Sitting in a Starbucks on 23rd and 7th in New York. A man sat uneasily at the table in front waiting for someone. His staring at the door made me uncomfortable. About 10 minutes he waited. His face was old, older than my father. His hair was mostly gone but what was left was white. His eyes watered – from tears or from alcohol?
At 7:32 she came through the door. She couldn’t have been much older than I was. He was making apologies to her, asking her where she wanted to sit. She was despondent and didn’t speak for the first five minutes. She held her hands tightly and sat still.
He spoke in whispers, most of it sounded Russian. I expected her to speak Russian but she had perfect English. His accent was definitely Eastern European.
Through the conversation I only heard her side. He had told her to “fuck-off” at some point. That she was scared of him. That something had brought them to this point. Something about how he followed her everywhere.
I did not think it was her father or her lover. If he was her stalker why would she agree to meet with him?
He apologized with his hands and eyes. He over-apologized with words. It was clear to me that he had gone too far and she was not going to let it be better. She was done. Whatever was between them, she was done.
Ok, so why this story about eavesdropping? I guess these are just my favorite moments. All these interactions happening between people at all times. The stories of our lives and how they interact.