Author's Note: This story is completely fictional and did not happen. All characters and names are fictional and were made up.
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Los Angeles, California
Hot air streamed through the vents inside the van, warming up what felt like an ice box during the early morning hours. Winter mornings were almost here in L.A. For a town known for its blazing heat, it was quite a relief to have a lovely morning like this in early November where one didn't have to worry about sweating. Right now, the afternoon hours were beginning to pass through and an aged man was sitting behind the wheel of his gold van as he worked through the busy streets of downtown L.A. Today was Wednesday, often known as the 'hump day' during a work week. For many people, it was a joy to get over the half way mark, meaning the day the eagle flew with a pay check would be approaching much sooner than before.
David sat in the driver's seat of his gold Silver Screen Express van, gripping the steering wheel firmly within his hands. Today had been the first time since mid-February that he was forced to bundle up in warmer clothes. He was forced to wear a pair of blue jean pants instead of the preferred cargo shorts. His feet were pushed into a pair of sneakers he didn't often wear during the year. They still appeared to be brand new, as they weren't his favorite flip flops that were truly worn in. The one piece of warm clothing David didn't bother with was wearing a jacket or sweater. He went for a black shirt, knowing that once the afternoon hours had rolled through, he would be forced to switch the heater off in his van as the day would've warmed up by now.
So far, the day had gone by rather slowly for a Wednesday morning. Over the past two weeks, David had worked a few night shifts again much to his distaste. Some drivers may have grown to enjoy a night shift, but at his age, David knew he probably never would find himself comfortable on the streets once the sun had went down. Shady characters seemed to always have a habit of calling for a Silver Screen van during the dead of night. Only someone with deep pockets could afford to regularly call for service, though who he was picking up at night tended to be a mystery. This week had been going by somewhat better, as David wasn't stressed about meeting odd people at night. In the last few hours, he had only completed two fares, but they had him driving all over the roads to Bel Air and Beverly Hills.
The wealthy neighborhoods often were a decent place to stick around while waiting for more fares to call in requesting rides. Since he had been working with the company for a few years now, David had the privilege of driving many residents from these areas over time. With two fares complete for the day, it wasn't hard for him to decide to stick around driving the van through the roads of Beverley Hills while he listened to the radio dispatch repeat call-ins requesting various rides. By now, the sun had settled over the day and it was about time he could turn off the heater in the van and switch on the air conditioner at a low level of power. He licked his lips while listening to the dispatch, knowing that a full ten minutes had passed of him pondering his thoughts among various customers requesting to be picked up.
There was always one subtle rule when staying in a specific area as a taxi driver. David had learned many years ago when driving an old yellow cab that sometimes you had to wait a long time to find a fare in a certain area. Several minutes usually went by from when he heard the call from any residential places. Once he had waited around twenty minutes, he was about to give in and call in for his lunch break. Just when he had almost lost his hope, the dispatch radio called in for a woman who was requesting a ride outside of Beverly Hills. At last, David thought to himself as he grabbed the walkie-talkie to call in that this fare would be his. His wait had paid off from cruising around the same place as now he had a fare to make a bit of money with. He shifted gears, turning around so he could head down the street that was given to him from the dispatcher.
It was a short drive for David, but he went on and punched in the address through his GPS tracker just to be on the safe side and not getting lost. He may have been familiar with these roads, but he couldn't tell every house from which. The only time he had spent in Beverly Hills had been from working, as it was never a place he would go joyriding to witness various homes he would never be able to afford in his lifetime. At times, David thought of himself as an adventurer when it came to his job as a cab driver. He was able to go through several trips, sometimes meet interesting people along the way who gave him memorable conversations. Perhaps his next client of the day would be someone to cherish in his memories, he could at least hope. His career of driving taxis before the gold colored company vans had been quite illustrative in his diaries, but now he had a lot more grandiose memories written down.
The van pulled up into a white painted gateway where a large, two story mansion resided beyond the open gates. White and black mosaic tiles built a driveway in stone with large bushes around it. From a driveway in the distance, David could see two luxury sports cars but couldn't make out what they exactly were. Both were yellow in different sizes, clearly luxury rides he could never afford. Before pulling into the driveway, he shifted gears into reverse and backed up slowly beyond the gates. From his rear-view mirror, he could see out the back windshield what appeared to be a figure of a woman in a black shirt and blue jeans awaiting him. David knew this had to be customer who had called in for a ride. When he stopped the van, he shifted gears again while awaiting her to climb into the back seat. He didn't have to wait for long as he could already hear the left side back door sliding open as she climbed into the back.
"Hello there!"
David called out to her as he got a quick reply.
"Hi! Who's my driver today?"
"I'm David and you are?"
"Katy!"
"It's a pleasure to meet someone with such a lovely face today, Katy."
"Thank you!"
He turned around and was greeted to a smiling face with big blue eyes. Her hair was jet black, split down the middle with a few strands of purple dye off to both sides. A beautiful smile came over her face with pink lipstick, flashing a set of perfect white teeth. Below, David glanced down to see quite a busty cleavage tucked in her low cut black shirt. It wasn't often that a client introduced themselves to him like this. Right away, they knew each other's names and David couldn't help but smile back to her beautiful face. When he turned to face the steering wheel again, she went on and had a seat in the back. David got the impression right away that she must have been a returning customer, since she had asked who her driver was right away. When he placed his hands back over the steering wheel, he glanced up into his rear view mirror to take another look at her as she was now sitting over the black leather seats.
"So, I take it that this isn't your first time calling?"
Katy shook her head.
"No, I call all the time. Sometimes twice a week, if I'm still in town."
"Well, I don't recognize you at all, dear so I don't think I've had the pleasure of driving such a pretty woman like you."
Right away, David didn't even catch himself flirting with this woman not even a full five minutes after she had climbed into the back of his cab. Katy laughed to herself, as she didn't seem bothered by his behavior so far. He decided to constrain himself for now, knowing that it would be rude if he carried on like this.
"So, where do you wanna go?"
"I've gotta get out of here and to the studio to get some work done today."
"Where's this place at, Katy?"
"It's in downtown L.A., hold on. I'll get out my phone and give you the address."
