Already 5 minutes late and nothing to show for it. If anything else happened to slow her down, she was going to miss her bus. Then, the only options would be running to catch the bus at its next stop, which would be impossible in her suit, or wait 20 minutes for the next bus that would make her even more late for work.
If she could run in her sensible one inch heels she would, even if she would look like an absolute nutter.
“Get moving, Darra. You can’t be late.” She muttered under her breath.
Somehow she made it to the bus before it left. Winded from how fast she had been walking she hurried up the steps of the bus. Making her way back to her usual seat, she tried to slow down her breathing.
Plopping into her seat the bus surged forward, the gentle jostling a familiar friend.
“You almost didn’t make it.” The woman across the aisle leaned forward. “You’ll have to thank that sweet man up there for stalling the driver long enough for you to get on.”
“What?”
The woman nodded up at a man who looked as out of place as she did in his nice black suit. It was so black it almost seemed to repel any of the bus’s dirt away from him.
“He’s new.” Darra noted.
The woman nodded with a coy smile as she leaned back into her seat. “It’s nice to have a change of scenery every once in a while on my way to work.”
Darra chuckled, winking at her chatty neighbor. “Hopefully it’s not just a one time thing.” She continued to glance up at her rescuer, wishing she had known that sitting up at the front of the bus today would have been in her best interest.
Sitting all the way back where she was, there was no way for her to make it up to where he was sitting without being obvious. As she was sternly resigning herself to never meeting the man, he glanced back her way.
When his gaze landed on her, he smiled softly and gave a small nod. Darra nodded back while simultaneously trying to keep her returning grin from bursting into a full-on maniacal smile. Her thrilled surprise quickly turned to shock when he stood and made his way to the seat right next to her.
He stuck out his hand. “I’m Keith.”
“Darra.”
“I’m glad you were able to make it in time. You headed to work?”
Darra nodded. “I am. Though I hear I also have you to thank for being able to make it. If you hadn’t stalled him I would have been so late. How did you manage? Phil is usually completely non-responsive when I try to get him to talk.”
Keith leaned closer. “I didn’t give him a choice. I’ve learned that when I talk as though I assume that people will do what I am saying, they will.”
“So what, you told him that he was going to hold the bus until I could make it on?”
“No. I expected him to show me his credentials and license to ensure that I wanted to get on the bus at all.” He shrugged.
“He showed you?”
“He did. And every time he moved to start the bus I would ask him a question about what I was reading. It wasn’t hard to come up with plenty of questions since I don’t know a thing about bus credentials. He was definitely interested in making sure I wasn’t upset.”
I laughed softly.
“And don’t worry. From what I could tell, he is a great bus driver.”
“I know.” Darra laughed again. “I’ve been taking this bus to work for 3 years now and have never had a problem with Phil’s driving, my only problem with the bus is my own lack of punctuality.”
“3 years, that is a long time to have the same bus driver. Don’t they ever switch routes? I’d get bored of it.”
“Why? Do you take different buses to get to work because you are bored?” Darra smiled to take a tiny bit of the sting out of her words.
He took it graciously. “Point taken. Especially since this is my first time on this bus.”
“New job or new place?”
Darra could see the woman across the aisle lean closer to hear his answer.
“Both.” Keith smiled. “I moved from California and start my job today.”
“Where at?” The woman across the aisle asked.
Keith looked startled as he looked over his shoulder at the woman. “Oh hello.”
Had he forgotten that there were other people on the bus?
“I’m Keith.” He held out his hand to her.
“Margaret.”
“I start work at Dynamic Enterprises.”
“Oh wonderful!.” Margaret cooed. “I work there too.”
“Really. It’s great to already know a coworker. I look forward to working with you.” Keith’s attention returned to Darra. “And where do you work?”
“A few blocks over. It’s a small accounting firm, NCPA.”
“Would you mind if I walk with you?
Darra sat up straighter. “I wouldn’t mind at all.”
Margaret interjected. “She gets off one stop before ours. You might be late if you get off too soon.”
“Thank you, Margaret. It is so kind of you to let me know. If that is the case,” He faced Darra again with a smile and a wink. “Then I will need to walk a little faster after I see Miss Darra to her place of work.”
“I don’t want to make you late, especially on your first day.” Darra hedged. “We can always talk more on the bus tomorrow.”
She could see him hesitating and she realized that she was holding her breath.
“I’ll concede today because I don’t know how long it will take me to get to work from my stop. Tomorrow though, I plan to walk with you.” After a moment’s pause he added, “If that is alright with you.”
At Darra’s nod, he leaned back into his seat a little more. “It’s a date.” He declared.
And Darra was happy to realize that she wasn’t inclined to tell him that it wasn’t.
