SHOULD I FAKE A FLAT?

The ride is over, and I am close to home.

I am riding up to a light.

It turns red.

I stop.

I know you are not supposed to listen to strangers’ conversations, but there are times it is impossible.

No matter how hard I work at not listening, I seem to listen even more.

I am at a light, it is quiet, and they are standing a metre away.

They know I am there, but I may as well be a light post.

I do not exist for them.

Usually, I hear the odd word.

A few keywords, and I can figure out the topic.

Then there are times when I hear everything.

I do not have a choice.

It is right there.

It is in the open.

It happened this afternoon.

I was at a light, and a couple came from around the corner.

I could hear the conversation before I saw them.

It was loud, with lots of back and forth.

It was also animated.

I never looked at them directly.

I know it was a girl and a guy.

I don’t know what they looked like.

They were immersed.

It was good.

Really good.

Kind of messy.

‘It is not her, you have to meet him, he is…’

‘Cops,’ ‘keys,’ ‘a club,’ and ‘bar tab,’ were just some of the keywords.

I was keeping an eye on the light and thinking my time was limited.

The story, aka ‘him,’ is getting better and better.

I knew the light was going to change soon.

For once, I wished it would last longer.

I was right into it.

I was even bouncing around a few questions in my head.

The light changed to yellow.

Dam!

Then, as the light changed to green, her friend asked the exact question I was asking in my head.