1.4 Sydney

Sydney figured he was one of the best looking men she had seen in a very long time. It didn't matter that he was pretty much soaked from the nasty weather. He was tall, first off. At least 6' 3". Broad shoulders, twinkling eyes that smiled, a fabulous suit, and clean-shaven head. Oh she loved that look - a lumberjack in a suit.

"Is that a good thing or a bad thing?" He asked her.

Sydney was caught off guard. “He's talking to me!” she thought. “Does he know I like lumberjacks in suits? Oh. No. Right. I must look like one of those ridiculous crackberry addicts. Ugh and I'm wearing flip flops! And my hair is out of control!”

"Oh it's fine,” she managed to say. “That wasn't work, that was chatting with a friend. I'm not THAT addicted!"

Sydney’s mind was on overload. “I'm babbling,” she thought. “Absolutely babbling. Get a grip, flash him a smile, act like you're calm, cool, and collected.”

She smiled and was rewarded with a return smile that made something go "ping!" somewhere in the pit of her stomach.

"Hey no need to explain," he said. "I feel naked without mine, but I'm switching jobs so I don't have one right now. Hopefully today."

“Naked,” she thought. “He said naked. Oh he'd look fine naked.”

“Snap out of it Syd!” her inner voice screamed.

"A new job? That's exciting! Nerve-wracking though, I bet." Sydney was reaching for something to say. This man was overwhelming! Where was her head? Where was the train?

He chuckled a little and looked slightly embarrassed. "Yeah, I'm pretty nervous. It's funny because it's not like I'm fresh out of school and it's my first job. But I guess you never stop caring about making a good first impression, y'know?"

Sydney could relate. And at the moment she was re-thinking the flip flops AND the plaid umbrella, wondering what kind of first impression she was making.

She nodded in agreement. "For sure. I've only been in my job for a few months. On my first day I felt like a schoolgirl!"

At this point the train finally arrived, and the sodden, steaming mass of commuters crowded for the doors. Sydney was caught with the crowd and found herself wedged in between a large woman with several shopping bags, and a man with a stroller and a couple of small children.

Mystery TTC-guy was across the car. It was too far to talk to him, so she merely looked up and smiled and shrugged, looking around her. He chucked and smiled knowingly back. It was going to be a squishy ride into the city.

As they chugged along through some of Sydney's favourite neighbourhoods, she noticed that only a couple of people got off as dozens seemed to get on at each stop. It reminded her of that joke where a kid tells you that you're the driver of a bus, and several people get on or off at each stop. You struggle to keep up with the math, and at the end the kid asks you who the driver of the bus is. It's supposed to catch grownups every time.

Mystery TTC-guy was struggling to maintain his balance, obviously not yet having perfected his "buffalo stance" as a friend called it. She felt sorry for him, as he looked almost as uncomfortable as she felt. Both of the little kids at her feet were now whining, and the big lady was in the process of re-arranging her bags, seemingly unaware that Sydney’s shoulder would not move regardless of how hard she shoved her elbow into it.

Finally, Yonge station. Maybe he'd get off here and she'd be able to talk to him some more. Sydney was once again caught up in the stream leaving the subway car, but as soon as she was able to stand up against the press of commuters, she turned around to see if she could see where he was.

But it was not to be. Instead, she saw him wave and smile as the train pulled away and headed towards Bay Street station.
“Aaaaaaaand, we’re done,” Sydney thought, shaking her head wryly.