WE CAN'T LEAVE EACH OTHER

Jude looked at his reflection thoroughly before stepping out of the house. The one-week academic break had ended. So he headed back to Santana College ahead of his exams starting the following day. He stopped at a stationery store and purchased some writing materials. Thereafter, he walked hurriedly into the train station. The crowd bumped hard into him. Bodies everywhere. No breathing space. "Wow! This is an insane amount of people here! Hopefully, we get to arrive at Santana College on time." He muttered. He removed his phone from his chest pocket and dialed Ella's number. "Hello, sweetheart, everywhere is already packed! Hurry up and come to the train station now!" "I'm almost done with my make-up. Please hold on." "I'll, my love. I know college has stressed us out. But it's just a year left." "Yeah! I can't wait for us to graduate and get married." "Same too. But we have some exams to write. That should be our focus now. We pass; we get closer to our goal. Don't you forget." "Absolutely! Thanks again for the reminder. I'll meet up with you very soon." He purchased two tickets, found a spot in the long queue, and waited. The line kept on moving. His turn on the queue was fast approaching. But she wasn't there yet. "Why's she taking forever? Ten more minutes. That's it. Ten minutes and I'm going to her place." He muttered under his breath. He looked around while anticipating her arrival. His eyes kept moving like a wall clock until he sighted a lady in a multicolored jumpsuit far away. She walked towards the direction of the crowd while flipping her long hair. "Ella! Ella!" He shouted. His eyes clashed with hers. Then she increased her walking pace till she got into the train station. She rushed into his waiting arms. He embraced her tightly and a bit longer than necessary. When they finally pulled back, he kissed her right there in the queue! "I'm sorry for keeping you waiting." He said nothing. Just handed her a second ticket and pulled her right in front of him. Their turn to get accredited finally approached. They handed their tickets. It was screened a couple of times before they were allowed into the train. They got seated at the back. The train was closed, and the driver started the journey. Ella needed to ease herself after being seated for a long period. She stood on her feet and headed to the loo. Her walk towards the loo was halted. She got tripped by a passenger's outstretched leg. Her forehead slammed into the ground. Jude turned sideways only to see her on the floor! "What happened?" He said, while rushing towards her. "I got tripped!" Thereafter, she pointed at the passenger responsible for her humiliating fall. Jude was livid! He charged towards the passenger. You tripped my girl and didn't even tender any apology. Are you flipping crazy? He loudly said. "You must be blind! Her fall was her own fault! She wasn't watching!" Jude got more annoyed with the passenger's response. He hurled an insult at the passenger. But the passenger returned his insults in multiple folds. Their exchange of words got heated. She tried to pacify them. But neither of them listened. "Come on! Keep on challenging me, you son of a w***e!" The passenger yelled. That particular insult struck Jude hard. His vim climaxed immediately. He formed as much saliva as he could and spat everything out on the passenger. "What! You just poured your stinky spit on me! Are you mad?" The passenger raised his hand quickly. Then landed a thunderous slap across his face. Other passengers turned towards their direction after hearing that terrifying sound. Jude refused to be disgraced. He retaliated with a more venomous slap. Their fight kick-started thereafter. Everyone gathered at the incident scene to diffuse their intense tussle. But none of them backed down. "Jude! Please stop fighting!" Ella shouted while holding his pants. He ignored her plea and nudged her away. Their fight continued. They dragged each other, hoping to land their adversary on the ground. Jude finally succeeded in putting the passenger onto the ground with a sizzling move. That move got everyone frightened. Some retreated back to their seats. While others stared in dismay. "Now, I'll teach a lesson you won't forget in a hurry," he said. Then grabbed and strangled the passenger. "Aaaargghhh! Stop! I'm almost dying." Ella got overwhelmed with the situation. She begged him to let go of the passenger. But he didn't listen and kept on strangling harder. The passenger became visibly weak. Jude clenched his fist and was about to deliver a sucker punch. But a thick-sounding voice said, "Deliver that punch; your journey on this train will end now!" I'll also get the cops involved too. His brain recalibrated after hearing such an imposing voice. He freed the passenger immediately. Then looked up to see who owned such a scary voice. He got up and comported himself at the sight of the driver. "You're lucky the driver came to your aid; else I'd have sent you six feet." "Oh! Shut up! If not for the driver, I'd have kicked your stinky balls!" The passenger replied, then fled the train. Peace got restored in the train. Everyone got seated again; the driver zoomed off. Jude and Ella still sat beside each other. But no words were said between them. He constantly tried to have some conversations. But she didn't indulge. Her attention was fixed on her phone as he kept on talking. Her nonchalant attitude got him very angry! He became tired of her deafening silence and challenged her. "Have I been talking to a ghost? Why aren't you speaking with me?" "When I pleaded with you to stop fighting! Was I talking to a ghost too? Her long bout of silence was broken. He got excited a little. But her words made him feel very guilty. His conscience pricked him hard. "I'm sorry for my actions," he said. His apology fell on deaf ears. She hissed and continued pressing her phone. Her demeanor got him very worried. He thought his apology would soften her heart and bring them back on talking terms. But it was a futile exercise. His constant neglect got under his skin. He lost his patience with her and grabbed her phone. The temerity! Give me back my phone now! She commanded. He remained mute just to give her a taste of her own medicine. Her rage increased. But he refused to utter any words to her. He ignored her, brought out his books, and went through them. His snobbish attitude got her blood boiling. "You're not going to oblige me, right? I want my phone right now! Else I'll do something stupid!" She shouted while grabbing his shirt. He stared at her with so much disgust; he faced his books once more. Her threat didn't get to him at all; he refused to return the phone. Her voice was almost gone with the incessant yelling. So she gave up. She uttered no more words. Turned forward and kept a straight-looking face. He tossed the phone on her lap after some silence between them. But she didn't pick it up. He looked right into her face. But it looked as mean as hell! He hated such a look on her face because it degraded her beauty. Her smile complemented her beautiful face, so he wanted that back. "How can I get a smile back on her face?" He thought. He tickled her by the waist until she burst into loud laughter! "I hate the fact you always have your way with me." She said. "That shouldn't come as a surprise. We should know the way into each other's heart as lovers." He slipped his right hand onto her visibly showing thighs and caressed them. Her head laid on his chest simultaneously, and she stroked his beard gently. "It's crazy how we constantly fight and make up almost immediately. I'm sorry for my nonchalance." She said. "Oh! That's fine! I'm sorry for mine too." They embraced each other for a short period. Then locked their lips passionately for a lengthy period. His palms were on her cheeks while they kissed. Then he moved a palm from her cheek and towards her left breast. She sighted the movement of his palm and resisted him. "Hold on! When we reach our destination, we could get as freaky as we want." "Oh! You're right. I almost forgot we're still on the train." He pulled back and tried reading his books again. But his concentration was already lost. He closed his books. Then he tossed them into his bag and brought out a pack of juice. "Do you mind if we share this pack of juice?" "Sure! My throat's itching." Jude grabbed two plastic cups from his bag. He filled both cups to the brim and handed one to her. They enjoyed their juice and sipped from each other's cup a couple of times. Whenever they finished their drinks, he refilled their cups until the whole pack was exhausted. With a few miles to their destination, they fell into a deep sleep. After being asleep for hours, Jude woke up first, and looked around. But no one else apart from the two of them remained there. He tried pushing the door of the train. But it didn't open. He gazed at his watch; it was already 4 A.M.! "My goodness! WTF! How are we still here with our exams starting in a couple of hours?" he loudly said. Ella was still much more asleep. He tried waking her up. But she was kept rolling on the floor. She finally opened her eyes after a consistent hit to her back. She was still unaware of their unfortunate situation until he poured some water on her. She looked at him. Then at the time from her expensive Rolex wristwatch. Utter shock filled her soul. "f**k! What are we still doing here? Aren't we supposed to be at Santana College? What's happening?" She worriedly asked. " Ehmm.. ehmmm..... It's so excruciating. But we are trapped ! "