Girl gets
on metro.
Good
looking boy – respectable, serious, sees her – they are so instantaneously
attracted that it’s almost as if they skip through all the relationship
preamble in a single glance and go straight into knowing, contemptuous, silent
disdain for each other.
After a
minute, too long for her liking, he stands up and touches her to offer his
seat. Then he turns away as if he doesn’t care.
She ignores
him. Texting, texting.
The lady
sitting opposite the girl also touches her to point out the kindness of the
boy. This only makes the girl blaze with refusal to acknowledge him. The power
of their not looking at each other is like an electro magnetic force field.
A well of
Pride etches itself ruddily into her over concentration on the simple task of
dryly tapping at the phone keys.
A phone
taps a wintery tap.
A playboy
with shiny shoes and a yellow t-shirt sits down in the empty place which
everybody was waiting for the girl to sit down at. He looks thoroughly amused.
The boy
looks glum.
The girl
texts. Chewing her cheeks. Head inclined to one side. Face redder than ever. Angry.
A couple
snogging voraciously near the sliding doors are caught in the playboys glance.
The boy
looks away. Eyes closed. Head pointing downwards.
She seems
vacant now. Empty. Defeated. Sad.
They get
off the train separately after two or three stops.
End.
PS - i made a terrible film clip based on this story - everybody hated it. will try to find and post.
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