Love on the Metro?

Five or six years ago Keri Noble put out a single called "Talk to Me". It was one of those songs that grabs a hold of you and doesn't let go. We've all had them. Generally, when that happens it's because the song is applicable to some situation in your life. Oddly, at that time in my life I was happily married...well, I was married, and there was nothing going on that would warrant my obsession with this song. Eventually, as tends to happen after you listen to a song 100o times, I sored it away and didn't think of it again. Years later, in another life and in another city across the country the lyrics to this song would come crashing back into my brain in an instant and it would be so, well, perfect.



There you are again
I see you all the time
We haven't really met yet,
But you know, I don't mind
'Cause I think today's the day
I'm gonna go right up and say to you
Would it be alright
If I called you up sometime?



There you go again
I let you get away
At least I've got more time
To think of what I might say (like)
Couldn't we be good (or maybe)
Don't you think that we should find
Some quiet little place where we'd make love all day?



Come and talk to me
What are you waiting for
'Cause I can see you passing every day
and I'm always wanting more
Come and talk to me
What are you gonna do
'cause I can't seem to get the nerve to get off my own ass
And come and talk to you




Of course, there is a story behind my spouting off the lyrics to a song most of you have never heard of. It all started back in April when I moved into my own apartment and started catching the early train into Maryland.......



I saw him first. He was dressed in army fatigues with his back pack casually slung over one shoulder. At first, he was in his own world obviously enjoying whatever music was beating out of his headphones. He was coming down the stairs and I was seated on a bench. 4 minutes until the next train (I've only got 4 minutes to save the world....) Like most of the men I have dated since my infamous affair with Mr. Beautiful he is tall, dark and handsome. Striking enough to make me look twice, but......I'm a shy girl from the Midwest. Talking to him is not something that's going to happen anytime soon. The train comes, we both get on the same car. Obviously, fate is with me on this day because he sits a little further up and across from me. Perfect, I can look at him while pretending not to look at him. Looking....damn, he caught me. I quickly glance away. Out the window. Wow, there is a lot of graffiti out there. And back....now I catch him. He looks away. Out the window. I wonder if he's admiring the graffiti as well. Hey, some people will tell you its an art.


This went on for months. It was like something out of a movie.


Start Scene


Heroine enters scene right, sits on concrete bench. She opens the paper and furtively glances towards the stairwell. She appears to be waiting for someone.


Hero enters from stairwell, scene right. He's wearing headphones, though he seems cognizant of his surroundings. As he reaches the bottom of the stairwell, he glances around casually. He spots our heroine reading the paper and saunters in her direction, stopping to stand a few feet away.


Heroine glances up and gives him a polite smile, then goes back to reading her paper. Hero changes the song on his iPod and eyes the clock. The train arrives.


Both actors enter the car, though through different doors. They do not look at each other, but they manage to sit so that they can still see each other.

They look up at the same time, their eyes meet, they both smile then quickly glance away. The heroine peers out the window and realizes she can see his reflection. He's watching her. She looks down at her paper, then back up. He's looking at the documents in his hand, but he is smiling.

The train stops. Our heroine stands and moves towards the doors. As she exits she throws a glance over her shoulder at the mystery man in camouflage. He smiles at her. She smiles back then exits the train.

End Scene

It was the same scene over and over and over. We never spoke, we never did anything more than smile. Then, sadly, I started taking a different train and my mystery army man was lost to me forever. Until today, that is. Today, for the first time in probably 3 months, I caught the early train. I saw him as soon as I got to the top of the stairs and almost like he knew I was there he lifted his head and looked right at me. Without even knowing I was doing it, I flashed him a signature kitten smile........the one that says "Hi, where have you been all my life, handsome?" Ok, not really, but I think the fact that I smiled without even thinking about it conveyed the fact I was happy to see him.

And just like we had never left it, we fell right back into our old routine. We stood a few feet apart, got into the same car, sat where we could see each other, cast some coy glances. When the train stopped I stuck to the script. I moved towards the door and cast a glance back at him over my shoulder. He's supposed to smile, the over the shoulder look is the cue. And he did smile. But then he did something he'd never done before. He winked.

I don't have a good reason to get up that early again this week. But I probably will.