Never Her

She was sitting next to me on subway, both of us swishing to the tilting rhythm of the compartment, bumping softly at one another, and the usual noise of screeching and metal clinging has seemed now louder than before. I was humming some tune that was being played on my mp3, and she was casually glaring at the tiny phone screen that transformed into a TV, submerged in her own world behind her earphones. From time to time I was pretending to worry about what station the train was stopping at, so that I could take a peek at her porcelain face, trying to catch a firm glance of her gleaming dark eyes. She was beautiful. I know I say that on almost every Korean girl coming my way, but she… she was something else. It was obvious she was all caught up in the protective shield everyone is wearing while on the subway. She didn’t even notice me staring at her and her phone. I knew I’ll probably never meet her again… so beautiful, and so strange to me. Maybe… just maybe I could start a conversation… who knows, maybe she would even understand English. This was now or never… who knows when and where she gets off, and the clock was ticking.
And maybe, just maybe, the conversation would lead somewhere… after all, I’m not such a terrible guy… I mean, there are worse out there, and if I played my cards right, she would even find me interesting enough not to shrug me off! And maybe, just maybe, we’ll get off at the same station, allowing ourselves to get to know each-other better. We could make our way, together, to the nearest attraction, and maybe sit somewhere to nibble a bit, and talk. Talk about her, and about me, shedding our protective shells to the benefit of the new person in front of us. We would even set up a date, scheduled on that same days eve, since she has to go back to her job. Perhaps I would kiss her goodbye, softly, on the cheek, smiling at her smiling at me. And perhaps I’ll dare her humorously not to be late while she walks away, her long coal black hair flying to the side as she turns her head and gives me one last desiring look… then she’ll disappear behind the brick walls of the buildings.

...Or was it behind the throng of the people on the subway?
When I woke up, the seat next to me was empty, and I thought I caught the last glimpse of her hair as the subway doors slammed shut. All I had to do was to hope for the next time. Maybe another girl… maybe another chance.
But never her.