Sandwiched Hearts: A Sublime Subway Story

 

Sandwiched Hearts:

A Sublime Subway Story

 

“The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single footlong.”

-            Sub Tzu, from The Art of Sauce.

 

Chapter 1:

It’s been a whole year. I am not proud of what I did. Did I have a choice? I would say yes. However, if I could go back, I wouldn’t hesitate to do it all over again…

Broken hearts, bread gone bad: this is a story of blood, sweat, tears, salt, pepper, vinegar, mustard, veggie patty, and little bit of ketchup. But enough about my subway order, let’s get right into the meat.

 

Chapter 2:

T’was a cold, melancholy Tuesday. My hands had become numb from the icy grip of the ever-transitioning weather…I grew tired. Searching for the tiniest bit of warmth to free me from my hypothermic, invisible prison, I barged into a fast-food joint. Unaware of the franchise I had just stumbled into, I could’ve never predicted that my existence was to change forever!

The frost from my leather clad boots crackled like the oily fries behind the counter as I entered through the door. Aromas of honey-oat, melted cheddar, and ranch dressing bombarded my nostrils; they were like an invitation from food heaven. Unfortunately, it paled in comparison to the beauty of what stood behind the counter… Flawless, bronze skin, dressed amazingly. If I were to be a bit more crude, one could even say smoking hot. Every customer retreated from the counter with a smirk from the cheesy lines.

Before I knew it, my unsteady legs had begun their steady march towards the ordering counter, undenounced to even my own brain. I will never forget those moments that followed…

 

Chapter 3:

Air sprinted through my lungs, and I felt myself lose control of my thoughts. Sweat fell from my temples as I had fallen for what I saw before me. I had never been that nervous before! I froze when my lower limbs finally parked my body in front of that counter. Yes, I was more nervous than I had ever been; but, something about that single point in time felt so right…

My eyes were locked and still, but my body was shaking. At that moment, I knew my whole life had been leading me up to it. Sneakily, a smile creeped onto my face as I witnessed what would be the love of my life:

THE PERFECT SUBWAY SANDWICH!

Unfortunately, I had to speak to this girl in order to get my hands onto the sandwich. “She seems alright, I guess. A bit annoying that I have to make human contact to be with my love though…”, I remember thinking at the time.

 

Chapter 4:

The next five minutes were a blur. No external stimulus caught my attention but the sole, soulful sandwich that stood opposed to me: not the poking particulates of frost within my trench coat, not the sound of the ovens that spewed out other (quite average) sandwiches, and certainly not the girl in front of me.

If I remember it right, she was talking to me. How would I know? I was too busy gazing at the melted cheese that relaxed over the crispy veggie patty and burned lettuce…Its glistening golden onions and smokey olives seemed to be entranced in a dance. The bread was simply immaculate. I was left speechless. Unfortunately, that woman was not.

I read her name tag as she rambled, it read Olive T. G. Curry.

 “Nice name,” I interrupted. Her face flushed and morphed into a red gradient as she blushed. “I’m Hungary- Wait no my name is hungry, I am from Kristof- WAIT NO!” To my surprise, Olive could understand me. She acknowledged my hunger for the sandwich and took my order. It was her following sentence that truly changed our lives forever!

 

Chapter 5:

It all happened so fast. I didn’t know what I had done at the time… Well, I actually knew one thing: one of my life-long dreams had come true at that moment! A dream shared by all young, optimistic, (slightly health conscious), and naïve boys. Although, when it came to the situation of my fortunate personage, that naïve pipe dream turned to reality.

Those magical words uttered by Olive were: “Hey by the way, if you give us your phone number, we would be able to offer you a discount on all subway orders for the next year as a part of our loyalty program.”

…

PURE BLISS! That is all I felt when I absorbed those syllables.

“Seriously? Discounts on every order!”

“Yes sir, every single order,” she replied.

Without hesitation, I blurted out my phone number. That was the moment that I knew… I knew then that she was the one… She was all I needed in life- when it came to being an employee at Subway.

 

1 Month Later

 

Chapter 6:

A month later I had found myself visiting that franchise every other day. Almost daily, I was greeted by Olive, who asked me about my day and took my order. There were constants and variables throughout our many encounters (my background in IT engineering spills into my narration). The constants: every visit was filled with charming banter between myself and Olive and ingestion of a heavenly sandwich also filled with olives. Trust me, I never missed an opportunity to crack a joke regarding cannibalism while I consumed those olive induced sandwiches. The variables? Every conversation that occurred between the two of us progressively grew more personal…

As time passed, Olive learned about my family, my profession, my passions, and hobbies. I was never a man that overshared, but something about her sandwiches shattered my social walls! Although, at the time, I did not notice that she had extracted so much information from me. How could I? I was entranced by the rich and prodigious flavours packed inside every single subway sandwich.

 

 

1 Additional Month Later

 

Chapter 7:

Life was never better. After becoming increasingly acquainted with Olive’s sandwiches, I started hanging out with the sandwich synthesizer. To my surprise, I found our time together very enthralling!

Then came… the storm.

After the storm passed, the streets were slightly dirty due to all the garbage that had been wrenched out of trash cans.

Then came… the metaphorical storm.

 

Chapter 8:

T’was a warm, vibrant, and exuberant Tuesday morning. Although, there was something off about Olive. Firstly, we were consuming eating breakfast at McDonald’s. We hadn’t done something so outlandish in all our time together!

“Hey, why aren’t we eating at your Subway?” I finally asked.

“We agreed about this yesterday, babe.”

Babe? What?

“We agreed that we would try something new, right honey?” she continued.

“Wait… What are you talking about? Why were we together last night? Why are you calling me babe!”

“Because… WE ARE DATING, KRISTOF!” She was screaming at me with an absolutely appalled expression on her face.

“SINCE WHEN?”

That’s when I saw her expression contort into something that would come to haunt me. Her usually upward curved lips fell for the first time and quivered, her eyes stopped glistening due to wonder and started glistening due to the arrival of tears. Bitterness and sorrow emanated from her being. I knew then that I had messed up…

 

Chapter 9:

“Please Olive, don’t be upset. Ok, yes, I have clearly messed up. I don’t know what I have done, but it is clearly not right. But please don’t leave! I need you!”

She looked up at me again.

“Yes! WHO ELSE WOULD MAKE ME SUBWAY SANDWICHES IF NOT YOU? WITH A DISCOUNT AS WELL!”

“SERIOUSLY?” Olive wailed. Tears streamed down her face as she stormed off. She didn’t even wait for the McDonald’s ice-cream! It was at that point that it hit me: “it” being a can of Red bull that Olive threw at me.

When that can of soda made contact with my scalp, I realized my mistake. In fact, my subconscious had been actively taking decisions that it knew weren’t morally right. It turned out that I had been hypnotized by the prospect of cheap Subway sandwiches. I had been partaking in the social contract of a romantic relationship the whole time, all while blinded by the smokescreen of delicious meals!

I felt terrible. Never in my life had I hurt a person to that extent… I had also lost my Subway privileges.

 

Chapter 10:

Upon reflection, I realize that I could have made more of an effort to candidly engage in normal human relations with the people around me. If only my mind was strong enough to look past my hunger, things would’ve gone differently.

Alas, all one can do is work one their own personality so that no individual is hurt that bad in the future.

As a wise man once said: “You are what you eat… so eat fresh!”

 

 

The End