The Dating Chronicles – The Substitute

The Dating Chronicles

The Substitute

 The train was coming and Anna’s spirit was high as she anticipated climbing aboard.  She had been planning all weekend for this day and her excitement was apparent.  “That’s a pretty outfit you’ve got on,” said a woman who was also waiting on the train.  “You must be going someplace special, that outfit is too pretty for work,” she laughed.  “I am,” Anna replied with a mysterious wink, “I am.”

As the train drew nearer, her excitement increased.  She knew he’d be there, reading the morning paper and occasionally glancing up to look out the window.  She hoped he’d be looking out when she got on.

She had been watching him for a long time and was very curious about who he was.  She dressed every morning in anticipation of seeing him and being beautiful for him, but he never looked up when she passed.  His head was always buried in a newspaper.

She would sit behind him, so she could watch him undetected, and had almost missed her stop a couple of times, staring at the back of his head.  She was dying to meet him and had been wracking her brain to come up with a way, and finally, she did.

She decided last week that she would get on the train this morning and ask each passenger in her car, to participate in a “marketing survey” she devised over the weekend.  One of the questions asked about marital status and she hoped against hope that he would be single, and finally notice her.

But when she got on the train that morning, she discovered that he was not in his usual spot and she felt like crying.  She plunked down in a seat and stared aimlessly out the window.  At the next stop, a man got on the train and sat down next to her.  She turned and looked into the face of a handsome policeman.  She immediately reached for her pad.  “Sir, would you mind participating in a brief survey while you ride?” 

“No I don’t mind,” he said, as he looked deep into her eyes. 

“Are you single, married, widowed, or divorced,” she asked.  “Very single” he replied with a flirtatious grin. 

“What about you?” 

“I’m single too” she replied as her heart skipped a beat. 

Already she felt better.  She could tell from the way he looked at her, that this would not end when she got to her stop.  And she was right.  Before she rose from her seat, he asked for her number and asked if they could conclude the survey over dinner the next evening.