeing her walking before me was pretty relaxing. In fact, these few minutes I've been walking with her has been the most relaxed I've been this whole week.

Since Loriana was here, I assumed that she must've drove here. Therefore, our transport home must be by her car. Because of that, we must make our way to the parking lot where she parked. That then translated into walking out into the nighttime city streets of Palisia and making our way over to the underground parking lot that she parked on foot.

It was pretty chilly at night, especially because Nocsinis is directly by the ocean and the ocean winds that blew inland were pretty low in temperature. Because of this, I shivered slightly as I walked. However, I tried to contain myself as best as I could to conceal how cold I was. 

We emerged from one of the station's many exits into the station square. Here, we could see the numerous concrete buildings as well as the many advertisement bill boards that were all brightly illuminated surrounding the station square. In addition, located on the wall of a building on the other side of the street was a large jumbotron that was broadcasting a music channel. It's quite often for busy areas in Palisia to have such a large screen television in public to play advertisements or the news. It's seen as a way for busy citizens to keep up with current events while they commute to work.

The station square was pretty packed as people mobilized to wherever they needed to go. There were families that were probably trying to get home, couples going on dates, as well as just adults or teens out with friends. Among the mix were also confused and terrified tourists as they struggled to make their way through the crowded station square. It's often quite entertaining to see foreigners struggle in fear at how busy Palisia was.

A gentle breeze blew by, causing me to shiver in the cold once again. As I trailed behind Loriana, following close so that I wouldn't lose her in the crowd, I rubbed my hands together and huffed a breath of hot air into them so as to warm them up. My formerly rigid fingers were mended by this brief warmth, but even then, they soon became cold once again.

"Here." 

I saw a pretty hand reach into my field of sight. I looked up and saw that it was Loriana, who had turned around to face me with a smile on her face. I then looked at her hand once again and back at her.

"This way you won't get lost," she said in a gentle voice.

"I'm not a kid," I responded back with a shake of my head. However, I still obediently complied and held onto her hand as she then led me through the crowd.

Her hand was extremely soft and warm compared to mine and had a soothing effect on my soul. I felt as if her hand warmed my entire body in the crowd as it guided my way. As I walked, I kept my head high with a smile on my face. The sea of people around me no longer bothered me as their currents meandered about in random directions. I wasn't afraid of becoming lost in this stream of people because I have Loriana's warm and caring hands guiding my way.

When we finally made it to the crossing before the large Nocsinis Station Square, we were still in a crowd as we waited for the lights to turn green. On all sides of the crossroad, there were people waiting patiently. Those with companions chatted while those that were alone simply went on their phones. All in all, it was a pretty busy experience as we all waited for the lights on the road to turn red in order to stop all the cars and allow the pedestrians a chance at making our way across the road. For busy crossroads such as this one, the government's policy for the signal lights were to have the cars completely stop and allow the people to cross before resuming the pattern for automobiles to drive safely. This way, the crossroad can be utilized with the greatest efficiency.