Great, I was stuck in the subway, dying from the heat. Another train was coming and my heart missed a beat with excitement, until I realized that it was full again!

What were my choices—being a sandwich between two sweaty men or waiting for another one? I saw the two guys in front of me and decided that I’d wait for another one. I regretted the decision every time I made that same choice over and over again. At this rate, I won’t even make it to work today.

I just didn’t feel like it. My boss quit, well not exactly. The Feds arrested him for fraud, shit, he was a great boss. No, he was fucking brilliant. I didn’t have to get in the office before nine. At times, I could turn up at ten. I never dictated, he took care of that. He took care of all the work related things and left me to do chores. I just thought that it was because he was a perfectionist. I never thought that it was because he was up to something.

The Feds questioned me and then everyone in the office gave me that look. Everyone suspected that I had something to do with it. I’d worked for him, I must have been suspicious or at least in the loop. I worked for the guy for a year and I never knew that he was up to no good. I was too busy being lazy. Thinking that, I’m so happy that I was no longer working for John Peters, he was the CEO, but he retired hoping that his son would take over.

That’s why I was dreading going into work today. His son was now officially taking charge, Gabe Peters. I bet he was going to be just as demanding as his dad. My last boss was a walk in the park, which was why when he came to the work for the firm, I felt as if I was on a permanent vacation. Now, it was over and I would go back to the way things were before, working for a junior tyrant and probably with just as much work.

I should quit.

That was my decision of the day, if it was a case of like father like son, then I would definitely go ahead and quit.

Another subway train arrived and I was the first in line. I refused to be a sandwich, the meat in between sweaty men, because they were never hot men. Always creeps and perverts wanting to accidentally on purpose bump into me. Damnit! I was first in line but as soon as the doors opened, I was pushed to the back. I decided that the best way for me to deal with the onslaught, was to breathe through the mouth, not the nose!

I could just get on the bus and waste an hour and a half stopping at every stop and being stuck in a ridiculous amount of traffic. I didn’t want a tour of the Big Apple today, especially if I wanted to get there on time. But the way things were going, I was going to be late. I wish that I could get a taxi, but I couldn’t afford that, either. Living in NY was expensive, and the prices just keep increasing, unlike my salary.

Then they all do the one thing that I hated more than olives, more than avocado and even more than cheese. They stood right near the door. All of a sudden, I went from being the first, to the last being able to get on the train.

Why didn’t they ever move down the train?

I was out of breath, tired and already thinking about which agency to join in my search for a new job. Mr. Peters had already told me about his son. I knew that he was a tyrant, but I could only hope that he was exaggerating about him. No one could be as bad as Mr. Peters. I doubted that was even possible. He used to say things like, “Jasmine, if you think I’m hard then you should try working for my son.”

There was always someone quitting every single week. They always seemed to hand in their notice and Mr. Peters would say, “They’re useless. Thank God you’re a hard worker. Otherwise, you would be joining the bunch of losers.”

He said that after his wife handed in her notice as the CFO. I was surprised that they were still married, then again, she said living with him was completely different than working with him. It must be, because after forty years, she never filed for a divorce.

Why did they insist on standing near the doors? There were spaces behind them. What was it with people on the subway? Was it only the ones with no common sense that got on the train? They had the mentality of thinking that, because they were getting off at the next stop, they needed to stand near the doors. So, they did it because they didn’t care. It was convenient for them and fuck everyone else!

“Hey. Can you please move up. I really need to get up,” I said it politely and as sincerely as I could possibly be, but in New York style she pretended that she never heard me.

I repeated it, but louder just so that she would get the point about moving up.

Again, nothing!

Time was running out. Any minute they were going to, but I decided that I was going to get on the train and she wasn’t going to stop me. I pushed her further into the train, seeing as she didn’t want to listen and was too obnoxious to hear.

“I didn’t want to move up because I’m getting off at the next stop!”

I started to argue with her, “No one else can get on?”

I was saying the obvious which seemed too much for her little brain.

“I’m on, so it makes perfect sense.”

With my body hurting from my first yoga class last night, and the panic of the door shutting, I was growing redder by the minute. This is when I noticed him, with his dark hair and matching features.

“Look, she’s right; you guys need to move up. Just makes things easier,” he said calmly, but that wasn’t the real sound that was playing in my ear. It was sweet music that was making my whole body tingle.

It was as if he had a magical effect on her, because before she could even react, the hottie, the one that saved the day pushed them, and we were all safely on the train.

I looked at my knight in shining armor. He allowed me to get close to him so that we could both fit on the train. That never happens to me. I was the girl that was invisible. The one that never got any attention. But here I was the attention of the hottest guy on the train. I wished that it was Groundhog Day so that I could just have this happen over and over again. I wanted to scream. No, I wanted to kiss him, just to thank him for making my one wish come true. For being that man I read about in fairy tales.

I was standing next to him. That was good enough for me, but then he wanted to talk. I felt like high-fiving someone. Anyone, just so that it never ended.

Mr. Hotness said, “Can I take you out for a coffee or something?”

I tried to turn to see if he was speaking to someone else.

“Sorry?”

I thought that maybe my ears were deceiving me. He rescued me, and I must have pinched myself because now he was asking me out.

“I’m getting off the next stop, so I’ll say it again real fast. Do you want to go out for coffee?”

“With me?”

I sounded like a teenager that was being asked to the Prom.

The train stopped, and he said, “Yes, with you. Here’s my card. Call me.”

I was nodding my head like a bobble-head doll. My mouth was wide open as if I was trying to catch flies. He never asked for my number, he just gave me his.

What did that mean?

I wish I could call one of the girl’s and ask them, but I swore off men, after I dumped poor Kevin. The guy that I thought I would spend the rest of my days with until I realized that I was living a lie. He wasn’t the guy for me. I certainly wasn’t the girl for him. I wasn’t happy and kept that fake smile on my face for as long as I could. Especially in the bedroom. Even then Kevin was still sweet, still gentle and all I wanted to do was be taken.

I was fucked as if it was going out of fashion when I first came to NY. It was so easy to do it back then. A wink and a smile and a guy was taking you back to his place. It was exciting, something that a small town girl like me had never experienced. But then I was brought back to reality when I started to work for Mr. Peters. I stopped going out and having a life. But with my new boss, Jailbird John is his nickname in the office, I started to live life again.

As we came to a stop and I descended off the train, I managed to look at the card properly as everyone pushed past me desperate to get out of the subway. I felt as if time had stood still. I put the card in my purse, thinking that maybe the light was messing around with my eyesight and I didn't see clearly.

That was until I got out of the subway. I was pushing and shoving everyone. The same thing that they were doing to me. Not so that I could get to work, but just to see if it was the dim lighting from the subway or if I’d seen the name correctly.

Holy crap, his name was Gabe Peters!

What were the chances of my new boss having the same name as my knight in shining armor? Next to none. Which meant that my knight in shining armor was most likely to be a thorn in my side and there would be nothing shiny about him.