I had forgotten about the card. It was easy to do with the demands of my daily life. It had been a while since I ended up at the train station, and even if my mind strayed to the orange-haired train conductor on some nights, it wouldn't stay that way for long.

My marriage wasn't being worked on. There was no effort to improve it, and my career was just as suffocating as usual.

"You've been rather quiet these days," my childhood friend and coworker said, and I hummed in response. "Maybe you need another one of those train station days."

My best friend was the only person who knew about my little momentary escapes. The mention of the train station brought my mind back to that particular day, so I pulled out my wallet.

The man across from me leaned forward eagerly.

"Are you paying for coffee?" he asked, and I playfully whacked him on the head with my wallet.

He made a face as I pulled out the card and passed it to him. He stared at it before flicking his eyes back to my face.

"What is this? Some card with a Tumblr quote on it?"

"A young man gave it to me on one of my train station days," I told him. He flipped the card over to inspect it. "How old are train conductors usually? I always imagine them to be quite old."

"I have no idea." My best friend shrugged before reading something off the card. "May you learn to love bravely."

A look crossed his face, and he appeared to be deep in thought before clearing his throat and shaking his head softly, as if trying to dispel a few thoughts.

"What?" I asked.

He looked up, surprised at my question, before pushing the card towards me.

I flipped the card over, but I saw the same quote: "Be gentle with yourself."

I was about to ask my best friend to repeat what he said, but the waitress came to collect money for the meal. He beat me to it, giving me a wink.

"Thanks," I said, tugging on my coat and pocketing the card. "So what do you think?"

About the card?" he asked, shrugging. "I think it's just a bunch of kids making a YouTube video, giving out happy quotes to lonely people in train stations, and you were a victim. I wouldn't be surprised if your face ended up on some prank channel."

He waved his hand dismissively. 'What do people expect to happen when they receive a touching quote in a card? Cue the weeping and tears.'"

"I did not cry," I pointed out, and he scrunched his nose up at me.

"You never do. I bet you won't make the cut. They always go for those who have big reactions," he said to me before giving me a careful look. "That being said, how are you and Mr. Husband?"

I shrugged.

"You keep forgetting that we're in the same social circle. People think you're crazy for not knowing what's going on when it's right in front of you," he said to me, placing a comforting hand on my arm. "How long are you going to act like everything is perfect?"

I sighed, not wanting to have a full-blown conversation about my cheating husband. We both walked out to the front of the restaurant.

"He doesn't deserve you," the man said, his hand up, trying to hail a cab to take us both back to the office. "You know that."

"Maybe you should have objected to my wedding then," I said to him. He blushed pink.

His ears turned red, and I absentmindedly reached up to tweak them between my fingers.

"Maybe the card is right. Maybe I need to learn how to love bravely," he replied, and I frowned, wondering what he was talking about.

"What do you mean? The card says to be gentle with myself."

The cab arrived.

"It's here. Get in. We have a meeting at 1 p.m.," my best friend said, placing a hand on the top of my head so I wouldn't hit my head while climbing into the cab.

When the cab departed, I then forgot all about the card once again.