One • The Musician's Daughter

                                    

                                          
"Time is the longest distance between two places."
-Thomas Lanier Williams, 1911-1983
                          
《▪︎▪︎▪︎》
                          
"Move it, will ya?"
                          
His timber hoodie buried the snarl on his face.
                          
"Sorry." Stepping aside, she watched as he boarded the train with the rest of the moving herd of people.
                          
Her fingers curled around both the cello case and suitcase, feeling her knuckles turn white from the pressure.
After a deep breath of anxiety, she stepped onto the train- preparing herself for the worst outcome of an hour and a half's trip.
                          
With a set down of her cello and suitcase tucked safely next to her legs, she realised that adjustment to the coughing and crying of young children would be difficult.
                          
"So where you headed off to?" Sat beside her, a young man with deep strawberry hair shone a charming smile.
                          
"London," She smiled softly with a nod of her head. "What about you?"
                          
With a glance down to his own suitcase, the man chuckled. "Manchester; a long ride from here. W-What's your name? Mine's Diego."
                          
"Ophelia," Ophelia Smith gave a small nervous smile, feeling uneasy under the cold stare of Diego despite his warm smile.
                          
With a nod, Diego smiled. "Ophelia," He repeated slowly, as if testing her name as it rolled cautiously on his tongue. "So what drags you away from Birmingham?"
                          
She glanced around as the train began to make its move. "I'm.. moving there," She nodded slowly.
                          
"Ah, alright. Well, I'll stop buggering you now Ophelia. I'll see you around." Diego smiled, standing up from the seat next to her before walking further down the carriage.
                          
Wrapping her arms around herself, Ophelia felt slightly uncomfortable as she watched the world fly by her eyes out the window.
                          
▪︎▪︎▪︎
                          
Dark eyelashes fluttering themselves open, she awoke from the rustling and buzzing of excited people as the stop to London at long last arrived. She kept her cases close to her, waiting for the last to leave before standing up with her cello and suitcase secured in each hand.
                          
Eyes darting around as stepped onto the platform, she couldn't help the thumping swell in her chest that told her she was finally in London.
                          
A cab. That's what Ophelia was searching for at the moment. As she climbed the small staircase up into the entrance, she was overwhelmed with the tourist shops that burst with colours of red, white and blue.
Lines of cabs waited near the exit, and she braced herself with a grip of her cello case that was threatening to slip out of her hands at any moment.
                          
When a cab driver offered to take her luggage and drive her to her location, Ophelia couldn't bring herself to refuse- and allowed him to place her items in the back of the cab.
                          
"So where ya headed, ma'am?" The cabbie's joyous voice filled the silence of the cab, and Ophelia pulled out a small post-it note as her eyes flickered over the address of her new home, name and number of her new landlord.