The 99 was full. My laptop felt like the weight of the world on my shoulders and I resorted to sitting at the front of the bus in the priority seating area. A man got on the bus at the next stop – short for his weathered body, in a stunted growth kind of way. He walked funny, like the way my friend Lisa did while waiting to fix her multiple slipped discs. He had comfortable eyes. He sat in between a handsome man in a suit and myself. The man he sat beside might have been the definition of tall, dark and handsome; he was probably ten years my senior, a successful businessperson, lawyer, or something equally classy. The two of them made small talk until the University gates, he asked the handsome man if he had a girlfriend.
“No, not right now, I guess I just haven’t found my soulmate yet.”
The other man looked puzzled. “What’s a soulmate?”
“I think it’s when you find that special somebody who complements everything about you, like you’re meant to be together. You’re soulmates.”
This answer pleased him greatly. He put on a large, gap-toothed grin and said “That sounds nice.”
He lolled his head from side to side, absently gazing at the various advertisements lining the bus interior. He turned his head to me and we made eye contact. I looked away awkwardly. He said “Hey, what about her? She’s pretty, she could be your soulmate!”
I tried my best to hear nothing and blend in with the cushioned seat back.
The handsome man laughed, “I don’t believe we’ve ever even met!”
“Well then how would you even know?”
“I guess I don’t really, though finding a soulmate takes a little bit of time.”
The man gave another toothy grin, thanked the bus driver and got off at the next stop, by the golf course. With a posture like that I wondered if he was actually going golfing. The handsome man said nothing more for the rest of the commute to campus, and I may have thrown some elbows to get off the bus as quickly as possible.
The next day, I did the usual push through the doors of the packed 99 and managed to score a seat just as someone was getting off. I slump down in the seat, relieved. I glance across the aisle. I am met with a brown-eyed stare and well-tailored suit. He says “Hey, soulmate!”
I laugh.