Looking at Each Other

I like catching couples looking at each other. Well, I like it when I'm in a crowd, and I catch one member of a couple looking at another quietly. There was a man on the train today whose mouth turned into a permanent scowl. I was looking at him and wondering if it would be easier or harder to go through life with such a hard default expression. But then he glanced at the woman with him, and his face brightened. Just like that. There was a slight upturn to the lips, and his eyes widened a tad. It was subtle, but it was there. She didn't notice.

Of course, there are other times when I've caught such a look and wondered if such feelings would be reciprocated. Sometimes, one looks at another with more longing and more hope than they'll ever find returned in another's eyes. Catching that is not a pleasant feeling.

But today, I didn't have that feeling. For whatever reason, I thought she'd feel the same if she'd caught his eyes in hers.