He was early for the metro, but late for work. The man had overslept for the third time in a month and was likely to hear about it from his supervisor. Standing patiently like the rest of the crowd was difficult, so he paced back and for at irregular intervals as people around him came and went. The train would show up on time like it always had. He could have taken a little more time in getting ready for the day. His hair wasn’t really styled and his clothes weren’t pressed.
After a few minutes, he felt his phone vibrating in his pocket. He didn’t want to answer it. The only person who’d be calling him at this hour would be the boss who he dreaded hearing from. Not answering would make things worse.
“Hello? Yes, sir. I’m at the station now. It won’t be long. No.”
While he was on the phone, a woman caught his eye. Long, auburn hair framed an oval face set with the most beautiful green eyes. A yellow scarf protruded from her gray peacoat. A black pencil skirt and flowered leggings carried his focus down her frame. When he looked up again, he realized that she’d caught him checking her out. Her eyes hinted at a smirk that she otherwise concealed when she caught him staring at her. She was standing across the platform from him, waiting for the blue line. A blast of air behind him and the sudden stirring of half the crowd indicated that his train had arrived.
“What? I’m sorry. Yes, I finished that before leaving last night. My train is here. I’ll be there in a few.”
He hung up his phone and started for the door, but stopped. The beautiful woman wasn’t mad that he was looking at her, maybe she liked what she saw. He turned to see if she was still there, but only caught a glance over her shoulder as she boarded her train. The doors closed. The man cursed loudly. Nobody noticed. People don’t really pay attention to each other in D.C. unless they have to. He boarded.
His boss wasn’t really upset with him, which was a surprise. The man didn’t try to figure out why, but quickly made his way over to his cubicle. He hadn’t stopped thinking about the woman. Did she always take the blue line at that time? How could he look for her without looking like a creep, or getting fired? Clearly, her day started later than his. Maybe she’d be at the same spot later in the day, too.
After work, he took his usual ride home, but instead of exiting the station and walking the rest of the way to his apartment, he found a bench and waited. He had his laptop and a book with him, but he was afraid he’d miss her if he allowed himself to get distracted. He didn’t want that. He couldn’t do that.
D.C. had been a hard place for him. relationships were fleeting. So many people his age were only interning for a season after graduation. They came and went and few bothered to invest into a friendship- or more while they were there. He really hoped this could be something different.
He watched people in the station for two hours. Finally, he grew tired and hungry enough that he had to leave. While walking home he considered putting an ad on Craigslist. Maybe she’d respond? No. Only creeps do that and if she did catch it, that would make her a creep. But if they were both creeps, maybe it could work. No, he wouldn’t post anything
Every time he was late for work, he looked across the platform for the auburn hair and green eyes. More than once, he lingered after work to see if the beauty would show. He constantly laughed at himself, but didn’t know of any other way to find the woman.
★ ★ ★
It’s easy to grasp onto a moment in time- particularly one wherein we encounter a person, passion, joy or even God– and memorialize it. We tell ourselves that revisiting a location, listening to a song, or even reading poetry or scripture will bring about the same results they originally did. Occasionally to no avail.
Our ability to learn and our desire to control our environment aren’t necessarily bad, but at the same time, don’t always yield the results that we desire. Perhaps especially in dealing with love, joy and metaphysics.
You mean to tell me waiting at a train station day in and day out for someone you once caught a glimpse of is silly…and rarely works?! The romantic comedies have lied to me.
I tend to experience in a little different way. Every time I lead a team to Czech, I want them to have an awesome experience, and even try to push that we do something from the year before. I notice myself doing it more on the first day, when we spend time sight seeing just to stay awake, and the last day when we’re in Prague. It never works. And I’m glad it doesn’t, because each team is different and has a much different experience.
Oh man. This did feel a little RomCom, didn’t it? Oh well. It’s out there now.
I’m glad that you say that it never works. Because here’s the deal, setting up a system for encountering God sounds a lot like religion- do this, then a little of that, shake and BOOM, you’ve got Jesus. BUT, I do think that He does respond to particular things— 99% of which are in our hearts. Maybe. I could be wrong. Blah.