If You Please and If You Don't Please

She looked so shocked when I caught her. She’d just brought her index fingers to her eyes, and I had just walked in the door.

Her laughter, and the laughter of her friends died down to shock as she caught my eye.

You can’t make up timing like this.

She looked up, just as shocked as I was amused.

She was making “Chinese” eyes, lifting up the corners of her eyelids and squinting. She didn’t squint all the way, because otherwise, she would have missed me.

She didn’t. She just sort of froze as I walked in the door. There was nothing she could do. She was already physically committed to whatever joke she was making.

Me, I was just trying to get on the train.

I caught her eye.

I smiled and winked.

Her hands and her glance dropped to her lap, and I continued to look for a seat on the train.