“Okay, okay. I’ll be there in 25 minutes, at least. If I catch the train on time.”

“Uh, wait. You still take the train? When are you going to get your car fixed? It saves so much time and you could actually get here early. Nevermind, don’t answer that. Worry about getting here on time. I have to get back to work. I'll see you in 25 minutes.”

“Wait-” *Beep beep beep* 

‘And she hung up.’ Natalie said to herself.

Natalie had to take the train because she was issues with her car and she was scared to drive it. Some say she’s just paranoid, some say she’s smart. 

‘I hate the subway.’ she thought then rolled her eyes. She hopped on the train and it took off. She sits and closes her eyes. 

“Next stop, South Kansas City.” The train director announced.

Natalie’s eyes pop open. ‘Oh no, I got on the wrong train!’ She thought.

Then someone sits next to her and noticed her frustrated expression. 

“You okay, miss?” He asked. 

“Uh, yea.” she hesitated. “Actually, no. I’m completely awful. And unorganized, and distracted. I got on the wrong train and now I'm headed in the opposite direction of where I'm supposed to be in 20 minutes.” 

“Oh, uh, I’m sorry. Wish there was something I could do to help you out.” He replied.

“I'm probably going to get fired. Then I really won’t be able to get my car fixed. Ugh! This sucks.”

“Well I’m not trying to sound like my problems’ worse but at least you aren’t headed to your uncle’s funeral.” He said. Then looked down. 

“Oh...I’m so sorry. I uh...oh…” Natalie was speechless. She felt so bad for not thinking about how she isn’t the only person who has bad days. 

“Hey, it’s okay. Your issue is pretty bad too. My uncle died because of his bad decisions. In my opinion, he should have been there for his family. I still loved him though.” He said, “I’m Conner, by the way. Nice to meet you.”

“Oh, I’m Natalie. Nice to meet you too. Sorry, again. About your uncle.” She replied.

“Eh, it’s cool. You didn’t know.” Conner reassured her.

Natalie turned red a little and thought to herself, ‘I’m sure my boss will understand my reason for being late. Or maybe I'll just take the day off and take time to explore the city. I don’t get much time to myself anymore.’

“Whatcha thinkin’ about miss Natalie? If you don’t mind me asking.” Conner asked.

“Just wondering what I’m gonna do. I might just call in sick and have a me day.” Natalie replied. She looked at him after he looked away. ‘Wow, he’s actually cute. I didn’t notice before. I was too busy worrying about myself.’ She thought. 

Conner looked at her and realized that she had turned red. “You okay, Natalie” He asked.

“Oh, uh, yeah. I’m okay.” Natalie replied. She was going to ask for his number but was too shy. 

“Five minutes till the next stop.” The train director announced. Natalie closed her eyes and thought. Then a few minutes later, Conner tapped her shoulder.

“We are almost at my stop,” He said.

“Oh.” Natalie didn’t know what else to say.

“Well do you wanna exchange numbers? Maybe we could get some coffee sometime.” He asked.

“Oh, uh yeah.” She took out a piece of paper and tore it in half. She wrote her number on one half and gave it to Conner. She handed Conner the other piece and the pen and he wrote his number and handed it and the pen back to Natalie. Then the train stopped. 

“I might as well get off here too and wait for the next train back.” Natalie said.

“Okay. Well I have a funeral to get but I’ll call you later.” He said with a smile. 

“Okay. I’ll be expecting a call.” Natalie said then smiled. Conner left and Natalie called her boss and she took the day off. Natalie got back on the subway train back to her home. The next few weeks she kept taking the train and waited for him to call. She waited and waited. He never called. Then, 3 months later, he finally called while she was driving home from work, (she finally got her car fixed.)

“Hey Natalie. So sorry it took this long for me to call. I was busy and I felt like I might have been leading you on,”

“Wait, what do you mean leading me on? I thought you liked me?” Natalie said.

“I do to be honest but I can’t. I’m getting married in a week. I shouldn’t have flirted with you. I’m sorry.” He said with hurt in his voice.

“Oh,” She couldn’t believe her ears. The first guy she actually liked in a while and he ended up being taken. “It’s okay. I understand. Congrats on the wedding.” She finally said after a long, and kind of awkward silence.” 

“Thank you, Natalie. For being understanding and not being angry with me. Maybe we could still be friends and maybe you would like to  come to the wedding.” 

“Yeah. Of course.” Natalie replied. “Wanna go get a coffee tomorrow morning? As friends?” Natalie asked.

“Sure! I’m free at 10:00. How about you?” He replied.

“Okay see you tomorrow.” Natalie said.

“Okay. Bye.” He said then hung up. Natalie was pretty disappointed that he was getting married in a week but was happy that they could still be friends. She thought about how they had talked for a while that day and how she really liked him. Then she felt relieved. She was happy that he was happy. Even if that meant that she couldn’t be the one to make him happy. She knew that a good friend would be happy for their friend no matter what. So, she accepted that she would only be friends with Conner and nothing more. And in the end, she ended up being happy too, knowing that she did the right thing.