Day 2
Got to the station 9 minutes later today (I was over 20 minutes early yesterday), raced down the escalators to find a crowd quite comparable to those seen on Monday mornings between 7-9 am. I am a few stops from the beginning of the line and carriages were filled to capacity already. I thought to myself it was going to be one of those seemingly everlasting rides to central London (where most crowds generally dispersed). I stood ‘till the next stop. An older lady came on a few stops later and I debated with myself if I should offer her my seat or ignore her - after all she was backing me anyway. I offered her my seat and she declined. Resigning myself to fate that this journey would be a very quiet and un eventful one I was proven wrong when a class of toddlers along with their minders came into the carriage. The universe must be trying to get me pregnant because as all the kids kept on fidgeting about, trying to get seats while their teachers/minders tried to get them to stand still all I could think deep down inside my head was “awwwww, how cute”. One stood very close to me and I was only aware how much I was smiling when I tried to stop smiling. He had brown eyes with the platinum blonde hair that is common with children. Shame they had to leave after two stops. An announcement came on that we’d have to change trains and I groaned inwardly. I hate changing trains, the only joy I get from my long journey to and from work is the respite that I’d be sat in the same seat for the duration of the journey. Thankfully I didn’t have to wait long for the replacement train but as soon as I sat in my new seat, a sudden wave of lethargy washed over me and I really considered calling in sick ‘cos I wasn’t ready to fake a cheery attitude at work. It was a very dreary and overcast day.
Return journey
I couldn’t get on the train fast enough. I heaved a very contented sigh of relief upon realising the entire carriage was empty. I realised today I have a favourite seat. I was slowly getting lulled into dis interest with my immediate environment by the sounds of the train carriages as they bumbled on along the tracks when I caught whiff of something in the air. instantly the cacophony of chatter from the passengers - both in English and other non discernible languages and the scent transported me back to a moment spent in Damascus Syria. I distinctively remembered the various languages spoken by the people surrounding me that day and the way the voices rode over me like a tide - loud and foreboding and soft and calm all seemingly at once. No sooner had I made a connection to the moment and I snapped back to reality, I was confronted with the silence enveloping the carriage. It felt like all at once every one in the carriage took a huge sigh and was lost in their own individual day dreams. The moment lasted till the next stop. I kept my eyes peeled but I never caught a sight of ex-lookalike nor tall financial type. Maybe they did come on the train and I missed them while I was day-dreaming, I did almost miss my stop after all….
