On the Subway

The New York subway has a way of bringing people together—pairing a figure delivering a political speech in the background with a street musician playing a hurdy-gurdy, the rich with the poor, or a successful leading consultant heading to a meeting with a young art journalism intern who is on her way back to the newsroom after filing a quick on-site report, all the while wondering where she might pick up the trail of Benji Kim. She has no idea that the young lady standing right next to her—a stranger until now—knows by heart the very address and phone number she would give anything to possess. Nor does Jenni realize that her path is about to cross with this likable person standing beside her. In any case, Jenni would have preferred to stay at the office; after all, her absence is the perfect opportunity for the rumor mill to keep churning.