I go to speak, to apologize, but her sharp tongue strikes again.
“Men like you are the reason women stay single.”
“Men, like me? You don’t know a thing about me, princess.”
“Exactly, but you made a judgment about me without knowing me. And stop calling me princess.”
Touche.
“I just call it as I see it,” I say through gritted teeth. This girl is getting under my skin, and I don’t know why. I should just shut up, stick in my air pods in and ignore her, but no, I keep going.
“Come on then, enlighten me,” she mocks, throwing my earlier words back at me. “Tell me what you think you know.” She turns in her seat as best she can and folds her arms across her chest.
Now would be my opportunity to take the high road, be the adult here but no, I go full steam ahead and sign my own death certificate, because from the way she's eyeing me, I should fear for my life.
“A spoilt rich, trust fund girl from the Upper East Side who has never worked a day in her life, lives off daddy's money, and expects everyone to do what she wants when she snaps her perfectly manicured fingers.” My eyes drift to her red nail polish, and I realize I have described my girlfriend—ex-girlfriend, Casey. Maybe it's true what they say. Love is blind. I gave Casey everything and got nothing in return. The more I gave, the more she took. Nothing was ever good enough.
“How did I do?” I say with a fake smile.
She rolls her eyes and her silence says everything: I’d nailed this girl in one.
“You’re such an ass.”
I blink rapidly. “Excuse me, did you wake up on the wrong side of the bed today?” I ask narrowing my eyes at her.
“No, I finally woke up with a backbone, actually. I am so done with men like you.”
“Men like me?” I point to my chest, tone confused. Is this girl for real right now?
“Yeah, you, and now it’s my turn. You are an old grump who’s married to his job, had a girlfriend, maybe a wife that you ignored and no matter how much she gave, you took and took and she forgave you for your shortcomings but yet you continued treating her like shit, like a complete after thought even when she supported your dreams, moved away from her family, gave up her dream school for you, you threw it all in her face when a better offer came along.”
She says the last part, making air quotations, and something about the way she talks tells me she's speaking from experience, from the heart, and it makes me feel like I may have misjudged this fiery blonde bombshell.
I hadn’t realized she was shouting until the old woman across the aisle from us scoffs. “You young ones, drama, drama, drama.”
The girl's head whips around so fast I won't be surprised if she's given herself whiplash. “Mind your business, Janet, some of us have shit going on.”
The old woman scrunches up her face in disgust. I hold up my hand, trying to calm the storm that’s brewing between them.
“I’m sorry. Don’t mind Kevin, here. She's having a rough day.”
The old woman looks at me like I have two heads and shakes her own before going back to reading her book.
“Can you quit it with the Kevin?” The girl says, shrugging my hand off her.
“Can you quit being a bitch? What did poor Janet over there do to you, and how do you know her?”
“Oh, we met at the ticket office. She cut in line, and I almost missed the train. I don’t know if her name is Janet, but she looks like a Janet.”
“How does she look like a Janet” I ask, gesturing to the woman in question.
“I can't explain it, she just does. Don’t you ever look at someone and think yes, they look like. Janet, a Steve or a Linda?”
“No, I can’t say that I have.” I stare at her with utter fascination; this girl is a whirlwind.
“Come on then. What’s my name?” I gesture with open arms. “Give it your best shot.”
She looks me up and down, and my eyes zone in on her pouty lips and the way she runs her tongue along her perfectly straight teeth, and I let my mind wonder how her tongue would feel on my—”
