I walked towards the bus stop with a heavy heart. Was I doing the right thing, or was I heading for failure? Until now I hadn’t been able to find a woman to share my life with, so at age 27 I was a single man, still living at home with my parents, and looking for a girlfriend on the internet. And that is why I was heading towards the bus stop. I needed to go downtown to the Russian Embassy to get a visa so that I could go to Russia and meet a couple of the ladies in person whose appearance in pictures interested me.
The bus was fairly empty and since I live close to the beginning of the line I can always find an empty seat. I sat down on the seat behind the driver facing the curb. These seats do not run across the bus, but are parallel to the bus walls near the front to allow a person in a wheelchair to ride there. A few more passengers got on at the next couple of stops, and at the third stop a young lady got on. I looked at her and willed her to sit next to me. I doubt that it was my wishing that made her take the empty seat beside me, but rather that most of the other seats were filled now.
I glanced at her fingers for a ring, and there wasn’t one. Maybe, just maybe she was available. As she walked towards me before she sat down I had noticed that she was attractive. And she wore a pair of glasses that I thought made her the most perfect woman in the world. Yes, there is something wrong with me. I can’t even bother to give a lady a second look unless she wears glasses. And to really interest me the glasses have to be good and strong. That is why I was going to Russia to check out those 2 ladies.
“Do you ride this bus often?” I asked.
“I ride it downtown to my job 5 days a week.” She replied
“I haven’t been on a bus since I went to university. I work a little north of the city.” I said
“Are you going downtown for pleasure, or business?” She asked.
“I have to go to the Russian Embassy to get a visitors visa as I am planning to go there for my holidays next month.” I replied.
We chatted a bit about travel. She had never been out of the country, and seemed very interested in the idea of traveling. Soon the bus pulled into the subway terminal, and we got off and walked together to where we had to get our downtown train. Fortunately I was able to sit beside her for the ride. She got off at her stop, and I continued on to mine.
I did what I had to do at the embassy, and I should have grabbed the next subway home. But I couldn’t bring myself to leave the downtown area. I had some wild idea that I should hang around and wait for a girl I didn’t even know her name. I only knew the subway stop that she would be getting on at for her ride home. And she had told me that she usually got off work between 4 and 4:15, so I knew that if I hung around the northbound turnstile at the same station she got off the train at, I should be able to ride back north with her.
I guess some people would consider me weird. Heck, I consider myself weird. I just can’t develop any interest in a lady unless she wears strong glasses. And they can’t be any glasses, but instead have to be glasses for the correction of high myopia. The girl I want to marry has to be very nearsighted. I had only met a couple of girls that met my wishes in my lifetime. And I probably scared them away with my curiosity over their glasses and their eyesight because they both dumped me after about a year of dating. That is why I had turned to an internet dating site. They had found a number of ladies who met my specifications for someone who wore glasses. But there had only been 2 of them that actually wore strong minus glasses. I had set the wheels in motion to go there to meet these ladies, but I wasn’t thrilled with the idea of marrying someone I couldn’t talk to because of the language difference.
The day dragged on and on. Finally it was close enough to 4 that I felt I had better get myself into position. I paid my fare, and set myself up at a point that gave me a good view of everyone who came through.
I probably looked at my watch twice a minute for the next 15 minutes. She didn’t show. So I waited another 15 minutes. Now it was 4:30 and the platform was starting to get crowded. Then it was 4:45, and I couldn’t figure out how I had missed her. I would wait until 5, but I had an aching feeling in my heart.
Just as I was about to give up a northbound train pulled into the station. I was still scanning the incoming passengers, so I didn’t notice that someone was walking up to me.
“Were you waiting for me?” a voice asked.
I turned around, and she was standing there. “Where did you come from?”
“I had to run an errand that took me closer to the next stop down the line. So I caught the subway there. We stopped at this station and I spotted you standing there, but I couldn’t get off, as the doors were closing. So I had to go up a couple of stations until I got to one with a center platform where I could catch a southbound train. Then I had to go back south until I found another station where I could get a northbound train without paying another fare. By the time I got back here I was worried that you might have left.” She said.
“You have been on my mind all day. I hung around until you got off work, and I have been waiting here for you for over an hour. I was just about to give up.” I said.
“I’m glad you didn’t.” She replied.
I never did send the Russian Embassy the money order for my visa. Two months later Peggy and I were married at a small ceremony at city hall. Now I love waking up in the morning and watching her as she comes out of a deep sleep. Before she opens her eyes she reaches for her glasses on the nightstand, puts them on, and gazes over at me through her thick lenses. Most weekend mornings we don’t even make it out of bed until noon.
Specs4ever Sept 2011