by Claude Samton
The Q train runs north through SoHo at high speed to the newly built Second Avenue Subway stations on 72nd, 86th, and 96th Street. Within twenty minutes I can be at my ophthalmologist’s office on East 70th Street. Generally I get a seat, although going to see the doctor last month, I stood up. Seated facing me was an attractive well-dressed woman.
She looked up and said,
“Hi, Claude, how are you?”
“Fine,” I said, not recognizing her.
“Are you still in your loft on Mercer Street?”
“Yes, I answered.”
“And how are your sons?” She asked.
‘They live in Brooklyn,” I responded without any idea who she was.
I began to feel uncomfortable as she asked, “Are you still seeing that woman?” Obviously she knew me quite well. She then remarked about her wonderful memories of SoHo.
Finally, looking for some sign of recognition, I asked her,
“So what are you up to these days?’’
“Oh, the same thing I’ve always been doing.” she said.
Just then, it was my stop and I got off the train.
Now, a month later, I still have no clue who she was.
Claude Samton has been an architect, photographer, and more recently a writer and illustrator of nine books listed on Amazon Books.