• 5 minutes to the next bus; enough for a cigarette break, he thought looking at the schedule board and pulling out a cigarette and lighter from the front pocket of his jeans. He lit it up, cupping his hands around his chin and pulled it away from his lips, quickly exhaling the strands of smoke and leaning his back against the wall.

    From the corner of his eye, he noticed movement by his side and turned to see.
    A young woman had stopped by the wall to study the schedule board. She turned on her step then, meeting his eyes. She gave him a small smile and a polite greeting nod, which he returned, and then moved to lean against the wall as well.

    Taking a glance to the traffic on the road to his left, he took another puff and exhaled softly, following the smoke as it was dragged away by the wind. Another puff, the smoke coming in swirls. He followed them with his gaze again, watched the swirls of smoke travel away from around his face, down to his chest, then to his right, towards the woman, going to rest around her neck and collarbone; before being teared apart by the wind.

    He watched this. He didn’t understand why but he was awestruck.
    Looking away, he took the cigarette between his fingers, that had been frozen in mid-air, back to his lips and took another mechanical puff, the vision of the swirls encircling her neck still vivid in his mind; then he realised he had forgotten to exhale all the smoke and started to choke on it, coughing it out convulsively. He saw her flinch at this and wrinkle her nose at the heavy clouds of smoke that hit her face. She didn’t like the smell.
    At this thought he immediately threw the cigarette away; only to regret doing it as he realised he had only smoked it to half. Why did he throw it away, then?
    With a puzzled look on his face he turned to look at her. She sighed, staring at an invisible point ahead of her, a small smile pulling at her lips.
    It was pulling at his lips too. He was smiling. Odd…
    This didn’t make any sense, he thought, shaking his head gently; and dismissed it.

    Looking to his left once more he could see the front of the approaching bus. Time’s up.