‘A quarter.’
‘A quarter!’ His mock outrage made her giggle. ‘For heroic services to fair maidens. That’s not going to keep body and soul together. And how am I supposed to battle to the death for a seat for you? I need sustenance.’
‘Are seats in short supply?’ she asked, alarmed. The journey was just over two hours.
‘We should be alright at this time. It gets busier later as everyone heads to the slopes for the weekend.’
They both rose to their feet and he hauled up a huge rucksack and slid it onto his back before picking up an ancient suitcase which looked as if it might have belonged to his granny. This bizarrely incongruous combination puzzled Mina as he ushered her through to the carriage, which was surprisingly full. ‘If you keep going, the other end of the train is usually much quieter.’
Together they swayed along the aisle as the train slunk with surprising quietness through the outskirts of Zurich, walking through five carriages before they finally came to one with several pairs of free seats.
‘Mind if I join you?’ he asked, gesturing at two seats together. ‘You’re going to want a window seat on this trip.’
‘No, not at all.’ The very same question had been hovering on her lips as she’d followed his cute bum and loose-limbed stride down the train. In jeans and a leather sheepskin-lined flying jacket, he embodied cool without trying too hard, but then the bright red, chunky, woollen scarf added a dash of irreverent mischief, stopping him from having that frosty unapproachability of the ubercool Instagram crowd. Besides, he seemed cheerful, upbeat, and was very easy on the eye – she had no objections at all. She got the impression that he was an embrace-life-at-full-speed, fun guy who was easy to flirt with and would never take anything too seriously. A bit like herself.
‘How about I go find us a coffee to go with the chocolate?’ he asked, unwinding the scarf from around his neck.
‘You’re not giving up, are you?’
‘Well, it does look like jolly nice chocolate.’ A Labrador couldn’t have looked more hopeful.
‘Stop with the puppy dog eyes.’ She held up a warning hand even though she couldn’t hide her amusement. ‘You supply the caffeine and I’ll supply the theobromine.’
‘The what?’
‘It’s a stimulant found in chocolate.’ She preened just a little, because she liked the sudden admiration in his eyes.
‘Fancy. Are you really good at crosswords?’
She laughed. ‘God no, I don’t have the patience. I’m a food technologist. We know that sort of stuff.’
‘Is it true they put motor oil in sauces to make them shiny in the pictures?’
‘’Fraid so. And white glue as milk, and mashed potato to fill pies. All tricks of the trade.’
‘I think I’d better go and buy the coffee before you tell me that it’s made with tar or something horrible.’
‘Would you like some money?’
‘No.’ His mouth twisted with that beguiling lopsided smile. ‘This way you’ll feel beholden to share your chocolate.’
‘You don’t know me very well. When it comes to chocolate, I’m not beholden to anyone.’ She lifted a teasing eyebrow.
He huffed out a sigh. ‘Tough nut. I’ll have to come up with a new strategy while I scour the train for a trolley or the food carriage.’
She watched him leave. Having an amusing travel companion would certainly brighten the journey. Sitting still for a couple of hours had never been her idea of fun. Hannah, her sister, was a world-class bookworm, but Mina couldn’t keep her mind on the pages unless it was a recipe book. At Hannah’s suggestion, she had tried audiobooks, but she’d suddenly find herself lost in thought and ten minutes on from the last bit she’d heard, with no idea what had happened between. With podcasts, it didn’t matter if she tuned out.
At least in his absence she could give herself up to thinking about which chocolate bar she should open. It took a lot of deciding, and she was still umming and ahhing when he returned with two steaming cups of coffee.
‘It’s quite simple, you just open the packet,’ he teased, sitting down opposite her.
‘This is not just any chocolate you know. I have Ecuadorian dark chocolate, Madagascan milk chocolate with a praline filling, and a Ghanaian sea salt and almond chocolate.’
‘Are you a connoisseur or something?’
She pondered the question for a second.
‘An afficionado, I guess.’
