“Ealing Broadway, next stop is Ealing Broadway. Mind the doors…mind the doors”

He’s just really into me and I don’t know what to do? His family and my family know each other and so it seems like what I’m supposed to do, but that will be the last dick I’ll ever get.

The other girl suddenly barks out in laughter, slightly startling me.

You shouldn’t feel forced into it you’re still young, you’re only 31, still plenty of time.
Dion touched my abs

I flinch, furtively look up before fixing my eyes back down again in my book. Did I just miss a whole part of the conversation, or did they just jump into a whole new topic?

He’s got a girlfriend and I’m not that kind of girl and you know maybe if things were different, you know. But he shouldn’t be touching my abs.. I mean I’m proud of them, but it’s crossing a boundary right?

Yeah, that’s not on. Especially since he’s got a girlfriend. You’ve told him that it’s not on and you’re just friends, right?

There is silence, the tube screeches. Does she not answer because of the deafening noise or is she happy to be saved as she ponders her response?

Why am I single, she starts up again, it’s so hard to find a decent guy. The apps don’t work, I suppose they aren’t supposed to work really if they really did people would stop using them.

I turn the page of my book, not because I’ve read anything but I’ve been staring at the page for too long. I use the moment to glance up, to take them both in before dull eyed looking at the map as I remember their features. The “why am I single” girl is very attractive.. why is she single? Career woman with high standards, that she shouldn’t have to drop? Busy work life balance makes sustaining a relationship hard? It’s difficult to meet new people in a big city? You can only meet someone whilst drunk in a club, where both of your inhibition are dropped and you can take a chance to speak to a stranger? Because a random person can’t just talk to you on the train, when you’re both sober… that just creepy.

Lost in thought, I suddenly realise they’ve gotten up.

As they get off, I dare to stare. She looks at me and smiles.

They get off, as she says “He was fit” her friend looking back at me with a “yeah” as the doors close.

I turn the page back, not really reading as thoughts swirl and more passengers board with new stories to share with their silent fellow passengers, who try to piece together the fragments of others lives, realising we’re all not that different after all.

-The End-