Driver

Part 3

But that afternoon when Idyn picked his new client up her mood was very different. As instructed he didn’t get out of the car when she approached. He did not like it but he did it and he had only been driving for a few moments when she said “excuse me, what did you say your name was?”

“Idyn” he told her glancing at her in the rear view mirror and wondering what was coming.

“Idyn I want to apologise for yelling at you this morning. I realise opening the door for your clients is a normal part of your job and I meant to say something before we set out, but I was having a bad morning and I forgot. The thing is, that I really don’t like being driven and I hate drawing attention to the fact that I am.”

Idyn was surprised and he glanced at her in the mirror again.

“I won’t tell your boss” she said giving him a contrite smile.

He knew she was trying to make amends and he appreciated her effort. She could easily have just sat in silence for the next month and not bothered to apologise. For the sake of a harmonious association he didn’t correct her about his role. He feared that revealing now that she was talking to his boss may upset the peace they had just brokered so he decided to leave that piece of information undisclosed for the moment. If that morning’s outburst was a one off it shouldn’t be an issue anyway.

“Thanks” he said returning her smile.

For the rest of the trip she asked about the places they were passing. There were many historic buildings in that section of the city and while Idyn did not know about all of them he did his best to answer her questions. He got the feeling that once again this was her way of getting them onto a better footing and he liked the friendly gesture. It said a lot about her character that she was worried about the way she had treated him.

Back outside the apartment building a few minutes later, he pulled up, and turned in his seat to face her. “This feels weird” he said.

She smiled “I know, but you’ll get used to it. Thank you, Idyn. I’ll see you in the morning.”

“Good afternoon Ms Bliss.”

“Taki” she said and she slid out of the car and shut the door.

“Taki” he said to himself as he watched her walk into the foyer of the building. His new client was an interesting prospect and while his initial idea was to hand her back to an employee tomorrow, now he thought he might drive her for a little longer. Earlier he had written her off as bad tempered, arrogant and rude. But being aware of her temper and her strange requirements he had decided that it was safe for one of his employees to drive her now that he could warn them first. However since picking her up she had shown that she had a softer side and that she regretted the way she had spoken to him. He was intrigued by her and curious about her dislike of being driven. He wanted to find out what was behind that and what more there was to know about her.