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Waiting for a Spark
Could running out of milk have Jerome running headlong into love?
Jerome's life is pretty mundane. Every day he catches the bus to work, listens to his best friend rant on about the latest crisis in his life, and tries to stop his attention from wandering to the gorgeous guy in the back seat.
Friday morning is no different. Except that Jerome is lost in all kinds of lustful dreams because Gorgeous is definitely making eye contact. But when his best friend involves the entire bus in a rant about jobs lost to Eastern Europeans, Jerome finds himself too distracted to challenge it. And that moment of inattention might ruin Jerome's chance to finally discover if reality can match his fantasies because Gorgeous has gone. And without as much as a backwards glance.
Two days later, Jerome’s run out of milk and all the local shops are shut except for the Polskie Delikatesy. Stepping through the door brings Jerome face to face with the object of his hopeless affection—and an awkward confrontation about the nature of prejudice. If he can come to terms with his own misconceptions about others, and accept the offered chance to set the record straight, maybe he'll be going home with more than just a pint of milk.
This edition contains a copy of the ficlet 'When the Boat Comes In'.
Jerome's life is pretty mundane. Every day he catches the bus to work, listens to his best friend rant on about the latest crisis in his life, and tries to stop his attention from wandering to the gorgeous guy in the back seat.
Friday morning is no different. Except that Jerome is lost in all kinds of lustful dreams because Gorgeous is definitely making eye contact. But when his best friend involves the entire bus in a rant about jobs lost to Eastern Europeans, Jerome finds himself too distracted to challenge it. And that moment of inattention might ruin Jerome's chance to finally discover if reality can match his fantasies because Gorgeous has gone. And without as much as a backwards glance.
Two days later, Jerome’s run out of milk and all the local shops are shut except for the Polskie Delikatesy. Stepping through the door brings Jerome face to face with the object of his hopeless affection—and an awkward confrontation about the nature of prejudice. If he can come to terms with his own misconceptions about others, and accept the offered chance to set the record straight, maybe he'll be going home with more than just a pint of milk.
This edition contains a copy of the ficlet 'When the Boat Comes In'.
24 pages, ebook
First published January 1, 2012
6 people are currently reading
62 people want to read
About the author
Lillian Francis
15 books100 followersLillian Francis is an English writer who likes to dabble in many genres but always seems to return to the here and now.
Their name may imply a grand dame in pink chiffon and lace, but Lillian is more at home in jeans, Converse, and the sort of T-shirts that often need explaining to the populous at large but will get a fist bump at Comic-Con. Lillian is a self-confessed geek who likes nothing more than settling down with a comic or a good book, except maybe writing. Given a notepad, pen, her Kindle, and an infinite supply of chocolate Hob Nobs and they can lose themself for weeks. Romance was never their reading matter of choice, so it came as a great surprise to all concerned, including themself, to discover a romance was exactly what they’d written, and not the rollicking spy adventure or cosy murder mystery they always assumed they’d write. Luckily there's always room for romance no matter what plot bunny chooses to bite them, so never say never to either of those stories appearing.
Lillian lives in an imposing castle on a windswept desolate moor or in an elaborate shack on the edge of a beach somewhere, depending on their mood. And while they’d love for the heroes of their stories to either be chained up in the dungeon or wandering the shack serving drinks in nothing but skimpy barista aprons more often than not they are doing something far less erotic like running charity shops and shovelling elephant shit.
Drawn to the ocean, although not in a Reginald Perrin sort of way, Lillian would love to own a camper van and to live by the sea.
Their name may imply a grand dame in pink chiffon and lace, but Lillian is more at home in jeans, Converse, and the sort of T-shirts that often need explaining to the populous at large but will get a fist bump at Comic-Con. Lillian is a self-confessed geek who likes nothing more than settling down with a comic or a good book, except maybe writing. Given a notepad, pen, her Kindle, and an infinite supply of chocolate Hob Nobs and they can lose themself for weeks. Romance was never their reading matter of choice, so it came as a great surprise to all concerned, including themself, to discover a romance was exactly what they’d written, and not the rollicking spy adventure or cosy murder mystery they always assumed they’d write. Luckily there's always room for romance no matter what plot bunny chooses to bite them, so never say never to either of those stories appearing.
Lillian lives in an imposing castle on a windswept desolate moor or in an elaborate shack on the edge of a beach somewhere, depending on their mood. And while they’d love for the heroes of their stories to either be chained up in the dungeon or wandering the shack serving drinks in nothing but skimpy barista aprons more often than not they are doing something far less erotic like running charity shops and shovelling elephant shit.
Drawn to the ocean, although not in a Reginald Perrin sort of way, Lillian would love to own a camper van and to live by the sea.
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
March 11, 2018
This was a nice little story, still very up to date.
May 27, 2017
short sweet romance. Finding your soul mate on a Bus....
October 9, 2017
Original review on Molly Lolly
Four and a half stars!
This was such a cute story. I adored Jerome and Tomak. The way they made eyes at each other on the bus and then met after Jerome looked like a jerk was so fun. I liked how Tomak was laid back and went with the flow. You could tell his feelings for Jerome were growing quickly. Jerome was sweet and didn’t know his own self worth. I loved these two together and how they connect so easily once they actually start talking. There’s a little fictlet at the end of the version I read showing a quick scene with these two a few months down the line. I absolutely adored it. I’d gladly read a full length story with these two. Maybe we could see them get engaged and married or something to that effect. I enjoyed Ms. Francis’ voice and can’t wait to read more by her.
Four and a half stars!
This was such a cute story. I adored Jerome and Tomak. The way they made eyes at each other on the bus and then met after Jerome looked like a jerk was so fun. I liked how Tomak was laid back and went with the flow. You could tell his feelings for Jerome were growing quickly. Jerome was sweet and didn’t know his own self worth. I loved these two together and how they connect so easily once they actually start talking. There’s a little fictlet at the end of the version I read showing a quick scene with these two a few months down the line. I absolutely adored it. I’d gladly read a full length story with these two. Maybe we could see them get engaged and married or something to that effect. I enjoyed Ms. Francis’ voice and can’t wait to read more by her.
June 5, 2017
This story just made my day. I was home from work enjoying a personal day lounging on the couch on a dreary rainy day and this story just hit the right spot for me. I loved it, would love to see more of Tomak and Jerome.
June 6, 2017
Jerome and Tomsk spot each other across a crowded bus. A well written and sweet short story. I will be checking out the author's other work.
October 19, 2020
Short and sweet romance that’s starts on a bus with furtive glances.
April 4, 2018
Short but sweet.
July 29, 2017
This felt incomplete but thankfully it was followed by When the Boat Comes In, a brief ficlet taking place 6 months later, which gave a picture of Tomak and Jerome as a couple.
June 25, 2018
Cute and sweet story of how Jerome and Tomak meet and forge a relatonship in spite of the undertones of bigotry coming from Jerome’s friend Nav. The story; however, is so short it feels incomplete even with the “ficlet” at the end. We really don’t get to know these characters that well. In fact, other than a brief mention of Jerome’s grandmother, we really don’t know anything else about his background. There really should be more to this story.
October 6, 2019
An interesting short story introducing Jerome and the object of his attention Tomak. Jerome has been watching Tomak on the bus for some time and notices that Tomak is also watching him. Running out of milk brings them into contact when the only shop still open is the Polish deli. Jerome is faced with the object of his attention and extracting himself from the ranting prejudices of his friend, which he fears has hurt any chance he might have with the gorgeous Tomak.
February 19, 2020
4.5 stars. I so enjoyed this one. It was wonderful watching Jerome and Tomak tentatively beginning their relationship. As an added bonus the author has included a followup ficlet called When the Boat Comes In. Yeah! Free extras make me smile. I'd love to see these two again.
Adult read
Adult read
February 15, 2018
3.5
Above average, cute short story. The insertion of a very actual theme (xenophobia) links organically to the rest.
Above average, cute short story. The insertion of a very actual theme (xenophobia) links organically to the rest.
May 4, 2020
I3.50 stars
Fairly basic plot involving two men on a train that see each other every day, but are too introverted and biased to meet.
However, Jerome's best friend causes a fuss on the bus one day concerning Eastern Europeans taking jobs away from American workers. Jerome stands silently by as an offended Tomak detrains in disgust.
A few days later, Jerome runs out of milk. The only store open near him is a Polish deli across the street. Being somewhat prejudiced, he hesitates entering. He decides to enter and finds Tomak working there. After clearing the air between them, they go to Jerome's home.
What follows is a basic "get to know each other" plot that leads to a serious relationship.
Not a unique story, but a quick read with a heart. Note - several editing miscues distracted from the story, particularly missing and run on words. Blah!
Fairly basic plot involving two men on a train that see each other every day, but are too introverted and biased to meet.
However, Jerome's best friend causes a fuss on the bus one day concerning Eastern Europeans taking jobs away from American workers. Jerome stands silently by as an offended Tomak detrains in disgust.
A few days later, Jerome runs out of milk. The only store open near him is a Polish deli across the street. Being somewhat prejudiced, he hesitates entering. He decides to enter and finds Tomak working there. After clearing the air between them, they go to Jerome's home.
What follows is a basic "get to know each other" plot that leads to a serious relationship.
Not a unique story, but a quick read with a heart. Note - several editing miscues distracted from the story, particularly missing and run on words. Blah!
March 22, 2021
A meet-cute with a weird xenophobic Brexit-y twist? It ends well and I understand the set up, but it’s still a little awkward, especially as it’s so short we don’t have time to really get to know the characters, and the MC’s friend ends up being a straw man.
September 12, 2022
Kindle-Sort-ReRead
It's a sweet very short story. The characters are cute but with the stories abbreviated length it felt more a statement on racism than a romance.
It's a sweet very short story. The characters are cute but with the stories abbreviated length it felt more a statement on racism than a romance.
December 29, 2023
This story didn't really grab me and I couldn't relate easily to the characters.
Read
August 17, 2017Dec 2016 - This is my short story that first appeared in the Lashings of Sauce anthology. It has now been released with the additional ficlet 'When the Boat Comes In'
For further opinions check out some of the anthology reviews https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...
December 29, 2015
2.5 stars
Read as part of Lashings of Sauce Anthology.
Read as part of Lashings of Sauce Anthology.
April 19, 2017
Part of the Lashings of Sauce Anthology.
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews