Personal

Tell-tale signs

He broke the cardinal rule of commuting by train: he said "hello". We exchanged two or three sentences before it was a case of laptops out, headphones in for both of us.

Before we'd reached Shenfield his two-fingered typing had dropped to a crawl. By Chelmsford he was regularly leaning dangerously close to the aisle before catching himself and shifting upright.

I glanced to my left. It was four o'clock but his watch said eleven.

Ah, it all slotted in to place. The long return after a business trip to the east coast of the States. I remember it well: trying to engage in any activity in a futile attempt to stay awake, even talking to strangers on the train.

I should have offered to wake him at his destination but he was already fast asleep.