((Please see Part 2 on my profile! That has details of exactly what I'm looking for, and it would probably be a good idea to read it pretty closely, hint hint. Reddit wouldn't let me post the whole thing in one go, for some reason, and I'm not breaking any rules by splitting it in two.))

Alison sighed and put the newspaper down on the table. She was on her way home from work, and after a long and tiring day there was nothing she looked forward to than having time to herself. Part of this involved attempting her local paper's cryptic crossword - the operative word here being 'attempt'.

The man across from her looked up. He was dressed far more causal than she, in a Hawaiian floral shirt, board shorts, and flip-flops. "Having trouble with the crossword?" he said, his voice light.

"Thirteen down," she replied. "'Make a gift of an iron band.' Eight letters. Normally I'm good at cryptics, but this one..." Her voice trailed off, and she tapped the pencil against her forehead.

They sat in quiet contemplation for a moment. Then the man spoke up. "What's your name?"

"Allie." Usually she would have hesitated a little more to give out her real name, but the train was crowded and she doubted he posed any kind of threat to her. The comically large shades on his head countered any of the possible intimidation.

"Lovely to meet you Allie, I'm Josh. I think I've solved that clue."

"Fuck off," Allie said, before wincing. "Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean it like, fuck off, I meant it-"

Josh was laughing. "I get it, don't worry. Look, I won't tell you the answer, but I can help you out, if you want?"

Allie, blushing a deep crimson, nodded. "I'd like that."

"Alright." Josh shifted forward in his seat, and his bare foot came to rest against Allie's exposed ankle. "So, let's try to break down the clue. 'Make a gift of an iron band'. Do you know what an indicator is?"

Allie nodded again. An indicator was a word which told you to expect an anagram, or some kind of wordplay. "But there aren't any here."

"No, you're right." His foot began to rise up her leg, lifting her trouser leg to maintain skin on skin. "That means we should be looking for a less subtle kind of clue. So... where do we start?"

"Well," Allie said, trying to ignore the warmth growing in her chest - and between her legs - as Josh's foot moved closer. "I think the answer will mean either 'iron band' or 'make a gift', am I right?"

"Um... sort of." His foot paused at her thigh. "Do you want me to keep going?" After an awkward second, he added, "I mean, I don't want to patronise you, but..."

"You can keep going." Allie reached beneath the table and took Josh's foot in her hand. It was cold to her touch, but feeling his rough skin against her fingers made her shiver. "I can take it."

"Good. Well, then, you're almost right." Josh pushed his foot forward, so that it lay in Allie's lap. "Can you refine your guesses to a single word?"

"'band' or 'gift', right?" Josh nodded, and she continued: "I'm inclined to say 'gift', as I think that has more synonyms." Beneath the table, Josh's big toe was pressed against her clit, with several layers of fabric in between.

"Right. So if we take 'gift' out, what do we have?"

"'an iron band', right?"

"You missed a word."

"'of an iron band'? Oh, fuck, wait, is this a word one?"

Josh nodded, and pushed his foot even further forward. Allie looked up at him, then, her chest filling with butterflies, she took his foot in her hand again and hooked his toes beneath the elastic of her trousers. His sole pressed against her wet pussy, and she let out an involuntary moan, which she tried unsuccessfully to mask with a fit of coughing.

"Okay..." It was hard to focus with a man's foot against her like that, but Allie fought to remain in control. "So, if we need to look at every word, then 'iron' could be FE-"

Josh's toes wriggled, and she let out another, softer moan. "Of-FE... band... meaning gift..."

"You're so close," Josh muttered, and she nodded. Then, the answer came to her in a flash. "OFFERING!"

Josh leaned back and slid his big toe inside her. She let out a noise halfway between a scream and a pant, but he masked it by making a far more normal sound of congratulation. "WOO!"

Their outburst drew some looks, but nobody stopped them or asked them what they were doing.

"Thank you," Allie said, before fumbling her pencil. "Oh, shit, sorry, I dropped it. Hold on..."

Josh removed his foot, and she went beneath the table. With her pencil found, she gave his slick big toe a kiss, licked across his sole, then returned from under the table to see that her companion was as red as she had been.

She scrawled something on the paper, then tore it off and handed it to him. "In case you want to, ah, help me with more problems?" Then, standing, she took her briefcase and walked away to disembark. Josh watched her go, then examined the piece of paper she gave him.

Call me. I want to do that again. And her number.

Grinning, he rose to his now damp feet and ran after her.