by Maeve Lahey

My morning commute on the subway usually followed the same pattern—keep your head down， your nose in a book， and try to survive the crowds. So when I sensed someone looking at me I felt annoyed. I looked up to see a tall， attractive man， but his eyes werent focused on me—he was staring into space， with headphones on. Among all the businessmen， his casual outfit of a grey woolly hat， navy coat and jeans stuck out.

I wasnt in the habit of noticing men on the subway—of course， you see people come and go， but no one had been so memorable before. As the weeks went by， I began to search him out—he was so tall I could spot him by looking for his head above the crowd. It helped that we were creatures of habit and both headed for the front of the first carriage.

Twice a week Id see him and always when I was running late. After the third time， he looked back， and from then on we would exchange glances but nothing more. At work Id mention to my friends if I had seen my “subway crush”， but I didnt let myself 1）fantasise about him—the chances of us ever actually talking， let alone living happily ever after， were so remote that it would be foolish to dream. But I looked forward to seeing him， and was glad when I noticed he wasnt wearing a wedding ring.

Then disaster struck. He disappeared. Weeks went by without a sighting and I felt darker and darker. After a month， I vowed that if I ever saw him again， I had to say something； it might be my only chance.

On a wintry Monday last January， I was 2）stranded on the platform， knee-deep in snow， fretting because I hadnt managed to get on to the packed train， when he materialised next to me.“Ive got snow in my pants，” he said and did a 3）shimmy. We both laughed and then began to chat. As we boarded the next train， I was aware that everyone around us was 4）eavesdropping， so I felt self-conscious but also thrilled. We had lots in common and the conversation flowed. The only problem was that he was giving me all the right signs that he was interested but he didnt ask for my number. As my stop approached， I realised it was now or never—I had to do something. The train pulled in， and I shoved my business card in his hand and leapt off.

As I dashed away， heart pounding， I felt a mixture of elation and 5）mortification. Why didnt he ask for my number？ Had I been too pushy？ Friends at work reassured me and I waited for his call.

In this city， the etiquette of when to call is clear—within a few days and definitely before the weekend. By the end of the week he still hadnt， so when I saw him on the train I tried to hide.

It was obvious that he didnt want to go out with me. To my dismay， he came over and started to chat. I decided I was clearly a pity case to him， so when he asked what I was doing on the weekend， I made myself sound hugely busy and super-cool to hide my hurt pride. Unsurprisingly， he didnt mention meeting up.

Then， on Monday， he emailed， asking me out. I was delighted. I dont normally like dating—the nerves， the awkwardness， that stilted first conversation—but I was nothing but excited to see Josh and the evening went wonderfully. We ended up going to his brother-in-laws birthday party and I met his family. It didnt feel strange or 6）nerve-racking； it felt natural.

We moved in together 10 months later and got married last September. As a nod to where we met， we had a subway train on top of the cake and the tables were named after different train lines—ours was the 4 train， naturally.

Josh has since told me that after I gave him my card， he was hugely flattered—he was planning to call me that Friday， but after bumping into me and hearing how “busy” I was， he decided to wait until Monday to make contact.

Getting together felt like 7）kismet—it was destined to happen. We unravelled all the random events that led us to be on that same train together and marvel that we ever met. We still take the 4 train into work， but now we sit together.

通常在早上搭地鐵上班時我都依循一樣的模式——低著腦袋，鼻子埋到書上，希望在擁擠的人群中熬過來。所以當我察覺有人在看我時，我感到很惱火。我抬起眼，看到一位高大的魅力男士，但他的目光并非落在我身上——他空洞地瞪著眼，戴著耳機。在周遭上班族的包圍下，他那頭戴灰色羊毛帽，身穿深藍色外套和牛仔褲的一身休閑打扮顯得格外扎眼。

我沒有那種在地鐵里留意男人的習慣——當然，會看著人群來來往往，但之前從未遇到過一個讓人印象如此深刻的人。這樣過了幾周，我開始尋找他——他長得很高，往人群之上瞧準能鎖定目標。而且我們都是那種有固定習慣的人，都喜歡朝車頭第一節(jié)車廂擠，這有助于我找到他。

我一周會碰到他兩次，通常是在自己快趕不上地鐵的時候。經(jīng)過第三次后，他回頭望了我，并從那時開始我們會交換眼神，但也就僅此而已。上班時我會跟朋友們聊起那天我有沒有遇到我的“地鐵情緣”，但我沒讓自己癡迷上他——就連真實地說說話的機會都如此渺茫，更不用說什么從此以后幸福地生活在一起了，所以我不會蠢到去做這樣的夢。不過我還是期待能見到他，并且很高興地發(fā)現(xiàn)他沒戴婚戒。

接著，災難來了。他消失了。幾周過去，我一眼都沒見著他，這讓我感到越來越憂郁難過。一個月后，我發(fā)誓如果我再見到他，我一定得說點什么；這可能是我唯一的機會了。

在去年一月的一個寒冷的星期一，我被困在站臺上，站在齊膝的雪中。在我正為沒法登上擁擠的列車而煩惱時，他突然出現(xiàn)在我旁邊?！拔业难澴永镆策M雪了?！彼f著，抖了抖身子。我們倆都笑了然后開始聊起天來。就在我們上了后面的那趟列車后，我發(fā)現(xiàn)周圍的每個人都在偷聽，所以我感到不太自在，卻也仍興奮不已。我們有很多共同點，談話順利進行。唯一的問題是他一直表現(xiàn)出對我有好感但就是不問我要號碼。就在我要到站的時候，我意識到那一刻可能是最后機會了——我必須做些什么。列車進站，我把我的名片塞進他手里然后一躍下了車。

我匆匆地走了，心砰砰地跳，感到既高興又羞愧。為什么他不問我要號碼？我是不是太唐突了？公司里的朋友安撫我，而我則等待他的來電。

在這座城市里，何時致電的規(guī)矩是很清楚的——在幾天內(nèi)且必定在周末前。一周過去了他都沒給我電話，所以當我在列車上看到他時我盡量避開來。

很顯然他不想和我約會。使我驚慌失措的是他走過來和我聊天。我認定自己對于他來說顯然就是一個要說對不起的對象，于是當他問及我周末有什么安排時，我便讓自己聽上去超級忙和超級鎮(zhèn)靜來掩飾我那受了傷的自尊。不出所料，他沒有提到見面的事。

然后，到了周一，他發(fā)來郵件，約我出去。我高興極了。通常我都不喜歡約會——那種神經(jīng)緊張，那種笨拙尷尬，還有那生硬的第一次交談——但與喬什見面，我只感到無比興奮，那一晚，我們過得美妙無比。我們最后去了他姐夫的生日聚會并見了他的家人。對此我沒感到奇怪或傷腦筋；一切感覺很自然。

十個月后我們住在了一起，去年九月份我們結了婚。為了對我們相遇的地方表示敬意，我們在蛋糕上放了一個地鐵列車的飾物，而餐桌都以不同的地鐵線路來命名——而我們的桌子自然就是地鐵4號線了。

喬什后來跟我說收到我給他的名片后，他感到受寵若驚——他原本打算在周五給我打電話，但后來卻碰到了我，聽到我說何其“忙”后，他決定等到周一再和我聯(lián)系。

這段情緣猶如天命——注定要發(fā)生。我們分析所有致使我們搭上同一趟列車的隨機事件，驚訝于我們竟能一度相遇。我們?nèi)耘f搭地鐵4號線去上班，只是現(xiàn)在我們坐在一起。