I've seen her every morning for over a year. Older woman, blonde, fashionable. One morning, I saw her having a simple conversation with a seemingly unhoused person. It was as though they had long been friends, but also just met in passing. It was the strangest of sights. I walked by, boarded the train a few cars down, and pondered. 'Who is this woman?' I asked myself. I've seen her many mornings before, but had never considered her. Just another of many worn faces passing by on my morning commute. Every morning since I've seen her, and pondered again. 'She looks powerful' I considered one tired morning, 'important'. I always wonder, attracted. Not so much to her look, she's pretty, but not much above the average pretty. It was something I couldn't quite put my finger on. Still can't maybe. I had wanted, one extraordinarily exhausting morning, to ask her if she would like to get coffee one weekend. I could possibly steal a few moments from her hectic schedule to pick her brain a bit. What station does she exit the train? Where was she off to? How many interesting faces did she pass, and if many did she ever consider them. I wondered if she ever wondered after other stories, or was the unhoused man I saw her in deep discussion with particularly special? So many questions I needed answers too. One morning I was teeming with courage. Maybe I had bested my opponent in chess the previous night, or got the one up on a long list of tasks at work. I cannot remember the exact reason, but this morning I had a little more umph in my steps. My head was held just a little higher and there was some pizzazz in my swagger. With this excess bravery I decided to speak to this conundrum and maybe find a solution to the plaguing riddle in my mind. I waited my the escalator, hoping any minute to pick the lock containing any secrets she possessed, but to my distress she was absent, and the ride arrived before she could grace me with her immaculate presence. I boarded, distraught. Later that night, in my humble abode, I vowed to seize the next opportunity, and meet fortune with flattery and charm. However, whatever bravery I had stored away from that morning was relinquished by next sight, and all I could do was glance in her direction, and ponder her existence.
Many sunrises would pass, each morning she would walk by, and I would glance, the train would arrive, and I would board a few cars down. Our paths would part, me going to work, her going through my imagination into a battlefield of execs and corporate thugs, bathed in designer and armed with intellect. And then yesterday came, regularly, with no added flare or deciding factor. It was just an ordinary Wednesday morning. I missed her entrance, the glide down the escalator both toward me and away from me. If not for an exceptionally close encounter I may have missed her altogether. Her orbit was so close in fact, gravity pulled my attention from my phone, and like a magnet, my focus was bound to her aura. There was almost a whiff of fragrance. Almost. A faint whisper teased my senses but carried on down the walkway before being identified. It very well may have been that she passed too close, or this glance on this morning lingered too long, or maybe it was a combination of things. But whatever the case, that night I told myself that no matter the level of confidence or consequence I would at least attempt to investigate further the unknown of this woman. 'All you have to do is say hi' I coached myself, 'just say hi'. So I did. This morning I said hi as she walked past. Her pace quickened, her head tilted. All of my alerts sounded at once, 'abort mission'. Her focus was on the day ahead, and there was no room for any distractions. I shrunk, ego slightly bruised, but the attempt had been made. We both kept with our routine. She walked by, just a few cars down, and we boarded the train. Me, to work, and her through my imagination, onto the battlefield of execs and corporate thugs. This is how we conduct our morning commute, as strangers and friends.
