Crystal

The subway train rattled to a halt and the passengers within shifted with the force of motion, tilting forwards then rocking back to their original positions. Something was mumbled over the intercom, garbled as it came through horrendous speakers from the seventies, before the doors opened. Mark listened to the familiar little chime that played to warn people of the closing doors. He closed his eyes and took off his sunglasses to rub his eyelids. A woman was trying to make it in time to catch the train. Would she make it? Certainly. What if he held the door for her? What would happen then?

Panting, the young woman grabbed a pole inside the center of the subway car as it began to move forward. She had only narrowly missed being crushed by the doors. It was like this quite often for her when her roommate’s boyfriend came over. It always caused such a hectic mess the next morning as she tried to quietly slip away for work.

The young woman, her name Susan, brushed down her maroon suit and ruffled the wrinkles out of the matching skirt. She tried using the windows of the subway as reflections to check her hair and make-up, and she readjusted the tight bun she had pulled her brunette locks into. Her make-up still seemed in place, mascara making up for her lack of strong eyelashes and she hoped today, like she did every day, that people looked right into her hazel eyes and not to the eyelashes around them.

Susan shuffled the papers under her arm back into place and made sure nothing had slipped out during her sprint. As she did she noticed the man sitting in front of her, his eyes masked with dark sunglasses and shouldering a light leather jacket. Strange, as there was no sun out today. It was overcast all day. But it was the fashion for some people.

Mark tilted his head up to look back at her and Susan immediately averted her gaze, pretending to linger over the advertisements informing her how easy it was to learn English as a second language. “You don’t have to worry, I’m not blind or anything.”

It was Mark speaking to her. Susan looked down sheepishly at him and he gave her an encouraging smile. “Sorry I was just looking over my papers and saw the glasses. It’s just strange to see them because, you know, we’re underground and everything and it isn’t sunny outside.” She tried to smile back and self-consciously wondered how awkward she looked in doing this.

She saw the man’s eyebrow raise over his eye wear. “Don’t need them to keep the sun out.”

“But to keep it in?” She laughed a little and saw the man smile too. “I’m sorry it just sounded like such a line from a movie I had to finish it. I’m Susan by the way.” She held out her hand and was shocked by the softness of the hand that grabbed it.

“Mark. And I’m flattered you think I’m a ball of sunshine inside. You work in an office I presume?” He nodded at her business attire.

“Oh yes, I work for a magazine company. I’m kind of a secretary for now but, you know, slash intern, slash writer, from time to time.” Mark seemed to move his head in agreement and the subway stopped again, forcing Susan to grab the pole and keep her balance. There was more mumbling through the speakers and a fresh wave of people brushed up against the helpless woman trapped in the centre. She tried to maintain her gaze on Mark though, to maintain the conversation. He wasn’t that bad a guy really. Looked kind of her age, maybe a young thirty, handsome enough face with that short-cut mess of hair all guys seemed to have these days. At least his was blond though, that was a nice change from the sea of brown heads.

“Which magazine is it?”

“What?” Susan shook the thoughts of hair out from between her ears. “I’m sorry, come again?”

“The magazine you work for. Which one is it?”

“Oh you wouldn’t know, it’s quite girly.” Her cheeks flared up a little with a rush of embarrassing blood.