Lady on a Train

I had traveled to the Big City for a job and I had just boarded the subway car on my to my first full day of work.

As expected at that hour of the morning there was no place to sit and only a few places for me to stand. I looked for an unoccupied strap but there were none. I joined a lady at a pole and managed to hold on as the car lurched forward.

I nodded and smiled at her which of course is not done in subway cars but I am from Texas so that part of me was never going away. However I had adapted to my new world a bit by immediately pretending that the victim of my friendliness and everyone else in the car had vanished.

I did see a small smile cross the ladies lips before she disappeared.

Our route had one particular curve that caught me by surprise and almost threw me into the woman. I managed not to make contact but still muttered, "Sorry" to her.

As I returned everyone in the car to invisibility I saw a quizzical look on her face. She was likely wondering from which planet I was from.

We got off at the same station and if she wondered if I was following her she quickly had an answer since once above ground I turned left as she turned right.

She was at the platform that afternoon as I headed home. She looked in my direction but did not see me, or pretended she did not. I am somewhat tall and a redhead so most people can easily spot me in a crowd.

I boarded the car past hers and rode home. I did not turn to look and see if she was watching me walk away since I had already forgotten about her. Mom was on the phone with another catastrophic phantom event to relate.

I did not see her the next morning until we were walking up to the sidewalk. Again I nodded and smiled and again she had no reaction except that whisper of a smile.

That was the best response from a stranger I had gotten in the Big City so far so I was happy with it.

We were in the same car going home that day but since there was a strap for me to hold onto I did not keep her company at her pole. She was only three feet from me so I took the opportunity to study her.

She was perhaps in her early thirties, about five-five, brunette, with big brown eyes. She was pretty, not beautiful, not cute. Her face had enough character that a guy would not get tired at just looking at her.

She wore a large old sweater over a smart business suit. She wore sneakers but a quick look into her large bag revealed high-heeled shoes inside. It was apparent this was her world.

It was not mine but I had to make the best of it for at least a few months. The money was good and the company had set me up into a nice flat at what used to be a hotel. I was comfortable but I very much missed my family.

I had been in the Big City for a week and had not made even one acquaintance. I was shy for a big friendly galoot.

My ruminations distracted me enough that the curve caught me by surprise and I had to quickly correct my center of gravity. I manage not to crush anyone but when I looked at the woman her ghost of a smile was accompanied by an almost imperceptible shake of her head.

I gave her an embarrassed smile and made everyone in the car vanish, except her. I wanted her to vanish too but she refused to do so. I turned to the window for relief but soon noticed that I could see her reflection on it.

I took a minute and decided that it was OK to look at her as long as I was not doing so directly. I saw her glance in my direction then glance at the window. It occurred to me that if I could see her reflection she could see mine.

I did not see a sign of disapproval, if anything her expression showed curiosity. We continued to glance at each other on the window until it was time for me to get off.

I admitted to myself that I found her fascinating.

Not "I would like to fuck her" fascinating but more of a "coffee, long conversation, and kiss on the cheek" fascinating. I started to look forward to my subway rides, a minor miracle in itself.

During the week that followed I managed to be at the pole with her about half the time. I nodded and smiled and she almost nodded and almost smiled. We studiously did our best to ignore each other after that.

By the end of the week I had found just enough nerve to always get on the same car she usually rode and go straight to her pole. I no longer checked to see if there were straps or seats available.

That Friday I nodded and smiled to her and I was rewarded with a small nod and a slightly bigger smile than usual. I made everyone vanish but again she refused to do so.

Actually, I think she could have taken credit for making everyone else vanish for me.

My chin was just even with her forehead. She would have to look up to see my face so that morning I concentrated on her smell. She smelled clean; she apparently showered in the mornings like I did. Her perfume was very subtle and vaguely familiar. I liked being near her.

I was ready for the curve that morning and held steady through it but the lady gave me a quick look as if making sure I was OK. We again exited together and climbed the steps together. We nodded at each other as we went our respective ways.

I was in the Big City overseeing the installation of new hardware and software in one of our biggest clients offices. That Friday included my first meeting with the techs that were going to be responsible for the transition. I did not get out of the building on time and missed my usual subway ride.

I did learn that one-hour after my normal ride the subway became much more crowded, and resolved to be prompt or very late from then on.

It irritated me that it would be Monday afternoon before I saw the lady again.

I missed her again the Monday morning, as I had to get to work early and get the AV equipment set up for what would be daylong presentations.

I did get out on time that afternoon and managed to make my way to the pole she was holding. There was another guy there but as soon as she saw me she made room for me between them.

I realized she was using me as a shield. I nodded and smiled as I squeezed myself between them.

The guy made a sound that gave me the impression I had just crossed into his hunting grounds but I was too big to challenge. After a few minutes he went in search of new prey.

The lady and I had squeezed together a little when I positioned myself between them but after he left neither of us made a move to separate. I had placed my hand high on the bar and she had placed herself nearly in front of me.

My position would not be steady enough for the curve so I put my other hand on the pole. She was now between my arms although they were not touching her. Our body contact increased a bit during the curve.

She had room to move forward but did not.

I had room to move back but did not.

We were still in the same position when my station suddenly showed up.

My hand briefly slid softly past her shoulder as I turned to leave. When I got off on the platform I turned and looked at her. She smiled. A real smile. The best smile I had seen in a long while.

I knew I was not going to be early to work the next morning.

We silently visited again on Tuesday morning. As we walked to the surface our hands touched, the most profound accidental contact I had ever experience. I did nothing to keep it from happening again and neither did she. I dared not look at her when we parted.

That afternoon I waited for her at the platform. I had stepped back out of train when I saw that she was not at the pole. I waited for two more trains then went home hoping she was OK.

I wondered if she had done the same thing when she did not see me.

Wednesday I picked up a couple of bagels and handed her one as I joined her at our spot.

I said "Good morning" and smiled.

She gave me a surprised smile and nodded her thank you as she put the bagel in her bag.

Our bodies remained in light contact throughout the ride and the back of our hands made frequent contact on the way up the stairs. My fingers caressed hers as we parted.

I again had to work late and missed her on the way home.

Thursday morning I had a couple of doughnuts for her and a big smile as I said, "Good morning, I hope you like the chocolate covered ones."

She nodded as she smiled. Her face seemed to register recognition, perhaps of my accent.

She said "Good morning. Thank you."

She turned her back to me and closely held on to the bar with both hands. I felt she wanted me to do so too so I did. Again she was surrounded by my arms only now they were lower, just below her shoulders. The swaying of the train brought us in brief contact often.

She may have heard me inhale her fragrance, I though I heard her giggle. The curve pushed us to full body contact, which neither of us tried to diminish. It was possible she felt my erection although I tried to keep it away from her.

Soft physical contact continued until it was time to separate on the sidewalk.

We parted wordlessly but our fingers slowly slid past each other as we did.

It took me an hour to step off the cloud.

I again missed the train that afternoon and Friday morning.

Friday afternoon I abruptly ended my training session and hurried for my subway platform. As I ran to the subway car I saw her at the platform standing there, waiting for me. We just stared at each other for a minute. It dawned on me that we were not getting on the train.

As soon as it left the platform she said, "We need to talk."

"What? Your breaking up with me already?"

She gently punched my shoulder and began a long tirade about how inconvenient I was, that the last thing she needed was somebody like me, and that I really pissed her off particularly when I missed "our" train.

By then we were on the stairs going up and she suddenly turned to me and kissed me hard on the lips, then continued her tirade until we were seated at a nice Italian restaurant around the corner of my building that I did not know was there.

"Give me your business card," she said as she handed me hers.

I paused to write my cell number on the back. When she noticed what I was doing she got her card back and wrote her cell number on the back of it.

I briefly held her hand as we exchanged cards. She seemed to have lost her train of thought.

"Do people call you Liz or Beth or Elizabeth?"

"Actually my family calls me Betty but it is really your choice."

"I am just plain Carl."

"Where in Texas are you from? Austin?"

"I live and work in Austin but I am from a small coastal town called Felicity. Have you heard of it?" "No, good name for a town though."

"You're not from here either are you?"

"No, Chicago. I was sent to convince our corporate moguls that closing the Chicago office would be counterproductive, which it would be. I am slowly working my way up the hierarchy convincing them with numbers. It has been a slow and frustrating process. Which is why we are having this meeting."

"So you really are breaking up with me."

She punched me in the shoulder then gave me a quick kiss on the lips.

"What I want, what I need, is this," as she gestured to include the restaurant and us and our hands as they held each other.

I had some smart-ass remarks ready but I saw anxiety in her eyes. Like me she was lonely, stressed. She needed a companion. I did too.

I kissed my way from her cheek to her lips. I held her hands.

She breathed a sigh of relief. We continued to hold hands as the waitress set out our breadsticks and took our order. As soon as she left I kissed her again.

"These are the rules," she said.

"There are no rules," I said. We are going to go with the flow, slowly. Whatever happens will happen because we both want it. My only demands for now are your hands to hold and the kisses. No deal without the kisses."

"She kissed me softly and said, "Deal."

"What did you say your name was?"

I could see that unless I wore shoulder pads I would need to keep some comments to myself. I consoled myself that every blow so far had been accompanied by a very nice kiss.

I could live with that.

We filled each other in on our lives. She had been engaged twice but never married. I had been married for three years before loosing my wife to leukemia. I had been widowed for seven years. At thirty-three I was two years older than Elizabeth.

Our dinner was great and we found ourselves very comfortable with each other. She could fire lines back at me with little or no pause. She groaned when it was the appropriate response, (I loved puns), and before we finished our shared desert she was taking umbrage for perceived non-slights just so she could punch/kiss.

I loved a smart and witty woman.

As we waited for the check one more very important piece of information about us slipped out, we both loved baseball. The Mets were playing the Cubs that weekend so we hurried to a nearby ticket outlet. Saturday's game was sold out but we managed to get good though expensive seats to the Sunday afternoon game.

We still had the evening in front of us. We walked to the park, I led her onto a hansom cab and we kissed often as we took it all in.

We confessed to each other that we had not had the time to take in the sights. We also admitted that we had not felt much like doing so by ourselves.

"That's why I hired you," I said.

Punch.

Kiss.

A very long, involved, hungry kiss.

We were surprised to find ourselves stopped back where we started. The cabbie apparently had no intention of curtailing our kiss.

That is the kind of gentlemanly behavior that elicits big tips.

We watched the ice skaters and I resisted her pleas to join her on the rink but I enjoyed myself watching her enjoy herself. She was graceful on ice skates. She stopped and kissed me several times as she was gliding by.

I did notice that every time she did glide by she became more beautiful.

When we made it to the subway we had a place to sit, a first for me. As I stood when we neared my stop I pulled her up and embraced her.

I whispered, "I can not think of a single good reason why we should put it off. Can you?'

In a soft trembling voice she said, "No."

We stepped out together, held each other as we walked to my building and stepped into my home away from home. I worried a bit about her changing her mind but I gave her space to do so anyway. She simply walked into the bedroom, undressed, and lay down in bed.

I felt as if I was falling.

She was stunning; her breasts were perfect for her size, perfect for me. Her body was slender with curves. She had enough pubic hair for me to enjoy rubbing my face in it.

I was quickly naked and kissing her with passion. My cock slid into her and we moaned through our kiss.

Then we stopped.

We were coupled; there was no hurry any more. We extended our kiss. She pressed her breasts against my chest, her fingers dug into my back. We pressed against each other until her first orgasm enveloped her.

I kissed my way down, rubbed my face on her breasts, rubbed my face on her pubic hair then kissed her pussy and nipples on my way back up. We again moaned during penetration.

All night I alternated making love to her with trying to fuck her through the mattress. Somewhere along the way we fell asleep entangled with each other.

We showered together the next morning then while still naked had a small breakfast in my kitchenette. We adjourned to my love seat and finished our coffee, no mean feat as we again had our bodies intertwined.

She noted that my company digs were much better than her company digs.

I kissed her softly and asked, "I can not think of a single reason why we should put it off. Can you?"

She smiled and hugged me. "No," she said.

My cock again penetrated her pussy but we did not fuck, we kissed and looked at each other in astonishment.

"All I have is two big suitcases. We can take the subway," she said.

I took the statement as eagerness to move in with me so I untangled us and led us to my dresser. I handed her sweatpants and a t-shirt, which were way to big for her, but she could adjust the pants to the point they would not slide off her waist. She looked fabulous.

We took a cab back from her place and I mentioned that I was glad she was getting out of there. Her temporary neighborhood was one block away from the boundary between mostly safe and somewhat worrisome.

As we were carrying her stuff in I introduced her to the doorman and he got her a key.

He said, "Isn't it something? A man from Texas and a lady from Chicago meet in the Big City and fall in love. This is truly a magical city.

A man from Texas and a lady from Chicago, in love."

Neither of us voiced an objection.

I wondered how true that was.

It sounded about right.