Driver

Part 9

Idyn took Taki to an all night that café taxi drivers used and helped her inside. Some of his drivers who had late jobs would stop off there too. He had done so himself when he had still been on the road so he knew the cafe staff were used to people coming in in all states late at night. As expected they didn’t look twice when Idyn helped Taki into a booth. He then approached the counter and ordered a bottle of water, a cup of black tea for her and a cappuccino for himself.

Walking back to the table with the bottle of water he sat it in front of Taki and said “try sipping that. Just don’t rush it.”

Taki tried to open the bottle but couldn’t manage it. Without a word, Idyn took it off her and gave it back minus the lid. “Thanks” she muttered.

“No problem” he said.

For a while he just let her rehydrate. She sipped the water and when the tea came she drank a little of that too.

“I need to use the bathroom” she said.

“Just through there” he said pointing past her. “You need help?”

Taki shook her head. “I’ll be fine thanks.”

Idyn watched her struggle to her feet. She was a little unsteady but she made it into the bathroom. If she didn’t appear again in five minutes he would go looking for her.

Driver

Part 8

For what seemed like hours Idyn held Taki while she vomited. In between retching she cried and apologised. “I’m sorry” she sobbed.

“Forget about it” he said over and over again but it had little effect as she just kept apologising. When it seemed that she had finally stopped being sick Idyn picked her up and carried her back to the car. Opening the back door he sat her down on the seat with her legs hanging out and her feet on the gutter. He crouched down in front of her “did he hurt you” he said again.

She shook her head “no. He wanted my purse. I wouldn’t give it to him.”

“Not a smart decision” he said.

That caused her to cry again.

“Sorry” he said.

Driver

Part 7

An hour later when Taki still hadn’t appeared Idyn was becoming irritated. Yes he was at her disposal but this was just rude. Finally at a quarter to twelve she texted to say she was coming out.

However ten minutes later Idyn was still waiting and he had had enough. Client or no client, her behaviour was intolerable. Either she was going to leave with him now or she would have to call him back. She had kept him waiting for two hours. Getting out of the car he walked towards the front entrance. To get to the door he had to walk across the top of a lane running down beside the hotel and as he did he saw something that made his blood run cold. When he had dropped her off Taki was wearing a white woollen coat. Now as he looked down the lane he saw a dark figure struggling with someone wearing white. Fearful that it was Taki, he called out. “Hey.”

Driver

Part 6

For the next two weeks Idyn drove Taki twice a day, back and forwards from the apartment to the office. Sometimes there were lunches and he would see her in the middle of the day. Sometimes there were dinners and he would drive her at night. Often they would talk and over that time he found out that she was thirty six and single. This news pleased him but the fact that she lived interstate didn’t. He also found out that she was a consultant, contracted at Pacific Steel for a month, working on a specific project. This was how she made her living she said, moving from one short term project to another, from one city to another. It seemed a lonely disjointed life to Idyn and while he wondered why she chose it, he did not ask.

In his turn, when she asked about him he told her. He told her that he too was single and had been a driver for five years. This was true but he didn’t say that for the last three years he had sent his employees out to do the driving while he stayed in the office overseeing the business. 

On one trip home on an evening late in the third week Idyn felt they were at a point where he could ask a question that he had been curious about since that first morning. “Can I ask you something Taki?” he said

“Okay” she said meeting his eyes in the mirror.

“Why don’t you like to be driven?”

She looked away and let her breath out on a sigh “that’s a very long story, too long for this trip” she said. Her tone was flat he noticed and tinged with sadness.

Idyn kept glancing at her but she was looking out the window now and her haunted expression stopped him from asking any further questions. Whatever the story was, he knew it wasn’t good. 

It was only two nights later that something happened that led to him finding out what her secret was. Earlier that evening he had dropped Taki at a hotel where she was having dinner with some work colleagues. She had told him to come back and pick her up at ten but at ten fifteen she texted him to say she would be later but she did not say how long. Already at the venue Idyn had no choice but wait.

Driver

Part 5

At one o’clock Taki slid into his back seat once more.

“Where to?” Idyn said.

“A restaurant in Collins Street, Georges. Do you know it?”

Idyn started the car “yes I know it.”

Taki nodded and sat back to look out the side window. Glancing at her in the mirror Idyn thought she looked worried. She seemed disinclined to talk too so they drove in silence.

“Here we are” he said fifteen minutes later. Taki didn’t even seem aware that they had stopped. Startled, she looked around now and gathering her bag and brief case she said “can you pick me up at three?”

“I’ll be here” he said.

“Thank you Idyn” she said meeting his eyes in the mirror for a second before she got out and disappeared into the building.

Two hours later Idyn was back outside the restaurant. But it was half past three before Taki appeared.

“I’m sorry Idyn. I didn’t mean to keep you waiting” she said as she slid into the back seat.

He thought she still looked worried so he didn’t complain about the wait. “That’s okay” he said. “Back to work?”

“No I’ve had enough today” she said and she sounded tired. “Please take me home.”

Out of nowhere Idyn was hit with the wish that he could take her home, home with him. There he would wrap his arms around her and tell her everything would be okay. He would make sure that whatever was worrying her didn’t bother her anymore. But that wasn’t going to happen and he just nodded and got them on their way.

Driver

Part 4

So the next morning Idyn was waiting in the same spot when his client appeared and let herself into the back seat. He had had to fight the urge to get out of the car. It was so ingrained in him that he had to consciously stop himself.

“Morning” he said hoping that her display of temper the previous day wasn’t an indication that she wasn’t a morning person. He would not like to be treated to a similar display at the beginning of each day even if she did regret it later.

But this wasn’t the case it seemed. Taki, showing no signs of irritation, gave him a smile, and said “good morning Idyn.”

He returned her smile and started the car. This morning she was wearing black pants and jacket and a red and white striped shirt.

“I have a lunch meeting today” she said as he pulled out onto the road “so could you pick me up at the office at one?”

“No problem” Idyn said. His firm was contracted to drive her whenever she requested it, twenty four hours a day, so he would have done it anyway, but he liked the fact that she had phrased it as a question rather than just giving him an order.

“Thank you” she said and for a while they didn’t talk.

“Have you been doing this long?” she asked, breaking the silence a few minutes later.

“A while” he said glancing at her in the mirror.

“Do you enjoy it?”

“Most days” he said.

“When you aren’t being yelled at I’m guessing” she said with a wry smile.

He smiled at her in the mirror. “You did apologise. I’ve had clients who don’t bother” he said.

“I don’t yell at people as a rule” she said “at least I try not to.”

He smiled at her again and a few minutes later he pulled up outside the office of Pacific Steel. “I’ll be back at one” he said.

“Thank you Idyn” she said and she got out of the car.

Idyn pulled away from the building heading to his office to do some of his proper work. On the way he contemplated his client. He was beginning to spend a lot of time thinking about her.

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.