The Newly Wed Game

I like to sit in the lobbies of buildings and watch the couples come and go. I like it the way I like watching movies with sad endings. I imagine what they must be like, the kind of people they are. How they met each other. Why they love each other. It depresses me every time. It depresses me because I always come up with stories of how they met a long time ago, and had so many things in common then, and they used to look a lot more attractive, in general and to each other. And as time passed, they got lazy, both with their interests and their looks. They stopped going out as often. Except for their once a week date to the same old bar. And birthdays and anniversaries and holidays are the same tired story every year. And it's just a countdown to divorce or children, whichever comes first. They both started to recede into themselves, happy that they at least found someone. Happy they didn't end up alone, content that they have someone they can rely on, but ignoring the part of their soul crying out for passion. For love. They do more things on their own, more of their lives are secrets from each other. Not even for any particular reason, it's not as if they're cheating. He is an internet expert on airline crashes, she frequently is at bars hitting on girls - not because she's a lesbian, but because she likes knowing she can still attract people, without it 'technically' being cheating. They have sex once a week, on Sunday afternoon (because usually they have no other plans then) - it stopped being making love a long time ago. It's just mechanical, their lie they tell themselves that things are still okay.

Just before they leave my sight, just before the elevator door closes and they leave my life forever, I hope that I'm wrong, and that things will work out (or that maybe they're just brother and sister). But I never really believe it to be true.