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"The Five-Forty-Eight" is one of my favorite Cheever stories--a dark tale where Blake discards a mentally disturbed woman after a night of casual sex. When he leaves work several weeks later, she follows him through the streets of New York City to the 5:48 commuter train.

Readers will feel like they are walking with Blake since Cheever uses many instances of sensory language such as the rain falling in his face and the sweet smell of bakery goods as he tries to avoid his stalker. Blake's cruel personality is revealed in his thoughts as he encounters various people. There's a lot of psychological tension because we don't know how dangerous the woman might be.

"The Five-Forty-Eight," published in 1954, is story #20 in "The Stories of John Cheever."