Cosy commute

In a shocking twist on normal events, this morning I was running slightly late for work. It was one of those days where, even though I knew full well I was running late, I still dawdled through my usual routine, staying in bed far too long, brushing my teeth quite slowly and being indecisive about my outfit. Consequently, once I was en route, I knew I had no time to spare. I scampered across to the tube, trotted briskly down the escalator, and saw with some dismay that the northbound platform was fairly packed. Undeterred, I strode down to my customary spot, ready to disembark at the other end perfectly in line with my destination stop's exit to street level, and took my place at the appropriate huddle of fellow commuters, waiting for the next train. It came. It left. I remained behind the yellow line. There hadn't been a hope in hell of getting on. The next one pulled up a couple of minutes later and I saw a tiny foothole where I thought I could pop my dainty size tens. Assuming a waif-like demeanour, I stepped up onto the carriage floor and levered myself in. The nice lady in front of me tried to be accommodating, but there was nowhere for her to go. She was facing in to the rammed carriage, with her back to me, so all I could do was spoon her, almost resting my head on her shoulder to avoid being decapitated by the curve of the closing doors. We remained in this intimate position for one stop, when things calmed down a bit and we could find our own tiny pocket of space with less physical contact. And really, it hadn't been that bad. What was weird, however, was that when the train arrived at my destination, she too disembarked. And above ground, I saw her again, walking just ahead of me in her distinctive little blue hat. My interest piqued, I carried on monitoring where she was going and it wasn't long before we both walked into the building where I work, and got into the same lift, and got out at the same floor. I'd never noticed her before, and there are several hundred people who work on this floor, but I felt acutely aware that the fact that we'd been snuggling together only a few minutes earlier suddenly seemed a lot more inappropriate. Oh well.