It seems like colleges students using public transportation is practically a must in the city. And it's true because for me, riding the city bus to and from work and school had become a huge part of my everyday routine. I'd become accustomed to sitting next to sweet elderly people that ask me about my day, or screaming children, and even a few less fortunate people who used their last few dollars for the ride. I actually loved riding the bus, despite the different smells and the occasional asshole, I enjoyed seeing different faces. But there was one face I noticed, rode the bus as often as I did. I sound stalkerish, I know, but I had to keep an eye out nowadays for anything unusual. The funny thing is that there wasn't anything unusual about this face, on the contrary, he was just another passenger who minded his own.
He was either dressed in very nice casual clothing or he was in suits. His style was usually very office chic, so I only assumed he worked in an office but he also went to school due to his occasional skimming through a thick textbook and handwritten notecards.
I had never seen him around my campus, I'm sure of it. A face like that doesn't go unrecognized or missed, he was definitely a rose in a field of daisies.
This handsome stranger had a mysterious yet very kind natured like quality about him that only intrigued me. Was he a stern, cold blooded businessman or a sweet, charismatic guy who's an intern for a cold blooded businessman? I could never ask, all I could do is gaze at him from afar. Daydreaming of how we could become great friends.
Today was no different, I sat in my regular seat towards the back of the bus while he chose a seat in the middle. He always gave me a good view of his side profile, which was stunning. However today he had on sunglasses and looked extremely tired. His head was tilted in my direction so at first I couldn't tell if he was looking at me or not. But he wasn't, thanks to his glasses sliding down his nose a bit I saw that his eyes were closed. Poor guy seemed to have fallen asleep right after he got on and sat down. He was in a his same dark jeans, long trench coat and scarf with his satchel by his side but he had a plain grey hoodie underneath instead of one of his famous bright colored, printed shirts. He genuinely looked out of it. My heart ached for him, he looked very uncomfortable, his hair was a mess (and not in the appealing way) and his skin looked pale—he must be sick.
Being as we ride the same bus everyday, I had learned what stop he gets off at which is the one before mine. He was asleep throughout every stop and I was contemplating whether or not I should wake him up. It wasn't until I realized the bus was about ten minutes away from his stop that I gained the courage to get up and softly poke his shoulder. I stood there awkwardly as he didn't move.
"Excuse me, your stop is coming up." I weakly said, not wanting to frighten him or anything.
He didn't respond so I gently nudged him again, "Sorry, but....uh, your stop is—"
"I heard you love," He groggily sighed, "I wasn't asleep I just have the worst fucking hangover ever."
I nodded, but instantly regretted it since he still didn't have his eyes open. Then to make things more weird, I started to tell him about a hangover remedy that works for me.
"I'm sorry, it's just that...that you looked like you were asleep and—oh a hangover? I usually drink a homemade smoothie whenever I have one." I said as I went from bashful to helpful. It was like my mouth had a mind of it's own and it was just spluttering whatever nonsense it could. But by the end of my rambling the stranger had finally opened his eyes.
Initially, he gave me an odd look because he didn't know why I was so nervous to talk to him. Was he really that intimidating? His coworkers always told him he was but he never believed them.
