THE COOP

Monday, February 3, 2014

Bus Stop Love

I live next to a neighborhood bus stop.  There are three people who have, for years, taken the 8:15 a.m. bus into Providence. The guy who lives down the street is as friendly and curious as a puppy.  He has an artsy/geeky vibe about him.  I almost ran over him one day as I backed out of my drive too fast. He didn't take it personally which says a lot about his character.  His house is the old Victorian with the wild flowers and ferns growing every which way in the yard.  That house used to be owned by a nice couple with three little blond girls. The parents got divorced and sold the house.  I always thought of it as the "sad house" until he and his partner bought it and planted the wildflowers.  It has taken awhile, but now it is the artsy/geeky house.  It's not sad at all.  He and I smile and wave every day, twice on the days when I try and run him over.

A very straight forward appearing woman also takes the bus every morning.  I imagine her as the friend you call for good advice. She always looks both ways before crossing the road and if it's a close call, she errs on the side of caution.  I'd  want her in my corner.  She is a good bus stop mate for the geeky guy.  They seem find things to  talk about. There are a number of universities in our area that give free bus passes to employees and I imagine that these two might work at one of them.  

Finally, there's trench coat guy.  He might also work at the university, but in a basement somewhere, with lab animals, dangerous chemicals or complicated algorithms. He walks with his head down. There's no catching his eye.  He wears a trench coat tied tight at the waist, always; spring, summer, fall, winter, the trench coat persists.   He keeps himself at a safe distance from the other bus stop inhabitants.  I suspect that he sometimes takes an earlier bus to avoid the obligatory morning greetings. 

The earlier bus leaves at 7:45 a.m.  Recently, Material Girl has been showing up for the 7:45.  She has arrived, seemingly, via the East River Ferry that connects Brooklyn to Manhattan.  The stilettos, cigarette, black leggings and teased blond hair are all accounted for.  I, for one, am delighted to see her.

Oh look, here comes our trench coated friend.  He walks straight up the sidewalk, stops, makes a military turn to the left, looks both ways without, somehow, looking up, and crosses the street.  He positions himself several feet away from Material Girl and turns his body sideways to discourage any possible conversation. This leaves him with his back to the street and staring at the bush in the corner of my yard. I leave for work smiling.

A week later I am blatantly spying on them as I pretend to warm up our car for my own morning commute. I watch, breathlessly, as she makes her move, stepping towards him with a smile.  It's about bloody time.  He backs away.  She steps in, persisting. He is forced into a conversation.

Darn it.  I'm late for work.

 The next day I pause, key half way to ignition, not believing what I'm seeing.  Trench coat guy appears and (dramatic pause) he is not wearing the trench coat.  Where is the trench coat? Instead, he models a trench coat-colored windbreaker.  He is obviously freezing.  I am amazed by the changes Material Girl has wrought in a couple weeks.  They chat as I leave for work.  I wave, but they do not notice.  His hands are shoved deep in his pockets and his shoulders tremble; from cold or nerves, I can't tell. She smiles and looks up at him, stamping out her cigarette butt with the toe of her tiny pointy boot.  I can't wait for tomorrow.

The next day I am disappointed by their absence, but my imagination has taken flight.  They've fallen in love, right?  They must have done.  Unless they chipped in on a car.  Or moved to a different bus stop away from the chicken's prying eyes. Have they eloped?  Wait...has it all been an elaborate unintentional hoax?  Perhaps they were a couple all along and she, sensing her nerdy genius had become preoccupied with a certain brilliant lab assistant, devised a sexy bus stop game to reel him back in.  I will never know, but that's okay.  I don't mind filling in the blanks. Truth is arbitrary.  I sure will miss those two love birds.

Chicken out





19 comments:

  1. I suspect it's all some sort of elaborate way the two of them have concocted to spice up their love lives. :-)

    Pearl

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, I'll bet that's it. The trench coat kind of gives it away, right?

      Delete
  2. What a fascinating post. You are such a good observer and write about it in an interesting way.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks AC. I'm an amateur people watcher. There are some pros out there, not naming names, they know who they are, right Pearl? haha.

      Delete
  3. Ah, the joy of spying on strangers and imagining their lives. What fun.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Geezers, you inspired me with your airport post. Thanks:-)

      Delete
  4. A bus stop would be like a buffet to me. I love the way you fill in the blanks on them-

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Shelly. I find laundromats are great, too, for people watching. Plus they are warm and smell good. Bonus!

      Delete
  5. The disappearance of the trench coat speaks loudly to me. What I hear it saying is that he never imagined he would get so lucky, but he's willing to take a chance. How sweet is that? (I know, I know - I go for the obvious. It's why I can't write worth a fig. No imagination!)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh no, Jenny, you are right on, I think. Either that or maybe he wanted to show off more of his manly physique.

      Delete
  6. I hope they caught one of the Non-Norovirus cruises.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi SS. That is one reason I don't go on cruises, the other being all that water.

      Delete
    2. Hah, Chickie! You and me both!!

      Delete
  7. You have absolutely no reason to be an insecure writer, except that all writers are insecure. It comes with the territory. This is funny and clever. The descriptions of your characters make them alive for the reader and your running commentary is a hoot. Outstanding, Chicken!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Jayne. I've got a big smile on my face. And it's not because of the wine. Maybe a little, but mostly you make me happy with your outrageous compliments.

      Delete
  8. Oh, you are SOOOOOO my kind of person. I could make it my life's work to skulk around the edges and watch people being people.

    Now I'm invested in these two you write about. Updates when they occur, please!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That's the weird think Jocelyn-I haven't seen them since the day they seemed to connect and he wore the windbreaker. She was new to the bus stop but him, well I've been seeing him for years.

      Delete
  9. Oh, I love how your imagination works. I am sure the real story is far less interesting than your imagined story.

    The trench coat guy sounds like he works for the IRS. Perhaps Material Girl worked out a "deal" to keep from getting audited. Maybe the straight forward looking woman, is extra careful because she saw the near death experience of you running down the artsy/geeky guy. Try to be careful and not run over him because I love that he planted wildflowers around his Victorian house. He sounds nice.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Haha, yes, the whole neighborhood keeps a cautious eye out for me, I am sure:-)

      Delete

Say something. You know you want to.