Today was the day, and so far, it was perfect. The sun was shining bright, a light wind blowing, everything was going according to the time they planned.

Tabitha was happy, really happy, about what was going to happen. Within 36 hours, she would be in London, celebrating turning sixteen while jumping and raving for her favorite girl group. It would've been better if she could choose who to go with, but she guessed not everything would be perfect.

Currently, she was standing in the station waiting for the train to arrive, the suitcase at hand. Her left foot twisted around in a circular motion, anxious as the seconds felt stretched out against her favor. She was near the seating bench but refused to relax. Her brown eyes kept checking the station clock, ever so often hoping it would be 9 am; there were still fifteen minutes to go.

Unlike the young girl, Stephen sat down, newspaper at hand. Though he was reading it, he took a glance at her once in a while at her jumpy behavior. If a lack of patience is considered a mortal sin, Tabitha would be on the top of the list to hell by the way she was carrying on. From the beginning, she was only holding tight onto her small suitcase; even though they were only going to be there for a day, she wanted to stay prepared. He only had a small duffle bag with everything enough for the day ahead.

It was Tuesday, so hopefully, by Thursday evening, they would be back to Seahill. He needed to get ready for Friday Mass. Stephen began to sort out his sermon on the train ride to London. Curiosity peaked in his mind wondering what Tabitha would do during that time. Maybe she would read a book like last time, hopefully not anything like the book from last time, but as long as she behaved, he would be fine. Being quiet wouldn't be hard on her end though, she wasn't never one to try to speak to him.

Maybe, just maybe during this trip, they would grow closer, on a spiritual level, of course. Tabitha may not view him as much of a bad guy after the trip.

As he found his mind wandering as the minutes went by, light brown eyes drifted onto the outfit the young girl wore. She wore a denim skirt that ended at her knees, along with a dusky pink blouse with a denim jacket over it. Throughout their journey to the station, he told Tabitha about wearing such a short skirt. It would lead men on, showing so much skin. He knew she didn't want to hear that, but it was the truth, at least from the view of the church. He knew if she wore this in front of the town folks, they would say backhand comments about her.

Tabitha didn't like his critique one bit, inadvertently covering her legs whenever he would look at them when she was sitting in the ride there. If he had a problem with her skirt, then seeing her full blouse, he would have a fit. Foley would always act like he's better than her, and well, everyone else in town too. Maybe that's why she felt him getting under her skin more than anyone else. He walked around like he was the best thing since sliced bread, many seeking his advice while he was half their age. Her jaw rolled as she felt his eyes on her legs again, fingers quick to tug her skirt to avert his gaze.

Many people were waiting for the train to arrive along with the odd duo. One person in particular stood out. Just not to Tabitha, nor Stephen. They stood out to the figure, though. Hooded eyes looked at the two ten feet away, wondering what their story was. Why would such a young girl like her be with a man like Stephen, dressed up a little older than his age? The figure watched the girl's focused expressions towards how long the wait would last, along with Father Foley's repeated offense of raking his eyes through the girl standing before him, not like the stranger could blame him.

Though it seemed like forever, the train finally arrived. Tabitha was overly anxious, but Father Foley held her arm back gently, quietly telling her to give it a few moments. Instead of pulling away as he was expecting, she only stiffened but complied with what he wanted. It may be because of how badly she wanted the day to go well.

They finally headed inside, now choosing the seats they wanted; Stephen decided to take the left side, a section of four seats where they were facing one another in rows of two. Knowing that he wouldn't want her to sit too far away, she sat diagonal of him, letting the sun hit her face. She felt butterflies in her stomach, counting down till she headed to the concert. The plus of that was that Father Foley wouldn't be there with her. She would finally start doing things like an adult, every girl's dream.

In her small carryon bag, she took out two things, a sketchbook, and a camera. This year she decided to go back into her love of drawing; she was always good at it, so why not invest more time into practicing? During her trip, she wanted to take as many pictures as possible, not only to show her family back home but also her grandmother. They may not be sharing the experience firsthand, but she would make sure her Grandma Sonya would somehow experience it. She stole glances at the priest, now finished with his paper, and now taking out a small book of his own to write in. Her eyebrows furrowed, wondering what he was going to write, but it wasn't her business to know.

~~~

It was going to be a twelve-hour train ride to London; they were currently in the third hour. Tabitha tried to keep herself busy with drawing, listening to music, and reading a bit. She couldn't stay still, not wanting to let her legs sleep. Bored, she propped her head on her fist, watching the priest read his book. It was non-fiction, a memoir of some sort. He must've felt her stare, looking back at her with slightly surprised eyes. He supposed he never thought she would be the one to do that, but he basked it in.

"You alright?" Tabitha nodded, watching the view outside. She never saw anything this serene in New York. There, everything was so fast-paced, polluted air surrounding her every step with people pushing their way through life. She like that about Ireland; that you can always have a moment to take a breath and look at life's beauties. She looked down at her bag, eyeing her sketchbook. She had only taken up drawing again in the past six months but found it to pass the time and to release her stress.

Maybe she needed new scenery to take her mind off things. Looking back at Father Foley, she decided to let him know about her move. "I'll just be heading a little further up. You'll be able to see me."

Stephen's mouth twisted up in a heinous way, "No, don't leave. Your grandmother wouldn't be happy if anything were to happen to you. Just stay here." She rolled her eyes at his behavior, sounding like a parent.

"I'm not going to sit here all day bored out of my mind. If you're so worried, follow me." It's not like he's past that anyway. T here was a cringe going through her as she thought that. With that thought in mind, Tabitha went towards the other side of the train.

Stephen threw an annoyed look towards her as she had gone her way. He would tell her grandmother about her behavior. He shook his head, thinking for a second he was treating her like a toddler, but she was acting like one. What was he supposed to do?

His mind then drifts back to moments before, when she was looking at him. He blinked, oddly wishing she was content in just doing that.

Shaking those thoughts away from him, he decided to continue his book. Maybe, Tabitha would come back quicker if she saw he wasn't going to follow her.

~~~

After finally finishing his novel, Stephen finally looked at his watch. His eyes widened a fraction seeing what time it was. For one thing, he was a slow reader, wanting to absorb what he was reading. Second off, hours had passed since Tabitha was here with him. Looking towards her seat, he saw it was empty, but her things were still there.

Worried, he shot up, deciding to look for her. All sorts of thoughts were going through his mind. What if Tabitha was taken by someone? How about if she got hurt?

He wouldn't know what to tell her grandmother if anything were to happen to the girl. After rushing through two cars, calling out her name loudly, many passengers giving him odd looks, he finally found her.

She wasn't alone.

She sat seated, animatedly in conversation with the man across from her. Jealousy surged within him, seeing how her behavior was so different. He's never once seen her like that, and it irked him knowing some stranger was able to do that.

Quiet now, he walked towards her. She was oblivious to his emerging; that was until the man she was across broke contact with her to look up at Stephen. The priest knew he gave that man a dark look.

Watching the strangers face, young Tabitha got quiet, as if she knew who was behind her. Turning around, he watched her wide-eyed looking at him.

"Father Foley..." her voice was softer now, knowing she did wrong.

~~~

4 hours before

When Tabitha had left the cart, all she was hoping for was new scenery, anything to catch her eyes wanting to distract her. She saw all types of people there; families with small children looking out the window in wonder, men and women alone sleeping on themselves, even businessmen using those new phones.

She heard you need an electrical connection to use them. How were they able to do that? The idea sounded cool, to call anyone anywhere; she wanted one for the moment seeing how bored she was. Mobile phones were expensive. The concert tickets were cheap compared to cellular phones. Maybe when she got older and had a substantial job, she could get one of her own, and she wouldn't be as lonely.

Tabitha was standing in the middle of the lane, staring out into space with her thoughts on advancing technology. The sudden bump the train made took her by surprise, nearly falling over if it weren't for a hand to grab her arm quickly.

"Easy there" surprisingly, this person didn't have a strong Irish or European accent, but there was a trace of one. The person had a firm grip, but not strong enough to leave a mark on her. She finally decided to look up and turn around, wanting to see who it was that helped her out.

She was surprised to see that the person who helped her was not who she was expecting physical wise; that sounded wrong on many levels, but it was the only way she could phrase it. He was Asian, eyes slightly on the bigger side; she took notice of the specks of light brown in the midst of the dark brown as his eyes glossed over her. His hair was on the short, sides were buzz cut while the top was grown out, slightly touching his forehead. His nose was straight and round, and his lips. Gosh, those lips looked nice, they weren't big but not small ...Full, yes full was the right word to use.

She found herself feeling butterflies in her stomach as she kept staring at him, with her wide eyes from the situation.

"T-Thank you" She was face-palming herself mentally, hearing how she sounded with a small voice, timid. She finally stood up straight once more. There was a height difference between the two strangers. He looked down at her, a foreign look in his eyes. A small smile then showed off his white teeth.

"No problem" although the rails were now smooth, he still held onto her arm, looking down at her.

Tabitha locked her bottom lip in between her teeth, looking up through her eyelashes. This must be what instant attraction must feel like. She tried to pull her arm away from a little, indicating he could let go.

He finally broke contact, looking away as a nervous laugh came off his lips. Brown eyes looked down to her feet, knowing her feelings weren't right. He must be as old as Father Foley, which was bad enough. She pulled some ear behind her ear, putting her arms down to her sides.

"Are you here alone?"

She looked up at him again, shaking her head, "No, I'm with someone, but I was looking around. A twelve-hour train ride would be hell if you just sit down bored." He nodded, "of course, I supposed you came around to see if there would be something else to do." He then walked past her to a seat behind her. It was an empty section other than his belongings. "If you'd like, you can stay here with me."

Though it did sound enticing, she wasn't sure if it would be the best decision. "Um, that does sound nice, but I don't even know your name" A soft smile came off on her lips, in her mind she thought this was alright, that she could be nice to this strange man just for the train ride. It was better than being with Father Foley.

"Ahh, you're right. Allow me to introduce myself then. I'm Mark." He gave his hand out for her to shake. Although he did touch her earlier, she wasn't sure if to shake his hand, but it would be rude of her not to. She made contact with his large hand, giving a firm shake. "Hello, I'm Tabitha" She then took a seat right across from him, hoping that they would have a good conversation.

He crossed his jeans cover legs over another. Long fingers went under his chin. Tabitha looked at his quarter zip-up olive green sweater, finding it odd that he would wear that in the summertime. "Are you by chance cold?" He looked confused for a moment, before looking at his attire, another smile came to the surface, "No, I just tend to dress comfortably when traveling." She nodded, understanding what he was saying. "You're right. I try to dress for comfort when traveling also."

"You travel?" He sounded as though that was hard to believe.

"Yes, often for someone my age, at least."

"What is your age, if you don't mind me asking." A small smile came on her face as she pronounced, "I'll be 16 in a couple of days." For some reason, she felt like an adult saying she'll be 16. Maybe it was the whole sweet sixteen things. Anyway, she was a lot more mature than most 16-year-olds, so it was probably right for her to think that way.

"Wow. And you travel so often by yourself?"

"Only when traveling to Ireland to visit my grandmother. My parents could only afford to send me."

"Ahh, well, I like to travel a bit myself. I just came out of the army in Korea, so I wanted to visit some parts before settling down again."

Her ears perked up, hearing he was in the army. She found that so honorable and courageous. "So, you're a soldier?"

"Well, not exactly. In Korea, all men are required to do two years of service, at least before they get married. Although I'm not getting married any time soon, I felt like enough time passed by, and I needed to do it. I was a Sergeant when I was there." There was a hazy smile on the young girl's face, finding this man more intriguing by the minute.

"If you're not a soldier, what do you do then?" He gave a small smile before looking out the window. "I'm an architect in England. I grew up there, in England, but thought it was still my duty to serve my parent's homeland."

"Oh, so you're off to England too then?"

"No, not yet. I'll be heading to France to spend a few more days of freedom before going back to civilian life. I suppose then you're going to England?" Tabitha nodded fervently, feeling excited about her destination once more. " Only for a few days."

Now it was his turn to be interested, "What would you do there?"

The young girl felt her face turn red a little, feeling embarrassed telling him her real intentions, but it wasn't like she'd see him again. "I'm going to the Spice Girls concert."

"That sounds good, they make pretty good music." Tabitha looked up at Mark, surprised that he agreed with her. As far as she knew, it was mostly teenage girls who were fans of them. "Yea, I do like their music a bit. Thank God I was able to save up enough."

He gave a small chuckle, "You think God had something to do with that."

"Of course, if it wasn't meant to happen, He wouldn't have allowed it." Mark gave a skeptical look towards her notion.

"If things happen in that respect, no one would live a hard life." Tabitha shook her head, "I have to disagree" He then gave a ghost of a smirk towards the young girl, "Please explain to me this concept then."

There was a small frown on her face hearing his tone, "Alright, I will." There was nothing she liked more than a challenge.

"In the Bible, there is a man named Job, who was considered God's most loyal servant. Job had everything; a wife and children, herds, and a good lifestyle. He would go and worship God every day. One day, Satan went to God saying that Job only worshiped Him because of all the good things he was rewarded, and if God had taken it away, Job would abandon him. So God agreed to take everything from Job to prove the devil wrong.

In an instant, Job lost everything, his family, cattle, land. Save a few of his workers who told him of the bad news, Job had nothing left. That didn't stop Job, he still worshiped God. Even when he was sick to the brink of death and his friends spoke evil of God, Job refused to do so. He understood that this was happening to him for a reason, that he may have done something wrong.

In the end, Job remained a faithful servant to God, and as a reward, God provided Job with his restored goodness, a new family twice as big, and everything he had lost. The main point of the story is that God does allow the good to suffer, to which, as humans, we would not understand why. But, after the storm, good things would come to us if we still stay faithful to Him."

The young girl let out a breath after that, thanking God that she listened to her mother well.

The stranger, Mark, looked at her, curiously peeking through his umber eyes, "So what you're trying to say is that God, as you put it, allows things to happen to people just because?"

"Well, I guess that could be a way to put it. I've learned in my meager years of living that everything happens for a reason, something I may never understand until it is eventually revealed to me if it is." She wished someone could hear her now, someone who would understand.

"Even the bad things?" Tabitha nodded her head, "Yes, even bad things. We all have our paths in life we all take. Even when facing similar situations, people take different routes to mend it."

Mark was silent, not sure of what to make of the girl's words. He remembered at a young age, his family was always religious, but as he had grown older, he chose not to follow it. Looking at this girl, he wasn't sure of what to think. She was so young but managed to make more sense out of life than half the adults he knew.

A smile emerged on his face, "So, what then would you say this encounter would bring to either of our lives?"

It took her a moment, but the young girl simply shrugged, "I suppose just two strangers, sharing some tidbits. Sometimes you meet strangers for a few moments, but you can change one another's lives forever. Maybe that happened, maybe not."