Kate's POV

The day of Rachel's next run had arrived. I made one final check of my metal box and the two of us made the brief journey to the Underground platform at Heathrow Terminal 5

We were greeted by a cheerful looking man who took us through the final bits of housekeeping. We both had to confirm we had never met the adjudicator before - we hadn't. I had to go through the timing procedure and Rachel had to show him a valid ticket for her run. Once these formalities had been concluded we got on the train

I started my watch and secured it in my box, then after giving Rachel a good luck hug departed the train at Heathrow Terminals 1,2,3

My chaperone for the day lead me into the carpark and we drove the familiar route down the M25 back to Chesham. I had originally thought I could simply go home, but apparently I had to be sequestered in a hotel room for the duration of Rachel's attempt

She had given me her tablet so I could watch something on Netflix if I got bored. As nice as it was though I couldn't help but check out her Instagram to look at her progress

Sadly she was running into a few snags. First there was a black hole at Liverpool Street where the trains just disappeared and then there was no District line trains at Whitechapel for 15 minutes

Tears streamed down my face as I read about her latest delay. I wanted her to do well and was upset it wasn't working out.

About 11:30, my chaperone told me to go to bed as Rachel had stopped at Baker Street for the night suspending her challenge.

'It's okay' she said seeing tears run down my cheeks 'She'll pick it up tomorrow'

The next morning we woke about six o'clock to get ready. We had ninety minutes to get to Chalfont and Latimer Station so I could stop my clock

We arrived in good time and about 7:50 a train pulled in and I saw my tired girlfriend in the door. I wiped away a tear that had streamed down the left side of my face and got on board. The seal on my metal box was checked and then Rachel gave me the code for my padlock, 16660. I opened the box and got ready to stop the clock

'I know it didn’t go the way you wanted' Rachel's adjudicator told her 'But you have a valid run, congratulations'

'Thank you Martin' my girlfriend said shaking his hand. She accepted her card with the necessary information to submit her time and said goodbye. I was allowed to keep my stopwatch, but I had to surrender the box

'What will you do now' I said not caring about the tears running down my cheeks

'Keep going' Rachel said calmly 'Your Aunt Gemma gave me the money to do this, I can't back out now. Besides if it can happen to me it can happen to anyone. It's a long year, it'll be fine'

I wiped my tears and we shared a kiss on the platform

After the most amazing day with Jarrod just listening to Irish folk music and exploring the peninsula as we drove in the Sea Head drive admiring the Blasket islands in Single we left through the Connor Pass. We admired the lakes to the north, the Skellig Islands and the Dingle Bay.

We finally get to Tralee, hop the highway and continue on towards Limerick continue further yet to Ennis. We visit Ennis for about 45min before continuing on via the N85 to the Cliffs of  Moher. We finally  get out and stretch our legs by hikeing the Cliffs. After our exhilarating hike we take a 1hr cruise from Doolin. The views were exquisite and I didn't want it to end, but we were getting hungry as it had been a long afternoon so we stopped for a bite before turning in to the Island View Lodge for a bit of much needed rest. I sure hoped tomorrow was a bit more of a down day, not that today wasn't amazing.

Last edited by Princess_Lucky1731 (June 12, 2022 6:56 pm)

Lois' POV

I wiped away a tear as my runner had a full blown screaming fit on the station platform. We were both in Paris and I was undertaking my adjudicator duties. I had to do six runs total and this was the first one. We just needed one more station, Porte de Clignancourt but for reasons I could not explain he hadn't yet legally ticked it off. We had visited it, but on a 3b RER train and for the purposes of his challenge he needed to arrive and/or depart on a Line 4 metro train

'You are no help you know that' he said to me angrily

'I'm not allowed' I emphasised hoping the tears in my eyes didn't run down my cheeks. We were approaching midnight and he needed to finish in the next 75 minutes or I would have to shut him down and I wasn't looking forward to it

We were at Chatelet de Halles and I silently prayed that he would go to the 4 line metro platforms so we could stop and I could return to my wife. My prayers were answered and he did indeed go to the 4 line platform and get on a train that took him to Porte de Clignancourt. As long as he didn't get off we would be fine. I texted his Master Stopwatch to tell him his runner was (finally) on his way and he should get ready

However to my intense annoyance when we got to Marcadet Poissonniers not only did he get off to switch to the 12 line platform but we got a southbound train heading to Mairie d'Issy!!

I wiped away another tear that streamed down the right hand side of my face and got on the train

Billie's POV

'Don't miss me too much. Have a wonderful week and I'll see you when you get back'

Tears ran down my cheeks at my girlfriend's thoughtful message. I was back in Chicago on a solo trip this time so I could continue my visits to all the L stations.

I was really moved that Gemma trusted me enough to do this, and the rose and chocolates were perfect

Wiping away my tears, I started to unpack my case and have a brief shower before I got ready for dinner.

Wearing my favourite black knee length skirt, blue blouse and my knee high boots I went downstairs

I was enjoying my drink at the bar waiting for my table when I guy came up to me

'I'm James' he said

'I'm Billie' I greeted

'What's a beautiful girl like you doing here all alone' He asked. I raised my right hand to show off my Rainbow Eternity ring and his shoulders drooped in disappointment

'Her name is Gemma' I told him. 'And I love her very much' My table for dinner was now ready so I went into the restaurant

The following day after a brief breakfast I put my boots on under my jeans and headed out. I was staying in a hotel on the loop, but I couldn't get a train yet because the bridges were up.

Nevertheless I did take a picture of them as I walked past.

James the guy from the previous night was entering a taxi with another man looking very furtive. I immediately thought about Rachel's championship. Was he allowed to take a taxi I wondered. I hadn't read the rules recently so I couldn't remember

I sent a picture of the bridges to Gemma with a nice message and continued walking to the next available station at Merchandise Mart

My girlfriend had sent a reply and I couldn't help the tears from running down my cheeks when I read it. She loved me so much and so did I. Wiping my tears I tapped out a reply and started to take my pictures of the station

When I woke up it was nearly 9am. I was surprised to find Jarrod was still asleep beside me, not up early for his usual exercises. I guess this trip was much busier than we anticipated. He soon awoke and we went to have a nice breakfast. After breakfast Jarrod drove us to Galway. It took us just over an hr. When we got there we checked into the Connacht Hotel and dropped our car. We then took a nice tour on another hop on hop off bus.

We visited the cathedral, the City Museum and Spanish Archs, the Lynch castle, the Court House and Town Hall, St. Nicholas church, the Bridge Mills, shop street and  the dam and the Salmon bridge all before 4pm. Although amazing it already felt like a long day and then Jarrod informed me he had planned for us to go to a party tonight. We decided to catch a little rest as we ended our tour back at our hotel.

After a little refreshing nap I excitedly got ready for the party. I chose to wear a just above the knee, black, spaghetti strap dress with black flats. I took a quick spin in front of Jarrod while he was getting ready. I  noticed his eyes went straight to my exposed legs. No sooner than he began eyeing me up and down admiring my figure I could see a tent forming  in his pants almost immediately.

Last edited by Princess_Lucky1731 (June 16, 2022 9:33 pm)