Two Nameless Characters Lost In A Made Up World

Who knew Tehran's subway had so much to offer?

Oh god! I can’t be late anymore! My boss would kill me! Is what goes through my mind as I’m getting ready for work. I run towards the mirror as I’m pushing one arm in my blouse. It doesn’t go in, but I don’t stop. I put on a red lipstick and smudge the parts that are not on my lip with one finger. I apply some mascara and continue the impossible task of getting my arm in the sleeve.

A quick glance at the watch tells me I don’t have much time so I just catch my wet hair in a messy ponytail and let it hang.

As I’m getting out of the door I remember a file that I have to bring today so I just run and grab it with my shoes on. Not a good idea, I think my mom would kill me. Ah well.

As if I’m not late enough, there’s no taxi. At least none that are empty. I run for the subway, thinking anything is better than standing still�"even the morning rush in metro.

I arrive at my line and sit in one of the chairs to sort the papers that I picked up none too gently. They don’t seem to be liking my behavior�"they keep falling off and sliding away.

I worry about them getting under somebody’s feet�"or worse, getting on the rails�"but there’s just nothing I can do; I have papers everywhere: on my lap, in my hands, even in my mouth! There’s no way I can pick the ones that fell off, too. That’s when I sense someone looking at me. I mean, at this stage it’s only fair that someone would stare but there’s just something about this one. I feel the weight of it from across the subway line.

My eyes connect with his. That’s when I notice; not only is he staring but he’s laughing at me! How dare he? I know I don’t look my best right now, but hasn’t he ever been in a rush? And he knows I can see him but he doesn’t stop laughing. As if reading my mind, he tones down his laughter a bit and lifts up a hand in waving. Now I just raise a brow and look at him funny. Of course, he cannot see my face all the way from there but hey, it’s the thought that counts.

I’m shook out of my trance by a tap on my shoulder. There’s this little girl that has some of the papers that have fallen down. “Thanks hon. You saved my life.” I smile. I take the papers without looking at her and sort the last of them. “Mam, would you please buy a gum?” she begs.

I look at her closely, noticing the burnt cheeks and old clothes. Normally, I wouldn’t buy from these kids but she just saved me from a s**t ton of trouble. I decide I’m not going to care about kids working just this one time and buy a gum from her. It made her happy, I keep telling myself.

I hear the sound of a train coming and get up. I stand just behind the yellow line�"cause I’m a nut case�"and notice I’m standing right in front of the weird boy. He’s not laughing anymore, just standing there… and staring. The train is getting closer and sounding louder by each second that passes. I notice how tall he is. And his curls. Wow, his curls are all over the place! Now I’m thinking he had no right to laugh at me. But I’m guessing his being messy is deliberate. He doesn’t look the least bit self-conscience and a ghost of a smile is crossing his face. I decide I’ll wave back if he does it again. But the universe seems to be having other plans for me cause the train finally arrives and blocks my view of him.

I get in, resisting the urge to just stand there and not go to work. It’s not like I’m going to get fired or anything but I don’t handle confrontation very well. I’d rather not have to go through it with my boss.

By some miracle, I find an empty seat and put my bag in my lap. Beep, train’s doors close. I take a breath and turn my head, looking through the train window at where he was standing. One look tells me he’s still there and he’s looking at me. He has one hand in his pocket and the other by his side. He lifts it up and waves for the second time. Who is this weird stranger? I tell myself. Slowly, I wave back. He falters just for a second and then smiles. Not one of those smiles that you sometimes fake for your mother, not the ones that you do when you’re making conversation, no. He fully, brilliantly smiles. The train starts moving then and I turn my head as far as I can to catch the last glimpses of that smile. The train keeps moving until I can’t see him anymore.

 

The weird stranger had a beautiful smile, is the last thought that goes through my mind before I finally turn my head.

 

I arrive forty minutes late. The first thing I do is leave the papers on my co-worker’s desk. She’s not there but They have been in my hands too long, Shiva would know what to do with them.

I’m in the kitchen pouring myself a glass of water when I hear my boss’s voice.

“Where are the FGT contracts?” he all but yells at my co-worker. I feel bad for her but not too much. She knows how to defend herself. Plus, it’s obvious by his tone that he’s just came for it. So not a fault on my part; I was late yes, but he just asked for it now. I hear footsteps followed by a thump. Good, that means he’s gone back to his room.

I go back to my desk and set my mug down. The papers I have left are gone. He must’ve taken them.

Lunch time doesn’t come soon enough. I take out the sandwiches that I so dearly love and put them on my desk. It’s lunch hour but I don’t have much time to eat since there’s a meeting in about 10 minutes. So I just get a plate and dive into my sandwich like it’s the last thing that I’m going to eat.

“You look like you have just survived a war.” Shiva says to me almost pityingly.

How do you know? Maybe I have, is what I don’t say. Instead, I just hold out the sandwich to her and say “want some?”

“Yes, I LOVE cuckoo!” and with that she takes a huge chunk of my sandwich. I’d get mad but really, I don’t have the time to finish it myself.

When I finally finish, I don’t even need to look at the clock to know that I’m late. “Are there stuff in my teeth?” I ask feverishly.

“Nah, let’s go” Shiva gets up and we march into the conference room. Our boss gives us the stink eye half-heartedly but I don’t think he’s even angry a little bit. He must be used to my sloppiness by now.

When we’re all in our seats and ready, he starts the projector. He talks for what seems to be five hours with our clients. They seem confident about this. I’m pretty sure the contract’s going to be signed and sealed at the end of this.

Just when I think my jaw is going to break from all the yawning, they seem to make up their minds. Everyone sits a little taller and my boss grabs the papers that were almost lost and pushes them in front of their CEO. He begins reading every page carefully and signing.

The contract of TorkamanChai didn’t have this many signatures, I think bitterly. Something catches his attention though, because he stops signing and stares at the paper. We all look expectantly at him. He lifts up the paper slowly so that it’s facing everyone at the table. The room is still dark because of the projector but we all notice it.

A red smudge in the shape of my lips is at the corner of the contract paper.

No one moves. If I wasn’t scared and embarrassed to death, I might have laughed at the awkwardness of the situation. My boss’s head turns very slowly towards me. I thank god for having a dark skin, or else my cheeks would be burning crimson right now. Strange thought to be having, I know, but I can’t help it. Fortunately, he doesn’t say anything to me but rather turns and smile at our client’s CEO, who is also smiling.

“You’d have to forgive me, I’ll have someone bring a new copy right now.” My boss says and starts to get up but the young CEO stops him. “If you don’t mind, I’d prefer you have them emailed to my company later. I’ll sign them as soon as I can and send them back. But right now, I’m afraid, we have to go.”

My boss doesn’t look happy but he tries not to show it. “Of course, sorry for the inconvenience.”

They leave the conference room together and I take a deep breath. Shiva booms with laughter next to me and tries to talk in between her laughing.

“Stop laughing! It’s not funny!” I say sheepishly.

She laughs even harder and I have this sudden image of her falling out of her chair in my mind.

“Oh god! What should I do? He’s going to kill me!” I say worriedly.

She straightens up and controls her laughter a bit. Gives me a little “don’t worry” speech and sends me to his office. We both know I’m going to get summoned there sooner or later, so why wait?

As I suspected, he’s waiting for me with his hands clasped in front of him on his desk. “come in,” he says when I knock.

I go in and sit in the chair directly in front of him. Not a good choice, but the other one’s closer to the door and I want to have some distance from the door in case he decides to fire me.

He had both of his hands clasped in front of him on the desk, waiting. Like I asked to see him and not the other way around. His head is down so I start counting the number of hairs on his almost-bald head. I’m up to twenty-three when he finally whips his head up and starts talking.

“What should I do with you?” he asks me agitatedly.

Thank me for not counting your nose’s hairs, is what I don’t say out loud. But seriously, he has more hair there than on his head.

“You have been an employee here for two years now, and you know why I haven’t fired you yet?” he continues.

Oh no, this isn’t going very well, I think. Well, what did I expect? For him to congratulate me on the color of the lipstick I use? But if I want to answer him honestly, I don’t know why he hasn’t fired me either. You’d think he’d get sick of my clumsiness by now but no. I mean, at one time I spilled coke on the fax machine and not only did it destroy the machine completely but it also made the power of the whole building go out for a few hours. We had to go and apologize to everyone personally, door to door. I decide to answer with humor because really, why hasn’t he fired me?

“Because of my great personality?” I say.

He huffs out a lot of air. “No, I haven’t fired you because despite all the mess you make, you have perseverance. You like learning and you’re always full of energy,”

I brighten up a little at all his compliments but he continues:
“but, it’s not enough.” He says matter of factly.

I nod slowly, getting ready to defend myself but he doesn’t even let me start.

“I’m going to give you one last chance. A chance to make it right. I give you one simple task: starting tomorrow, you’re not allowed to make any mistakes.” He says.

Now I’m just confused. Not make any mistakes?! That’s not possible. Even the best of them make mistakes and let’s face it; I’m not the best! “what happens if I do make a mistake?” I say because I just can’t help myself.

“You’ll be fired.” He replies coldly.

 

I leave work trying not to cry and failing. The mascara I have applied starts running down my face but I don’t even wipe it. let it be, I think. So what if a bunch of strangers see me cry? Why do they matter?

I’m not just crying because of the ultimatum. No, at this point I don’t give a s**t if I’m fired. I’m crying because my boss decided I don’t need my paycheck this month. Something about having to pay for mistakes and all that. Now don’t get me wrong. I’m not sad about the slavery I have to go through either. I’m crying because I was saving up for an acoustic guitar and this month was supposed to be the month I could finally buy it.

I put my handsfrees on and start the music. As I’m walking towards home, I realize how the world changes color when the music is playing. Tehran changes. All the gray buildings suddenly develop a sunny-blue hue. All the angry and mad people become living things with dreams.

I nod to the music and set my steps with the beat. The music is so good, I don’t even realize how much time has passed since I have started walking. It’s like I leave work and whoosh! Suddenly, I’m in the subway.

I turn off the music to see the real colors. It’s not ugly anymore, just… genuine.

I take a sit and look over the line.

OH �" MY �" GOD!

I can’t believe my eyes! There’s that weird stranger sitting right in front of me again! I wouldn’t have believed it was him if it weren’t for his curls. His curls that somehow seem even messier now, at the end of the day.

And he’s smiling! Damn him and his smile! Just when I thought everything seemed real, he had to go and ruin it.

His smile doesn’t seem real. It seems like something that has fallen out of a fairytale.

I realize a little too late that I’m staring at him dumb-foundedly. Fortunately, the train sounds near. It will save me from utter embarrassment for the second time today. I get up to go wait for the train and keep my head down deliberately in the process�"I don’t want to become eye to eye with him again. He seems to have some kind of power over me.

I don’t lift my head up until I’m standing in the train. I decide I’m going to let myself look at him one last time. After all, how many times do you see a smile so real that it makes everything else seem fake?

However, when I look at him through the window, he’s not smiling. Instead, he’s waving his hands frantically, gesturing something. Hmmm, the weird stranger is also crazy, I think. Not a good combination to have a crush on.

I shake my head and try not to look at him until the train leaves but it’s impossible. He’s waving his hand and jumping, gesturing behind me. Why is he gesturing beh�"oh…

That’s when I finally understand. He wants me to get off the train.

Now, I’ve done a lot of crazy stuff. But that’s just because I don’t pay attention to what I’m doing not because I want to be adventurous or anything. But there’s this feeling inside me, that’s telling me to get off. Even though my brain is telling me to stay as far as possible from the weird stranger. But I try to live my life to the fullest. After all, in the end we regret the things we didn’t do, not the things we did do. Great saying, that one.

And just like that, I decide to get off. Maybe the weird stranger wants to tell me I ‘ve won in a lottery or something. Fat chance of that happening.

I grab my bag and start for the door. Beep! They close right in my face. I try to put my feet between the door but I’m too late.

I go back to the window and look at him. He’s just standing there looking at me now. But it’s not a curious look anymore, it’s just… sad. I lift up a shoulder in sorry and feel the train starting to move.

Somehow�"and I don’t know how�"I feel sad about losing him. I know that he was a total stranger and I shouldn’t feel this way, but I do. I don’t look much into it though, cause I’m used to feeling wrong about everything all the time.

Suddenly, I laugh! Here I am, standing in metro at the end of the day, going home from a job that is not going to pay me for the next month and I’m sad about a boy that I didn’t get to meet! My brain seems to be mocking me.

I get off at my station and put my handsfrees on one more time. I like to listen to upbeat songs when I walk; it makes me move faster.

I haven’t walked more than 10 minutes when a tap on my shoulder brings me out of my trance. I jump a little and turn around. If this were a cartoon, my eyes would be falling out of their sockets now.

To say that I’m surprised, is an understatement.

“wow you�"“ his breaths are shallow and fast, “�"you walk really fast!” he finishes hardly.

It’s obvious that he’s been running. It turns out, “the weird stranger” is actually the perfect nickname for him. but I’m starting to get a little scared. What if he’s a stalker? Has he been following me? And how the hell did he got here so fast? He was on the other side of my train when I left. None of these makes any sense. I don’t get to voice out any of my thoughts though, cause the weird stranger starts to talk.

“I would have never guessed you’d be a fast walker.” He says and manages to look smart about it. Which is odd, cause that whole sentence was a big, black pile of garbage.

“Huh?” I reply a little annoyed.

“It’s just, for someone as small as you, you walk fast. And for someone to be walking this fast, you’d think you wouldn’t be late as much as you are but we both know that’s not true.” He says this last sentence with a smile and oh boy, was that a bad move.

I’m so furious right now, I have this strong urge to kick him in the nuts. But, first of all, we’re standing in the middle of the sidewalk and people could see. If they do, it’s the end of me. Secondly, I haven’t established yet just how crazy this stranger is. Who’s to say he won’t try to fight me�"or worse hit me�"if I attempt to kick him?

I restrain a little of my anger to come up with a good answer. It shouldn’t be too hard. I’m known for my witty comebacks. But for some reason, I can’t think of anything. Oh my… is he making you nervous? Is this how it feels like to be a girl? There goes my brain, mocking me again. Even my brain is not on my side today.

“EXCUSE ME?! I am not small! In fact, I’m the perfect height. You’re the one who’s a giant! As for being late, not like it’s your business or anything but…” I pause and suddenly notice something. “Wait a second. What do you mean by ‘as much’? How do you know how many times I’ve been late?” I ask with as much as courage I can muster and to be frank, it’s not that much right now.

He looks a little embarrassed when I mention this. He drops his head and one of those messy curls falls in his face.

Then he meets my eyes. “I, uh… I’ve seen you a couple of times before.” I start to back away from him slowly but he notices and continues: “By accident! I swear! I’ve never followed you anywhere. Except well, now.” He starts scratching the back of his neck in a nervous way.

Any other time and I would’ve ran for my life but I’ve got a feeling about this one. And I want to know where he has seen me before. Why he’s gone through all this trouble to follow me.

“Go on.” I say.

He smiles again. “Wow, you’re not going to make this easy, are you?”

“No.” I say matter of factly.

“Okay. Can we at least walk while I’m talking?” He asks.

He looks so adorable asking that, I just can’t say no. plus, I don’t see any harm in walking with him. Except my ego; my ego’s really gonna take a hit if I walk beside him. My head doesn’t even reach his shoulders.

“Um, okay.” I reply uncertainly.

I start leading the way since he just admitted to following me and he falls into step beside me.

I try not looking at him but fail miserably. I can see his worn all stars. His hands that are in his pockets. His left elbow is oh-so-close to my right arm. I’m not sure if I want them to touch or am afraid of it.

“So,” he starts “Where are we going?”

“Well, I don’t know about you but I’m going home.” I say.

He smiles. I notice how he smiles a lot. It could be a sign of a mental illness but I choose to believe that he’s just a normal person who happens to be happy a lot for no apparent reason.

“Do you talk to everyone like that?” he asks “Or just me?”

“I don’t know what you mean.” I laugh inwardly as I say this.

“Sure you don’t.” he says in a tone that calls me on my bullshit but I decide to ignore it.

“Will you start talking please?” I ask him. “How do you know me? Where have you seen me before? Why did you follow me?”

He hears me but doesn’t stop talking right away.

“First of all, I don’t know you. But I’m hoping that’s going to change.” He looks at me but I don’t react. “I’ve seen you a couple of times before, in the subway. You’re always in a hurry and you always sit or stand in the farthest right�"right in front of me.” He finishes.

Wow, okay. I didn’t expect that.

“Today wasn’t the first time I was looking at you but it was the first time you noticed me. I just… wanted to get to know you.” He looks at me at this last sentence. There’s something in his eyes that scare me. It’s like he can see to my core when he looks at me.

I don’t know what to tell him so I just offer him one ear of my handsfrees. He takes it without question and I hit play.

The fact that he takes it without any questions really means so much to me. And he was honest about where he met me. Why he followed me. But I can’t trust him this easily. That’s just not me.

We walk a couple of blocks together. Him with his hands in his pockets and one ear of my handsfrees in his ear, me with a lot on my mind and a plug in my ear. Walking with him is not easy either. Our height difference and the joined handsfree makes it a challenge actually, but we manage it.

As we’re nearing my home, I slow my pace.  He slows too, to match my pace. We walk slowly until we come to a stop.

I stop the music and turn to face him.

“It was nice meeting you.” In this moment, I realize I don’t even know his name. I curse myself inwardly for having so many issues that I can’t even trust a guy enough to exchange names.

He pulls out my handsfrees and hands it to me. “Just like that?” he asks.

“Well, I don’t know you and despite what you think, I don’t really do this. I don’t just walk with some random stranger I met this morning.” I reply.

“Not true, we met way before this morning.” He says with a smile and I’m like there it is, that damn smile again.

I just raise a brow at him and he continues: “And you’re exactly as I thought you would be.”

“What is that supposed to mean?” I ask.

“Nothing.” He says and then quickly continues: “If this is it, can I just ask one thing?”

“Okay.”

“Why are you always in a hurry?” he says sheepishly and I realize he’s not saying this to mock me.

I smile inwardly and decide to tell him the truth.

“Because you’ve only seen me in the subway before and I only use the subway when I’m late.”

Some of that smile must’ve shown on my face because I catch his eyes falling to my lips a couple of time.

“Well, I guess this is goodbye then.” I say to him and I’m sure he doesn’t know but this goodbye is as bitter for me as it is for him.

“You have really good taste in music.” He scratches the back of his neck again. I think it might be some kind of a tell for when he’s embarrassed but I’m not sure.

“I know.” I reply matter of factly and start to turn away.

“Will I see you again?” he asks when I have my back to him.

I know the answer to that but I don’t turn around and I don’t answer but rather raise a hand in goodbye.

I can feel his stare but when I look behind me a couple of steps later, he isn’t there.

 

Who knows? Sometimes my alarm doesn’t wake me up.

Some mornings it takes me a lot of time to eat my breakfast.

Sometimes, I’m too tired at night and iron my clothes in the morning.

 

Maybe, just maybe…

I’ll be late again tomorrow.

Author's Note

I heard this song a couple of days ago, "Hero by Family of the year" and I had this image of a boy and a girl in subway. I started writing then. Giving each of them a character. And this happened.
This story is taking place in Tehran and I attached an image for you, to give you an image of what our subway is like.
By the way, English is my second language and I've never been outside of Iran so I'm guessing there are some errors in there. Point them out if you feel like it. It'd be appreciated.