Lesson 2

First person point of view:

Today was just like any other day, until it wasn’t. I hopped on the subway from Chinatown with my hot, but not too hot, half-caff mocha latte (with 1% milk) from Starbucks. As it was proper etiquette to leave the seats for the elderly and ladies, I happily grabbed hold of one of the sleek metal poles in between the aisles. Though they were sleek, they were dirty, so I made sure to wear my slim black leather gloves as usual. You wouldn’t catch me touching that with my bare hands.

I felt content knowing that I had once again made it on the train with plenty of time to spare before reaching my job in uptown. There would be just about 20 minutes free to which I would make my rounds and see how everyone’s day was. I let out a short sigh and closed my eyes briefly, taking a sip of the mocha latte goodness.

The subway doors all shut but one door – the one nearest to me. Making quite the scene, some lady was hollering for the train to stop, as if it was sentient, and practically did a split in black Spandex to wedge her foot in the door before it closed all the way. She was fairly short with long, silky brown hair that somehow was kept in place by two huge pink earmuffs. She dusted herself off and pulled down her long brown coat, trying her best to regain her composure. She glanced around, obviously aware of the angry stares, and squeaked out an adorable “I’m sorry!” while clutching her briefcase close to her chest.

Her eyes darted around the cabin in search of a seat. It could have been my imagination but in between her eyes intentionally met mine and the sides of her mouth curled up ever-so-slightly. When it happened, I felt butterflies in my stomach and looked away, pretending to be absorbed in reading the warning label of my Starbucks. This made no sense. She was an absolute mess. Not my type AT ALL. I sighed, more drawn out this time, and pinched my eyes closed again, trying to focus on everything getting back to normal. There would now be 15 minutes to decompress after I get to work thanks to her.

The normal day that wasn’t continued. The train did its usual beeping and booping after it said “stand clear of the closing door please” and shot forward. My eyes immediately snapped open after someone literally fell forward onto me. Instinctively I grabbed the pole tight to prevent myself from falling and grabbed who or whatever by the waist to prevent them from falling too. Arched backward, a pair of big, beautiful brown eyes gazed deep into my own. The scent of spring flowers filled the air as she continued to press her weight onto me, flapping around for something else to grab on to. Her earmuffs bounced to the floor causing a mess of brown hair to spill onto my face.

“Um, miss” I stuttered, trying to arch back to a standing position. I saw that she was able to grab hold of the metal pole as well which was a relief. Any time now she would stand up and help pull me up. That didn’t happen at all. All of our fingers at once gave way to the weight and as if in slow motion we collapsed onto the subway floor. She whimpered and red filled her cheeks instantly. I asked if she was alright, but she didn’t immediately answer. It was then that I realized I was still holding onto her waist, and the world came crashing back into focus. Everyone in the cabin’s eyes were on me, waiting to see what would happen next.