The L is for Lovers

Natalie, aware of the glare coming from across the aisle of the unusually empty train car, stared blankly into her phone retaining none of the open book.

This was a cruel way to sit for the roughly 35 minutes it would take to get back to Bushwick. The evening was meant to be a celebration of 5 years of marriage. A fancy dinner in Chelsea, back to their local spot for a night cap, and then a casual drunken stroll home. Now in their mid-30s, they didn’t care to be out late and did their best to avoid the subway after midnight.

All was going to plan except for the fact their long ride back was typically spent enjoying their buzz. Often a bit of intellectual foreplay through flirting and teasing. They weirdly enjoyed confusing other passengers on some evenings. As two very fem presenting women, they were often assumed to be sisters or best friends instead of married to each other. At the very least though, they’d normally be sitting next to each other.

Instead, the buzz achieved at dinner had turned into an accelerant for frustration.

Natalie hadn’t even accepted the position but rather just floated the idea. Could she have brought it up sooner? Sure. But it wasn’t worth a debate until it was a realistic option. Unfortunately, she did not communicate that with any effectiveness.

The irony she was offered a position to teach a Public Communications course was not lost on her. Alex had inferred that the mere mention of the offer, which entailed a pay cut and uprooting their lives to the small town of her alma mater, meant Natalie had already decided without her though. Alex had handled this very little grace which in turn made Natalie shut down.

Outside of Alex’s passive aggressive sighs, they’d not spoken since leaving the restaurant. At least the darkness and the bustle of a NYC evening had given Natalie a distraction during the walk but now the bright fluorescent lights of the L train car were like being in an integration room. She knew as soon as she gave in and met Alex’s gaze, it was game over.

The train came to a halt at the third of the many stops before she could escape the increasingly penetrating glare of her wife.

A shrieking high pitch voice drew Natalie’s attention to the now open doorway on her left.

“I just can’t believe you would do this to me!”

An impeccably dressed pair burst in. The woman clearly disheveled. Bright blonde hair, presumably previously well contained in an elegant updo, now half fallen and her cheeks stained with black tear streaks. Natalie couldn’t help but think of how amazing her make-up must have been prior to the tears to still look that good.

The man stomped by in front of Natalie, his peacoat catching a bit of a draft from his pace, making his way to the opposite of the end train car before sitting down. Completely ignoring the screaming of the woman shuffling behind him. Her high heels clicking loudly on the floor.

“Sebastian. SEBASTIAN. You could at least say something!” The blonde said between sniffles as she plopped down on the seat next to him.

Natalie’s phone buzzed in her lap.

You’re staring at strangers again.

She couldn’t help but smirk that Alex had broken the silent treatment. Back to pretending to read though.

The couple then began aggressively whispering back and forth. Like children who hadn’t yet comprehended that the volume of a whisper was what made it secretive but given they sat on an otherwise quiet enclosed space, most words were intelligible. Perhaps a byproduct of the fact they were obviously wasted.

“Well maybe if you were more like Maddie —”

Natalie audibly gasped and met Alex’s now wide eyes with her own. The blonde woman gave up on whispering after that though, fully covering the sound that had escaped Natalie’s mouth.

“EXCUSE FUCKING ME?”

“Oh, come on don’t be like —”

The woman proceeded to rant interrupted at the man for roughly the next 8 minutes. Which Natalie knew because she stared at the open phone in her lap afraid to move for the entirety of the angry monologue, and based on what was said, he deserved it.

There was a brief silence after she concluded, causing Natalie to glance over. The smug look on his face reminded her why she was so fully okay with being a lesbian.

“Baby. I didn’t mean it like that.” Natalie’s blood began to boil from his patronizing tone and was about to intervene but thankfully the woman held her hand up dismissively in his face before her butt could leave the seat. The woman then stood up, turning her back to Natalie but to glare down at the smug man.

“I’m going to tell everyone —”

The train began its screeching as it approached the next stop making it impossible to hear the rest of her sentence but given the look on his face now, she knew exactly how to hit him where it hurt.

As the train came to its full stop, the woman spun on her heels and strutted out of the train car giggling manically. Natalie, completely unbothered by her own staring now, watched as he then got up from his seat and left defeated.

“Pure. Cinema.” Alex said breathily. Clearly as consumed by that moment as Natalie was.

The awkward tension remained in the air but was quickly broken by the two women erupting into laughter as the train began moving again. As their laughing settled down into slight chuckles, their gaze lingered, both grinning wildly. Even after all the years together, the electricity of their eye contact always made Natalie’s heart race. She moved across the aisle.

“I was telling you about the offer because I wanted to hear your thoughts about it. Not because I accepted it already. Honestly, I don’t even know what I think about it…”

Alex nodded slowly for a moment or two before responding.

“How about we skip stopping in at Boobie Trap. Let’s just get home and you can tell me all about this,” Alex kissed Natalie’s forehead. “I promise I’ll listen.”

“Can we still have a night cap, though?”

“Of course, my dear.”