04:24

3 °C|°F
Precipitation: 0%
Humidity: 75%
Wind: 5 mph
Mostly cloudy




It was raining.

I was rushing to get to the underground all bundled up and hoping not to freeze in the streets of London. I didn't bring an umbrella so when I was finally able to reach the station, I was all already drenched. I reached for a copy of Evening Standard stacked right at the entrance of the Barbican Station and headed to the platform.

I was waiting for the train. The circle line is known to be the slowest line in London. A 30 minute travel time can stretch to 40-45 minutes and sometimes even longer when there are unexpected interruptions along the way. I was heading to West of London. So from Barbican, it's quite a while before I reach home.

The train finally came after six minutes of waiting. There were a lot of empty seats in the train at that late hour in the evening. I took a seat in the far end of the carriage and opened the newspaper.

My face was covered between pages 4 and 5 when i felt like someone was looking at me. I folded the newspaper and saw a guy seated across me in the carriage.

He has dark hair, some freckles on his kind face, and his eyes are green, or maybe blue. He was wearing a white buttoned up shirt and he was reading a book.

He looked beautiful.

He seemed very focused on his reading so I watched him and I was trying to get a glimpse of the title of his book. And at one moment, he looked up and saw me.

I was shy then, so when he will look at me, I will look away. Then, afterwards, when I will look back, he will look away...

A few minutes passed, and I had to get off the train.

Got off, the doors closed.

And as the train was pulling away, he looked right at me, and gave me the most incredible smile.

It was awful.

I wanted to tear the doors open.

I thought he was cruel as I left the platform with a heavy heart.

Maybe it's true that strangers are just endearing because we don't know them yet. But It must also be true that meeting strangers can be just utterly meaningless. Unless of course if you are able to enter the individual's world and discover one thing that is special to him. That is enough I think for both of you to go in a mutual exchange of feelings.

Moments between strangers can be very brief but can sometimes last for a long time. I guess it's because sometimes, though it is hard to explain, we find comfort with strangers. Their anonymity is like the space that envelopes us. It is unknown and yet we find solace in it when we are alone. And so when a stranger looks at us or smiles at us, it's like finally meeting that quiet solace for the first time.