The Obsolete Man

By Pepper Espinoza

James Duran no longer fits in the world. At forty-five years old, his wife has left him, and his job as a pre-press technician was not just downsized, it was completely eliminated.

With no reason to stay in the world, James makes plans to jump in front of the train that took him to work every day for twenty-five years. But before he does, he’s finally going to introduce himself to the stranger who takes the same train. The stranger who has gorgeous eyes and a wonderful smile.

A stranger who can make the world fit James Duran again.

• Language: English
• Publisher: JMS Books LLC
• Release date: Apr 9, 2021
• ISBN: 9781646567300

Book preview

The Obsolete Man

By Pepper Espinoza

Published by JMS Books LLC at Smashwords

Visit jms-books.com for more information.

Copyright 2021 Pepper Espinoza

ISBN 9781646567300

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Cover Design: Written Ink Designs | written-ink.com

Image(s) used under a Standard Royalty-Free License.

All rights reserved.

WARNING: This book is not transferable. It is for your own personal use. If it is sold, shared, or given away, it is an infringement of the copyright of this work and violators will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

No portion of this book may be transmitted or reproduced in any form, or by any means, without permission in writing from the publisher, with the exception of brief excerpts used for the purposes of review.

This book is for ADULT AUDIENCES ONLY. It may contain sexually explicit scenes and graphic language which might be considered offensive by some readers. Please store your files where they cannot be accessed by minors.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are solely the product of the author’s imagination and/or are used fictitiously, though reference may be made to actual historical events or existing locations. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

Published in the United States of America.

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For Vivien—because everything depends on her.

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The Obsolete Man

By Pepper Espinoza

Chapter 1

The 723 train was never late. A marvel of modern engineering, it raced through the city at eighty miles per hour. James Duran took that train every single weekday morning, and had for sixteen years. He took the 538 train home. Every weekday. He went to the same job, and he came home to the same wife, because he liked the routine. And he liked his life. It wasn’t the greatest life. It was the life that he had secretly hoped for himself, but it was a good one. He fit. And in the dead of the night, when everybody truly was alone, that was all a person could ask for. He had a place in the world, and he fit there.

The 723 train. Every morning.

James wasn’t the only one who took that train every morning. Or, that is to say that James noticed one other man in particular every single morning. He wasn’t a particularly tall man. He probably didn’t stand over five-ten. He had the sort of solid build that revealed a history of athleticism. James imagined he played varsity football in high school, and started for his college team no later than his sophomore year. He had dark hair and a great smile. He would have a great smile. James had never seen the man smile, because a person didn’t have much to smile about on the 723 train. But he had lines at the corners of his eyes, and around his mouth, and James imagined they