Katie Fitzgerald
Mallory swiped away tears as she entered the main level of Grand Central Station. Seeing the time on her phone, she yelped. Sobbing on the street over the discovery that her college roommate, Brittany, was now dating her ex-boyfriend, Douglas, had delayed her arrival to the point that she only had two minutes to board the Metro-North train back to the Hudson Valley.
Sadness rolled over her, but shouldering her purse, she ran to her track as quickly as flats could carry her. She made it onto the train seconds before the doors closed. Puffing from exertion, she noted the lack of empty seats, and trudged up the aisle into the next car.
The train emerged from darkness into sunlight at 125th Street, then suddenly lurched forward. Arms flailing, Mallory went flying, bag and all, into the lap of the nearest passenger, a guy dressed in New York Mets baseball garb.
“What the—”
Mallory scrambled, trying to use the seat for leverage but ultimately grabbing the guy’s shoulder to gain her balance. Knowing New Yorkers liked their boundaries, she prepared to apologize, but when she looked at the Mets fan, he was smiling pleasantly.
“You couldn’t do that again if you tried,” he joked. Moving a pile of baseball souvenirs from the window seat beside him, he took it all into his lap and slid over. “You’d better sit before you hurt yourself.”
“I am so sorry,” Mallory said as she sat down and dragged her bag into her lap. “That was humiliating.”
“Nah, you’re fine,” said the stranger. “Look at me. I’m traveling with a three-foot teddy bear in a baseball uniform.”
Mallory studied the jumble in his lap and found that this was indeed the case. “And now I’ve taken his seat.” She smiled a bit at the utter absurdity of this day.
“Well, he’ll get over it. I’m Henry, by the way,” he said.
Mallory introduced herself, then said, “Is the bear for your kids, or . . .?”
Henry started shaking his head before she could finish her thought. “Nope, no kids.” He pulled a face as though disgusted with himself. “Honestly, the whole story is pathetic.”
“More or less pathetic than coming down to the city to meet your college roommate for dinner and walking in to find her holding hands with your ex?”
Henry’s eyes widened comically. “Oh, snap,” he said. “Did that happen to you today?”
Mallory nodded. “And then I fell into some random guy’s lap on the train.”
“Was he cute, at least?” Henry raised his eyebrows, and Mallory’s cheeks burned as she glanced at his face. Curly hair, brown eyes, a warm smile revealing a charmingly crooked front tooth. Yup. Extremely cute.
“You know,” she said. “He was, actually.”
“You’re probably just saying that,” Henry said. “But it’s nice to hear anyway. Especially under the circumstances.”
Mallory cast him a quizzical look, and he let out a long sigh.
“This stuff,” he said, hefting the pile in his lap into the air briefly, “is the stuff I planned to buy when I bought the tickets to today’s game.”
“Okay . . .” So far, Mallory didn’t understand where this was going.
“Tickets, plural,” Henry repeated. “I was going to be a total cliché and propose on the Jumbotron.”
For a second, Mallory selfishly felt sad because a proposal meant a serious girlfriend, but then she realized that was dumb. Henry was riding alone on the train with a teddy bear. Something had gone wrong. A sudden thought struck her. “Please tell me she didn’t stand you up.”
“No, no.” Henry waved a hand. “She dumped me three months ago. We wanted different things.” He grimaced. “I wanted her, and she didn’t want me.”
“That’s terrible,” said Mallory. “The bear’s not some kind of weird effigy, is it? You’re not going to take your frustration out on that poor innocent stuffy?”
Henry laughed. “Nah, it was more like I wanted to prove I could have a great time at the ballpark by myself.”
“And were you successful?” Mallory asked sympathetically.
“Not really,” he said, but then he turned to grin at her. “Things are improving by the second now, though.”
“For me too.” Glancing out the window, Mallory realized that four stops had come and gone while she was chatting with Henry. What she had imagined was going to be an interminable, painful ride was suddenly going by way too quickly.
Henry seemed to be thinking the same thing because he asked, “When’s your stop?”
Mallory gave him the name of her station, still six stops down the line. “What about yours?”
Henry jerked a thumb over his shoulder. “Two stations ago,” he said nonchalantly.
“What?” Mallory burst into a surprised giggle. “How did you miss that?”
Henry ducked his head sheepishly. “I wouldn’t say I missed it. I just . . . let it go by.”
“Will you get thrown out of here?”
Henry shrugged. “If I do, it’s worth it.”
Mallory couldn’t argue.
When her stop came, Henry stood when Mallory did and followed her to the platform. “What will you do now?” she asked.
“Two things,” Henry said, shifting his souvenir stack in his arms. “One is asking you to hold this stuff so I can put my number in your phone.”
Mallory happily obliged, taking a moment to enjoy seeing his name on her display before pocketing her phone and passing Henry’s stuff back. “And the second thing?”
Henry paused for a second as though hesitating, then tugged the bear’s ear. “All I wanted all day was someone to give this to.” His cheeks were flushed as he held it out to her. “For you.”
Mallory kissed the bear on top of its head. “I love it.”
“I have tickets for another game this weekend,” Henry said, “if you’d like to join me.”
Mallory bit her lip with nervous joy. “Sounds perfect,” she said. “I’ll meet you on the train.”
Katie grew up in a small town in New York’s Hudson Valley, but now lives in the Maryland suburbs with her husband and five kids.
Connect with Katie on Facebook, Twitter (X), Instagram, Goodreads, or her website.
Spark Flash Fiction 