Not Too Bad

by Doreen F.

You won’t believe what happened to me yesterday. I had an exhausting day at university and was really looking forward to coming home. And I was also mad that I had forgotten to take a book with me that day. Usually I spend the whole journey on the train reading. As it turned out, I could not have been luckier, but I had yet to find out.

It was a hot day and the train was delayed due to construction work in one of the other stations. I had plenty of time to kill and nothing to do, but watch the people around me. Suddenly I noticed a really cute guy, who was talking on the phone and seemed very agitated. He was speaking Spanish, a language I knew very well, so I could overhear parts of the conversation like putas lentillas y puta cuidad, which was more like cursing than anything else. As far as I could make out something was wrong with his contact lenses, but did not know what.



I noticed that after some heated last words, this gorgeous Latin-looking guy had finished the call. I did not want to stare at him too obviously although he was definitely worth more than a good look. Then I heard a nearly inaudible announcement about my train leaving from another platform and they also showed it on the monitors. 
He did not seem to fully understand it and since I was the person closest to him, he asked, “Excuse me, I didn’t quite catch what the announcement was about, could you please tell me.”
“Of course, erh… they said that the train towards Bath which should arrive at this platform, is going to arrive at different platform. Here, they also show it on the screens.”
“Thank you. Unfortunately I just lost one of my contact lenses, so I cannot read that. Could you show me where this other platform is?”
“Sure, I’m going there anyway. Sorry about your contact lenses, I know they can be a pain…that’s why I don’t usually wear them.”
I was leading the way to the other platform.
“I didn’t wear them much each before I got here. But my job requires that I don’t wear glasses.”
“What kind of job’s that?”
“Well, I came here to do some modelling, but actually I’m into sports. I’m professional swimmer.”
“I can see that glasses won’t be any good there.”
“Yes, but today I lost one contact lens while swimming. Then I was in a hurry to go downtown for a photo shooting and didn’t have time to pick up my glasses. It would not be that bad, but it was my last pair of contacts.”
“I see. But are you here for training or…?”
“Yes, mainly. My trainer moved to the new aquatic centre here and since they have much better facilities than back home in Spain, I had hardly any choice.”
“I thought you were Spanish, when I heard you on the phone.”
“You heard me cursing? Hablas espańol?”
“Si, por supuesto.”
“So you probably heard that I am not very happy here.”
“Yeah, you could say that. Was this only because of your contacts or was there anything else.”
“My girlfriend broke up with me, when I left and now I heard that she has a new boyfriend, a friend of mine. I don’t know anybody here except my trainer and now I lost mi puta lentilla.”
Out train arrived eventually and we got on it.
“Where do you live?”
“In a really ugly place, but cheap, but I’ve been looking for something closer to the aquatic centre.”
“I live right next to the AquaC. A friend of mine is actually looking for someone to rent her room. She’s going to China for a year. I could ask her.”
“That would be awesome.”
“I’ll call her right away. What’s your name by the way?”
“Nicolás, y tú?”
“Roxanne, but everyone calls me Roxy.”

So I called my friend and she agreed to show Nicolás her room on the same day. He was flabbergasted.

“We could stop at your place before going there so you could pick up your glasses. There’s also an optician close to the train station. If you know what strength you need, you could order new contact lenses there.”
“Yeah, my optician wrote it all down back home before I left. How come you’re so nice, Roxy? In fact, you’re the first nice person I’ve met here apart from the people I already knew.”
“I love helping people who are in need. And you seemed pretty helpless.”
“I really appreciate your help, muchas gracias.”
“De nada. Let’s get off the train now, shall we?”

We got off the train and went straight to the optician. They checked Nicolás’ eyes to make sure he got lenses of the right strength. Unfortunately they did not have them in stock. So he was told to pick them up in two days. In the meantime he would have to cope with one lens only or wear his glasses. Then we went to his accommodation so he could get his glasses before we went to see my friend’s room.

I was really curious what Nicolás would look like in glasses. When I saw him, I knew my wildest dreams had come true. He look drop-dead gorgeous and flashed me a smile.

“I’m so glad I can see properly again. I was starting to get a headache from wearing one lens only.”
“You look good in glasses.”
“So do you.”
We smiled at each other and left for my friend’s place.

Doreen F. September 2008