There is this woman. She is young, but frown lines mark her beaten, exhausted face. She is sitting on the B train, two stops away from the hectic life she lives. She would take her own car, but the train is the only time she is at peace. She is a businesswoman in a world of businessmen. Always striving to be a step ahead so she won’t get left behind. Always taking on extra jobs to prove herself as if she hasn’t already done that through her degree from Harvard and her quick rise to the top. She is serious and strong, but her eyes are a sea of compassion and sympathy; something she sees as both a strength and weakness. She sits alone on the train, as she does in her apartment – although she rarely has time to sit in her apartment. It is simply a docking station to sleep and brew her black coffee every morning. She thought about getting a dog to fill the silence, but she ultimately decided that her lifestyle wouldn’t be fair to it; it needs more love than that.

One.

More.

Stop.

She is ready for today, but something is pulling her attention away from the manilla folder grasped tightly by her ringless and unpainted fingers. She’s thinking of all she could be doing: reading, writing, sitting in the park letting the sun beat down on her pale skin. But not today. Today she has a meeting to decide “the future of the company!” as her overly enthusiastic boss puts it. Really it’s just about who is getting fired and who is lucky enough to stay another day. Don’t get her wrong. She loves her job and it’s exactly where she pictured herself being. She just can’t help but wonder what it would be like to camp out on the train for two more stops and get off at Central Park where laughing children play, and young lovers stroll hand-in-hand.

But then the door opens and she slinks out; leaving her secret and wondrous daydreams behind.