Running into — OK from — my ex

It’s never fun when you run into an ex.’Cause they inevitably catch you on a bad day… And even if you look good, you never look good enough. I was on a train today and sat down right next to — I mean literally knees touching and everything — a man I was seriously involved with about 6 years ago. Didn’t see him when I got on the train and hadn’t seen him since the last time I kicked him out of the house. And wow was it awkward.

I was lucky — I actually looked half-way decent. But when he tapped me on my shoulder I literally stopped breathing for a bit. Apparently we’ve been riding the same train at the same time every day for years, but we’ve never run into each other before.

Our conversation was really superficial:

Me: “So… what stop do you get off at?” (Translation — How much longer are you going to be on this damn train?)

He: “Me? Oh, just two more stops to McPherson Square.” (Translation — Yeah I’m counting too.)

Me: Oh… Cool.

I found myself digging around in my bag for stuff that wasn’t there. Trying to figure out if I snuck and turned my head and put on some lip gloss would it be too obvious…

Of course it would, Erin. He’s already been looking in your face for 5 minutes. He will notice the hot pink gloss.

Damn. You’re right, self.

Exhale. No matter how curious you are about what the other person has been up to, or how good/bad the split was, running into an ex is never pleasant. It’s like [insert super-appropriate analogy]. I’m hoping I don’t run into him again. But please believe that I’m gonna step my Metro fashion game up.

Just in case ;)