My train to Salt Lake City was only 15 minutes away, but it felt like an eternity. After all, I don't remember the last time I actually showered since New York City. It was pretty hot too, and I felt my hair and camisole top cling to my body. I tried to concentrate on something else, maybe think about what my friend's new house was like.

The only reason I went all the way across the country was to visit Cassandra, one of my oldest friends, who moved to Utah for a job. Plus, it was summer so what else was I going to do anyway?

The announcements blared: Train from Denver to Salt Lake City will arrive soon at terminal 5

Finally, no more waiting in this wretched heat. I could almost feel the air-conditioned train. Again, I tried to distract myself, and I started to notice the people around me. There were a bunch of girls my age, but they seemed to always come with a guy hand-in-hand. Well, everyone except me of course. "You're just a late bloomer," my mother would tell me. "You just gotta find the right guy," my friends would say.

I chuckled at these thoughts. After all, this wasn't a fairytale, and love like that doesn't just happen.

Out of the corner of my eye, a suspicious man inched closer to me. He had grey hair, a beard, and was slightly obese. His eyes seemed to dart erratically and he seemed to mumble incoherently to himself. Not the kind of guy I'm looking for.

I reached for my suitcase, trying to back away from him, and lo and behold, he managed to grab hold of my suitcase and off he ran.

Crap! I tried to run after him, but he was surprisingly swift for his build. "Help!" I cried out, still trying to pursue the thief, but it was no use. He was already a good 10 feet ahead of me.

The worst-case scenarios were running through my head. My clothes, my food, my laptop, and some of my cash was in that suitcase. Ughh, why do these things happen to me?

I almost gave up, but out of nowhere, I saw a brown-haired man running to pursue the thief. He was fast and caught up to the runner, tackling him. I ran up to the two men as they exchanged a few blows. There were yelling and punching, and overall, it was not pretty.

"Hey! Stop fighting," I pleaded, as I reached the quarrel, hoping that no one was hurt.

But before anything got too rough, security guards rushed in.

"Hey, what's going on here?" one of the guards questioned.

The brown-haired stranger looked at me and smiled. "Uh, officer I was just helping my sister here," he gestured at me. "I was helping her get her suitcase back from this thief," he pointed to the older man who still laid on the floor.

The two security members escorted the man away as he struggled, drawing attention from a lot of passerby's.

"Hey, you alright?" He looked at me and I felt my heart flutter. His eyes were a light shade of brown. His smile, so warm and reassuring. He picked up my suitcase and placed it in front of me as if it weighed nothing. He had a medium-sized build and was about 5 inches taller than me, but he wasn't intimidating. Oddly, I felt safe and welcomed around him.

"I uh, um, thank you," I managed to blurt out. "Thank you for helping me get my suitcase back"

"No problem, anything to help out."

I fiddled with my hair, still anxious about what just happened. I knew we had to part ways, but a part of me wanted to get to know him more, to spend more time with this stranger. "Well, I guess I'll see you around sir." I began to turn around, only to be met by a tap on the shoulder.

"Hey, um miss, you forgot to take your suitcase," he said, a sheepish smile on his face as he held it out to me.

Ughh I'm so dumb! My face flushed red as I turned around. "Oh I'm so sorry, I was just— I mean I just had a lot on my mind." I was such an idiot. How could I mess that up?

"Hey," he said, looking at the luggage tag. "You're going to Salt Lake City?"

"Yes," I answered, unsure about why he would ask.

"What a coincidence! I am heading there too!" he said, a slight hint of excitement in his voice. "We should be travel partners, at least till we arrive there."

It felt as if my wish came true. Almost instinctively I agreed and we seemed to grow closer just like that. It just so happened that within all the turmoil, the train to Salt Lake City just left and the next one was due in thirty minutes. So, we walked over to the nearest coffee shop inside the train station, hoping to kill some time.

I waited in line to buy a coffee, and the stranger stood in front of me, turning around every now and then, a radiant smile still plastered on his face. He was so cute, the way he acted and the way he was so nice to me. When the line finally reached us, he ordered two iced coffees and handed one to me. "Here, it's on me."

"No, its fine, I—"

"Hey, err… blondie, I bought it already. I insist."

I reached over and took the coffee with gratitude. We walked over to the nearest table and sat down. "By the way, the name's Rapunzel, but…. I like blondie too"

"That's a pretty cool name," he replied. "I'm Eugene," he reached out his hand to me.

I reached out mine and we formally shook hands. His grip was very firm but gentle as well. We both took sips of our coffee, but my eyes were glued to him. I still couldn't get over how surreal the whole experience was. Never in a million years would I ever expect to have my suitcase stolen and then meet such a nice (and cute) stranger.

I didn't notice it before, but he had a bloodied bruise on his cheek, most likely from the previous altercation. "Your face, it's hurt," I gestured.

His eyes widened. "Oh?" He ran his fingers across his own bloodied face, slightly wincing in pain. "Oh, it's nothing much. I've been through worse"

"I'm sorry," I finally said.

"Sorry? For what?"

"Sorry for the whole suitcase thing, for you missing the train, and for your face," I apologized again, hoping to right this situation.

"I should be thanking you. You know," he started. "I haven't been friends with a lot of city girls like you."

My eyes opened wide. "How do you know I'm from the city?"

"Well, I don't see many green-eyed blondes in the small town I'm from. Plus, cities have pretty women like you. I see it on TV all the time, the celebrities and whatnot"

I blushed. "Well, you guessed right. I am from New York City, but I'm nowhere near celebrity status"

"Wow, the Big Apple? I don't know if a peasant like me is worthy to be in your shadow, princess Rapunzel" he mused, pretending to bow. "Plus, I prefer real girls over those fake celebrities, you know?" he used his hands, miming large breasts.

I tried to hold back my laughter at his comical mannerism. "So, Eugene, where are you from?"

"Pshh, nowhere special," he replied. "Springfield, in southeast Colorado."

"So what brings you to Salt Lake City?" I asked.

"Well, that's where I grew up," he murmured, looking a little distracted.

"Oh, so you're visiting your parents?" I asked, hoping to spark some sort of conversation.

Eugene leaned back on the chair and placed his hands behind his head, his biceps flaring out of his short-sleeved T-shirt. "Well, not exactly. You see, I kinda grew up in an orphanage and I was just going to visit some of the local scenery and see how the orphanage is doing."

I eyed him for a little, unsure about what to say. "I'm sorry to hear that" He sat back up on his chair and leaned closer to me, a confident look on his face. "Honestly, my childhood wasn't all bad. It had its ups and downs but I didn't mind"

"Yeah, I can kinda relate," I replied. He looked at me, his eyebrows raised slightly. "I live with my step-mother."

"And your father?"

I looked away slightly. I never grew up with a father figure and it pained me to even talk about it. "Died, left, I don't know. My mother never told me about him."

The silence grew between us and I felt as if the noisy train station around me dulled. I bit my lip, unsure about where this conversation was headed. Was this too weird for a first-time introduction? After all, who talks about their childhood orphanage or their missing father on the first conversation.

"You know, I'm glad I met you Rapunzel," he broke the silence.

Then, the announcements blared again. The train from Denver to Salt Lake City is arriving at Terminal 5.

Before we could finish our conversation, as if we read each other's minds, we both got out and headed over to catch the train. As I reached for my suitcase and made my way towards the train, I felt a strong grip hold my hand. I looked over to my left and there he was. He beamed a smile down at me and I held his hand tighter. My hands felt like it fit in his as if he was meant for me.