“Beg yourpardon?”
“You need cheap food. Asda hasit.”
“What’s Asda?” Rafeasked.
“Figures you Yanks don’t have Asda back home. It’s the best food you can get for the lowest price. And it’s a huge store with lots of different departments, so your folks will never know you’re buying food. There’s one in Clapham Junction. Let’sgo.”
“Rightnow?”
“Didn’t you say you were going to starve to deathotherwise?”
“Okay.” The relief washing over Rafe’s face warmed Eamonn’s chest. A determination took hold in Rafe’s eyes that Eamonn found a bit sexy, much to his surprise. “We’re going toAsda.”
“Yes we bloody are. Now finish your fuckingmuffin.”
* * *
It wasfunny to watch Rafe stare in awe at everything around them. It was just a normal train platform with the regular maps and adverts, but judging by Rafe’s reaction, Eamonn could’ve been living in Willy Wonka’s factory or Emerald City this wholetime.
“This is so cool,” Rafe said once they got on the train. “I am on the Tube. InEngland.”
“It’s not the Tube. It’s a commuter train that brings people to London where they can then take theTube.”
“Oh. Well, I’ll just tell my friends I rode on theTube.”
Eamonn led them to a pair of empty seats. Rafe rubbed his hand over the seatfabric.
“You might not want to do that,” Eamonn warned him. “These seats can be verydodgy.”
“I am literallyThe Girl on theTrain.”
Rafe stared at every nook and cranny of the tube car. He stared out the window at the suburban sprawl. He was like a dog wagging his tail with no end in sight. Eamonn would’ve found it annoying if there wasn’t something charming about this optimism, about the way the glaring fluorescent light reflected in his browneyes.
He found himself laughing. “What are you doing? They don’t have automobiles and roads and handrails back inAmerica?”
“I know,” Rafe said. “I know I’m probably being ridiculous right now, and I’m making a big deal out of everything, but I’m just this kid from Arlington, Virginia. Just this ordinary kid who lived this ordinary life in this random town. And now I’m on another continent, in another culture, thousands of miles from home. It may be cars and roads, but it’s part of this amazing journey, thisadventure, when you think aboutit.
“Think about you and me. We grew up an ocean apart, in separate worlds basically. Complete and total strangers. And now we’re on this train together.Connected.It’s…I don’t know if I’m explaining it correctly, but it hit me, this sense of how large the worldis.”
Rafe’s eyes were wide and expressive. Eamonn wished he could understand what Rafe was trying to articulate. He’d never traveled a distance like Rafe had. But he got swept up in Rafe’s passion. He got it without actually getting it. It was rare for someone to open up to you, and you had to grab those moments, even if you weren’t quite sure what washappening.
Clapham Junction was announced over thespeaker.
“That’s our stop, right?” Rafeasked.
Eamonn broke away from Rafe’s gaze. He cleared his throat andnodded.
Mind the gap, the announcersaid.
“Mind the gap. I lovethat!”
