We Need to Talk
by Waiting for my Red Caboose
"Dinah, we need to talk."
Not the words she was expecting, upon arriving at the station she shared with Greaseball, especially since he was facing away from her and didn't seem to have any intent to turn around. Always the drama queen, that Greaseball.
Dinah skated around him in a wide arc, coming to a gentle stop in front of him. His arms were wrapped around his body, his eyes fixed to the floor.
"Greaseball, what's this about?" Dinah asked.
The diesel's face hardened into a mask of resolve, then he looked up at Dinah. "We're over."
Dinah waited, convinced she must have heard incorrectly. "I'm sorry – what?" she asked.
Greaseball rolled his eyes. "We're done, Dinah. I'm breaking up with you." He turned away again. This wasn't the confident diesel engine Dinah knew. Something had to be up.
"Why?" the coach demanded.
"Because…" Greaseball hesitated. His shoulders slumped. He barely looked back at Dinah. "I don't love you. I don't know if I ever did."
Dinah was shaking. "You don't mean that. You can't possibly mean that."
Greaseball lashed out. "I mean it, Dinah! Starlight, woman, can't you take a hint?"
Dinah gritted her teeth as a single tear rolled down her cheek. The engine she loved, the one she gave her heart to, the one she gave everything to, was just going to leave her, like that? She didn't think so. But then again, what could she do about it? She broke down and fled the station in tears, leaving Greaseball behind.
The engine was fuming. He pounded his fists against the wall. That's when he heard a giggle, and a small figure rolled out from the shadows.
"Now, was that so hard?" the Red Caboose cooed.
"You'll pay for this," Greaseball hissed. "I swear, you'll pay for what you did to her."
"I doubt that. I told you: No one can have who I've set my eye on."
"Dinah deserves better than you."
CB skated dangerously close to Greaseball, sadistic smirk widening into his characteristic grin. "Now, who ever said I was talking about Dinah?"