"Excuse me, is this seat taken?"
The young woman glanced up from her book and into the beaming face of a man around her own age. He waggled his eyebrows a little and managed to rise a quiet giggle and small smile from her.
"Well?" he pressed on. "Being the pretty girl you are, I'm surprised this seat's not being fought over. The name's Les, by the way."
The woman tried to hide her blush but failed. This man, Les, was pretty straight forward. Confident, too. She liked that in a guy. She scooted over a bit, and the man sat down beside her. "You can call me, Megan, and no this seat is not taken."
"Cool," Les replied. His smile was peaking dangerously close to roguish levels. He ran his fingers through his parted brown hair. "So, where are you headed?"
Megan watched as the masses of pine trees zoomed by, not daring to meet Les's handsome smile. The train rattled and groaned underneath them. "No where in particular. I'm really just traveling around, you see. I recently earned a rather large inheritance from my grandmother, so I'm just going where the wind takes me."
Les nodded in understanding. "Traveling, huh? That's pretty cool. I used to do a lot of study abroad programs in high school and college. Say, would you want anything to drink? I think the refreshments cart is coming this way."
"Um, sure. I'll take a Diet Coke, please," Megan replied. "What did you study?"
Les paid for the drinks and handed a bottle to Megan. Cracking his open, he answered, "Criminal studies. I learned how criminals operated, how they thouht, how they planned, overseas in order to possibly help curb the rise of terrorism in the world."
Les put on his best heroic expression. Megan giggled again and nudged him playfully in the ribs, causing them to nearly spill both of their drinks. They both burst into laughter. "Oh, well aren't you quite the noble one," she joked.
"Hey! That's what I'm here for!"
The conversation soon lapsed into heated eagerness with both barely stopping to breathe. Anyone nearby would have learned a great deal upon subjects ranging from sports to God to global warming. The minutes turned to hours…
Megan awoke to darkness. Night had long, long ago. Her watch said it was a quarter passed one. Yawning deeply, she glanced around the train booth and noticed the door was closed, and Les was nowhere to be found. She was about to open the door when it slid open. Les was standing in the darkened doorway. Something shiny was grasped in his right hand.
"Les?" Megan asked. "Are you okay? Is something wrong?"
Les winked roguishly and grinned. "Yeah, I'm perfectly fine, but your bank account won't be."
Megan gasped, not really understanding what was going on. "What do you mean my bank account?"
Les sighed, rolling blue eyes heavenwards. He pinched the bridge of his nose. "What's it look like I'm doing , Megan? I'm robbing you, plain and simple. Now give me the purse. Please."
"What? Why would you do this to me?"
"I'm helping to stop the terrorists, duh," Les snapped. He waved the pistol threateningly a few times. He reached out for the purse. "Now, give me the purse. Please."
Without a word, Megan handed over her purse, with all her valuables inside. Les snatched the purse away, mouthed a quiet thank you, and sprinted for the exit door at the back of the train. She watched as Les dashed off into the dark woods, growing smaller and smaller as the train moved on…
Megan awoke with a snort. A small strand of drool ran down her chin. She wiped it away with one hand and checked to see if her purse was still by her side. It was. She heard a small snore to her left; Les was sleeping peacefully beside her.
She reared back and slugged him hard in the gut.
"OW! I'm up! I'm up! What was that for, Megan?!" Les yelled out as he doubled over in bewildered pain.
Megan harrumphed. "Exactly. Jerk"