Chapter 5 Lewis
She stalled?”
I nod as I lower my cup onto the coffee table.
Lane swung by to work on his screenplay, and I left him to it, until finally I couldn’t hold back anymore and ended up spilling.
I needed to share the horror story with someone, and I’m hoping that, with a little luck, this will be the nudge he needs to see the light.
“Yup. She actually stalled.” I decide to go heavy. “Absolute disgrace, dude!”
The door swings open, and Adam steps out of his room. “Is he still telling that story? Seriously, man. Stop obsessing.”
“Who’s obsessed?”
I glance up. Donovan just got home, Carrie hovering at his elbow.
“He had his first session with Firebird on Monday—and guess what?” Adam pauses for effect. “She stalled. Today’s Friday, and he’s still hung up on it. I’m so over this guy.”
Don’s eyebrows shoot up. “She stalled?”
“She stalled. As I was saying, absolute disgrace, dude!”
“Oh my God, I can’t listen to this anymore!” Adam falls back onto the couch. “Don’t encourage him, guys. Tell him none of us give a shit.”
“She must have been stressed-out, being put to the test like that,” Carrie pipes up.
“I just sat next to her—what’s the big deal? It’s not like I asked her to parallel park blindfolded, or anything…”
“Yeah, but you were sitting there. Like, inches away from her. That’s super stressful.” Carrie pretends to shudder before darting into the kitchen.
“So, other than the fact that she stalled… How’d it go?” asks Don.
“I’m not sure. After that, everything was a blur. I asked her to drive a loop around campus, and then we called it a day.”
“You are such an asshole, you know that? When are you next meeting up?”
I glance at my phone. “In twenty.”
“Sounds good. So, did you guys talk, at least? Did you find out more about her?”
“I asked her a couple of questions, and she dodged every single one of them. I can’t tell whether she’s dissing me or whether she’s just straight-up weird.”
“She’s dissing you,” Carrie trills, picking her way back across the living room. “The more you tell us, the more I like the girl.”
Don pulls her onto his lap. “So—that’s it? No intel or anything?”
“I tried to do a little digging around, but she’s basically friendless. Nobody on campus knows a thing about her.” I frown. “Don’t you think that’s kinda weird?”
“Maybe she threatened to hurt them if they spoke up,” Lane offers, his eyes glued to his laptop.
“Did you ask the dean?” Carrie asks. “He might have some thoughts.”
“We were planning on going to him with a short list so we don’t waste too much of his time. Adam scheduled an appointment with him for next week.”
“You said she arrived in September.” Adam shrugs. “Some people take a while to make friends.”
I snicker. “Dude, look at Carrie. Even she managed to make a couple of friends faster than that.”
“Burn in hell,” Carrie sings.
The way she’s glaring at me now, I’m pretty sure she’s imagining setting fire to me herself.
I turn to Don. “Wow. What’s up with your girlfriend, man? The singing… It’s intense.”
“She’s really into this musician trilogy, lately.”
“Who has the trophy, by the way?” Lane asks.
Carrie does a little victory dance. “Yours truly.”
“What’d she do to earn it?”
“If only you knew, Lewis. She—”
“Don’t even go there, Don,” Carrie warns. “If you want a repeat, don’t you dare say a word.”
Carrie’s threat seems to work. Don’s lips clamp shut as he mouths a “sorry” at me.
“Okay, so if we just circle back to the Firebird situation…”
“Doesn’t she have, like, a name?” Carrie asks.
“Amy,” I mutter.
“There’s still time to tame her, man.”
“I guess you’re the expert.” I jerk my chin at his girlfriend and jump to my feet. “Duty calls. Catch you at practice, Don. And as for you guys—see you later.”
Adam shakes his head. “Nope. I’m in Washington with Amelia this weekend. Got a flight out of here this afternoon. I’ll see you on Monday.”
“Lois and I are doing a movie night,” adds Lane.
Don wiggles his eyebrows. “And I have a trophy to win back.”
One by one, I take in their faces. I give up.
“Such cozy vibes,” I grumble, shrugging on my jacket. “Way to neglect a friend—absolute disgrace, dudes! Guess I’ll need to go find myself a consolation prize. Keep myself busy.”
“That shouldn’t be too hard,” deadpans Lane.
Adam hauls himself off the couch and walks me to the front door.
“Don’t be a dick—okay, Lewis? I know the app’s your baby and it’s hard for you to walk away from it, but don’t be too hard on her.”
“Whatever, man.”
As I head down the stairs to my car, his words echo in my mind.
That guy knows me way too well. I’m disheartened, it’s true.
I’m feeling down about it all, and my trainee is paying the price when she doesn’t deserve to.
I will make an effort, I decide—but she’ll have to step things up a gear, too.
And this time, maybe try not to fucking stall.
IT DOESN’T TAKE ME LONG to get to our meetup point, and by the time I pull in, she’s already waiting by the roadside, staring into space, not noticing me arrive.
I glance in the rearview mirror. There’s nobody crawling up my ass this time, and I take my time checking her out.
Brown hair skimming her shoulders, a neat, toned figure.
She’s definitely hot, and that’s an asset to the team.
The four guys checking her out across the road are a case in point.
Most of our passengers are girls, but Amy might finally tip the balance a little, unlike Amir—though he’s clearly the lower-risk option.
Decisions, decisions.
A car horn blares out behind me, and she turns just as I hit the gas. I pull up beside her and hop out of the car.
Play nice, Conley!
“Hey, Amy.”
She blinks. “Hey, Conley.”
She seems tense, and I guess I only have myself to blame for that. I’ve been hard on her, and now that she’s here, I’m thinking I might as well play the good cop.
“Ready for your next rodeo, Amy?”
“Ready as I’ll ever be.”
“Where’s your Pontiac, Amy?”
She looks at me for a beat.
“Care to tell me why you keep tagging my goddamn name onto the end of every sentence?”
I flash her a grin. “It’s just manners. You know—building bonds, creating a sense of deeper connection…”
“Uh-huh.” She jerks her chin. “I’m parked over there.”
“Then let’s do this, Amy. I have less than an hour until I need to head to practice.”
“Sure. I have places to be, too.”
I’m about to ask her what places, exactly, but she’s already gone, striding purposefully toward her car, sliding behind the wheel, fastening her seat belt after three failed attempts.
“Think you’ll be okay starting the engine without stalling?” I jibe as I settle into my seat.
“That joke is just going to run and run, isn’t it?”
“Feels that way.” I smile.
“Let’s hope you’re still around to tell it,” she says slowly. “If you know what I mean, Lewis.”
“Ever since I first got in your car, it’s been a risk I’ve been willing to take, Amy.”
She starts the engine and drops into first, a mischievous smile playing on her lips as she eases us out and away. I throw an arm around her headrest and lean in, staring at her with fake amazement.
“Wow, this is some serious progress, Amy. You really are something, aren’t you?”
I’m so close, I can hear her breathing, slow and steady. She always wears lipstick, but this one makes her lips look even plumper than usual.
Don said not to go there, remember?
“Why are you looking at me like that?” she rasps, shifting down with a jolt.
“Just getting you used to the concept of sharing space.”
“Well, you’re staring.”
“And that’s a problem because…?”
“Because I don’t like it.”
I laugh. “Well, you’ll need to get over that—and fast. Your passengers will be real live humans… and you know what that means.”
“That I can’t just stuff them in my trunk?”
“That they’ll be looking at you, Amy. With their eyes. And you know what?” I gasp. “Some of them might actually try and talk to you!”
Her eyelids flutter shut for a second, like she’s latching on to some distant thought.
“I can handle that.”
“This one time, I had some chick who spent eleven whole minutes just staring at me in silence.”
“She sounds insane.”
“Not insane. Just obsessed with my body.”
“With your dead body?” She flicks on the turn signal.
I laugh, and for the briefest of seconds, I catch her smiling. She’s cute when she’s relaxed, I realize.
“So, where are we heading?” she asks as we wait for the lights to change.
“Since you’re new in town, you probably don’t know the lay of the land, which isn’t ideal for a Campus Driver,” I start.
“I mean, you should be good to get wherever you need to be as fast as possible. Time is money, after all—waste ten minutes on every trip, and that’s an extra two trips you can’t pick up during your shift. ”
“See, I know a guy who knows a guy who knows an amazing thing called Google Maps,” she snickers.
“Oh, you sweet summer child…” I shake my head. “One day, I’ll show you exactly why that’s a terrible idea.”
“You could be waiting a while.”
We stare each other down, until the car behind us honks and my trainee jumps in her seat, her features hardening again.
“Go north. Head for Cardinal Village.”
“Okay.” She puts the address into Google Maps anyway, and I scoff.
I watch her drive, her shoulders stiff as she gnaws on the inside of her cheek.
“You can shift into third, you know.”
“Okay.”
“Try overtaking that guy.”
“Okay.”
She hits the gas and fumbles with the gear stick before eventually cruising past the Honda.
“You need to work on your conversational skills, Amy.” I glance at her. “Three okays in a row like that is pretty awkward. You need to be able to shoot the shit with passengers, you get me?” I sigh. “Try asking me whether I had a busy morning.”
“Busy morning?”