#2
By the time I look up from my folder, the sun has fallen down the sky and the hallway is quiet.
I glance at the clock and realize it’s nine forty-two; an hour past the grand opening.
Shit.
After locking everything inside my desk, I rush down to my car.
Sliding behind the wheel, I turn on a film review podcast and drive onto the road.
“That’s what I’m saying, Harold…” The host whines. “I almost walked out of the theater on this one. The acting was soooo bad, the spicy scenes were cringeee, and don’t get me started on the fake six-pack abs and costumes!”
The moment I reach a stoplight, I pick up my phone and search for a better option to listen to. As I’m mentally debating between a news show and a luxury car showcase, my left rear door opens.
What the hell?
I look up at my rearview mirror, spotting a blur of sparkling blue fabric tumbling into my backseat.
I blink a few times, making sure that I’m not imagining a goddamn stranger getting into my car. Without permission.
Suddenly, the blue fabric shifts, and a woman with the most stunning face I’ve ever seen is panting like she just got done running a marathon.
Her hazel eyes are glimmering under the car’s low red lighting, her heart-shaped lips are beckoning me to turn around and taste them, and the more I look at her, the more I understand the phrase “the type of beauty men launch bombs over.”
Opening her mouth, she reveals a pair of white fangs.
Okay. I must be hallucinating.
“Oh my God, please drive!” She slams the door shut. “I’ll give you an extra twenty bucks as a tip, but you have to speed off now.”
“Excuse me?”
“Okay, I’ll make it thirty bucks.” She buckles her seatbelt. “But that’s all I can afford right now.”
“Do I look like a goddamn cab driver to you?”
“No, but you’re obviously my Uber driver, so…” She looks to her right. “Can we go?”
“Beautiful as hell or not,” I say, “no. Get the hell out of my car.”
“But I already paid for this ride!” She holds up her phone as if that proves anything. “Please, just drive!”
“You have the wrong car.” I shift the gear into park. “Don’t make me ask you to get out again.”
“Are you sure about that?” Her eyes meet mine in the rearview mirror, confirming that they’re the sexiest hue I’ve ever seen. “You’ve got a few seconds to think on it before I give you a one-star review.”
I start to repeat my demand, but she suddenly arches her back against my seat, giving me an even better view of her beautiful face.
And her body…
The “fangs” slide from her mouth and into a case, and then she snatches an orange glittering “Halloween Drama Fest” lanyard from around her neck.
Before I can get out and open the back door for her, a black blur on my right catches my attention.
It’s two men, and they’re rushing toward my car.
I slip back inside and lock the doors.
“No, no, no…” The woman gasps as she unbuckles her seatbelt, slumping down to the floorboard.
“Hey! Hey!” One of the men taps on my window. “Open up!”
I crack it slightly.
“Yes?” I ask. “May I help you?”
“I hope so,” he says. “Did you happen to see a woman in a pretty blue dress run out here just now?”
“No.”
“Are you sure?” His friend pipes in. “She would’ve been very hard to miss, and there are only a few cars out here.”
“My answer was no. It’s still no.”
“Okay, then.” The first guy narrows his eyes and holds out a business card. “If you happen to see her pop up on the streets ahead, give me a call.”
I let his card linger through the cracked window, not making a move to take it.
It slips from his fingers and falls onto my seat.
He and his friend rush to the car that’s stalled right ahead of me.
The gray Corolla with the yellow “I Love Uber” bumper sticker.
I crank my engine and pull into the other lane, driving five blocks before picking up the card.
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“Oh my God, thank you!” The woman moves back onto the seat. “Your thirty-dollar tip is back on the table again.”
“I don’t need any money from you.”
“It’s my pleasure, and you deserve it. You helped me out back there.”
“I’d rather give you a tip instead.”
“Really?”
“Yes.”
“How much?”
“A negative fucking hundred, which is the same level as your survival skills.” I look at her through the rearview mirror. “You’re locked in a car with a stranger who literally told you he wasn’t your Uber driver.”
“Okay, that’s it.” She groans. “I’m not sure what title you want me to call you, but…”
She taps her phone’s screen a few times, and her face pales as the next light ahead turns red.
“Oh my God...” she mutters. “I am... I’m really in the wrong car.”
“No shit.” I take a long look at her exposed thighs. “Where was he supposed to take you?”
“Nowhere.” She looks toward the window. “Can you let me out at the corner up there?”
“Don’t try to save your life now.” I hold back a laugh. “Where are you headed?”
She tugs on my door handle, but it doesn’t give. Then she pulls a glittering stiletto from her bag and holds it up high—like she’s about to break my window with it.
I immediately slam the brakes.
“I wish you fucking would…”
“Okay, I believe you, sir.” Her eyes are wide as she clings to the seat. “I can now see that this is a Porsche GT3 and not a Toyota Corolla.”
“Those two cars have never looked similar.”
“Yes, well.” She swallows, and I instantly save that image to my memory bank.
“I’m not ready to die,” she says, “so just let me out and I won’t tell the cops on you for kidnapping me.”
“Your legal skills are even worse than your survival ones.” I press the gas again and realize she’s actually terrified.
“I’m not interested in making you feel any pain,” I say. “That’s not my style—outside the bedroom anyway.”
“Wait, what?”
“I said, you can trust me.”
“That’s not what you—” Her voice trails off for a second, as if she might’ve misheard my words. “Why should I believe anything you say?”
“Because at this very moment, you really don’t have a choice…”
She tugs on the door again, as if something has changed.
“What’s your address?” I ask. “I’m feeling quite generous tonight.”
“I wasn’t going home just yet,” she says. “I was running from...I mean, I’m going home eventually, but I listed two other stops first.”
I’m confused as to why she’s telling me this.
“They’re all in lower Manhattan—pretty close to where I live. So, are you feeling generous enough to drive me to those too, or should I rebook with a real Uber?”
“You should rebook with a real fucking Uber,” I say. “I’m willing to take you home and that’s it. Take it or leave it.”
“I’ll leave it.” She huffs. “Let me out of this car.”
“Gladly.” I pull over into the first open space I see.
Then I step out and walk to the back, opening the door.
Grabbing her things, she gets out and avoids looking directly at me like I’ve done something wrong.
I look her over—again and again—still stunned that she’s this fucking beautiful.
“Thank you so much for being such a gentleman, sir,” she says, her eyes on the buildings behind me.
“You’re very welcome.” I smile. “Thank you for saving me an unnecessary trip. I appreciate it.”
“Ugh. Really?” She shakes her head, looking like she’s waiting for me to apologize or re-offer her the expired deal.
“Make sure you’ve grabbed everything from my backseat.” I point to the left. “Then step onto the sidewalk over there.”
She rolls her eyes and steps back, but then she looks over her shoulder and her face pales to a ghostly white.
Gasping, she jumps back into my car, diving headfirst to the floorboard.
“I’ll take it, I’ll take it!” She screams. “Just take me home, please!”
I stare at her as she adjusts her position, as she exposes a small blue butterfly tattoo that’s inked between her thighs, right below where she’s wearing a pair of black lace panties.
Fuck…
I look to where she was glancing down the street and don’t see anyone, but I decide to be nice and renew my offer.
Just this once.
Shutting the back door, I slide behind the wheel and pull onto the road again.
I manage to drive two miles before I realize that this woman is still crouched on the floorboard, and she still hasn’t given me her address.
I’ll give her twenty more seconds.