Jeremy walked out of the meeting, it had been one of those long ones. I was pitch dark outside, right on the edge of raining.
All he wanted to do was get home to his east side second floor apartment, heat up some chili and hit the showers before bed.
It was tempting to grab a taxi but the last time he had done that the driver seemed to like to take a lot of right turns.
"Hey bud, I live here in this town, you know." He had finally griped at the driver, getting a wave of the hand in response.
The guy probably didn't speak much English but he got that.
$34.00 for a $20.00 taxi ride, he hated those guys. He could have argued the amount but that time it was about 20 degrees outside and he wanted to get inside.
"I need to buy a car." He thought to himself as he headed for the bus stop.
Which might work if there was someplace to park it that wasn't run by thieves, downtown pretty much sucked since the powers that be had decided bicycles were the future.
Yea, sure, bicycles in Oregon in the winter? They even blocked off sections at the end of each intersection to all the fucking bikes could get in front and block traffic.
Fine for kids maybe but for an executive assistant that had to wear a suit and tie that wasn't going to work.
Then add in that it was 13 miles from the company headquarters downtown to his apartment, downhill most of the way which wasn't so bad.
But that meant it was uphill all the way back.
Besides, it seemed like every damned day the news said someone on a bike got ran over by a car, or one of the buses.
At the bus stop, all the seating space was full and there were a half dozen kids standing around.
Most them had cell phones in their hands, staring at them and then pushing buttons. Jeremy shook his head at that, the fucking world was going to hell in a hand basket, like his dad used to say all the time.
He was hoping it didn't decide to rain before the bus arrived, the last thing he needed was to get his clothes wet.
Jeremy stuffed his laptop under his left armpit and shifted the oversize briefcase to his left hand, reached back and got his wallet. He pulled out his bus pass and stood waiting.
The bus finally pulled up, Jeremy got on and looked up and down the rows, every seat was full and already there were a half dozen people standing.
"Now what in the hell is going on?" He thought. Normally this time of night the buses were maybe a third full at best.
Oh, right. The fucking concert. Two shows, some big name singer he had never really heard of but popular with the kids.
On the same night as the basketball game, that was smart. No wonder so many people were out.
Jeremy moved back as people crammed on, turning to try and get closer to the rear exit. He knew that by the time they got out to his stop, most of the people would have gotten off and they were like a thundering herd when it was their stop.
He found a gap right behind a rather pretty young woman who was very well dressed, she did not seem to fit in at all with the rest of the riders.
Jeremy knew he didn't fit in either, not in his $500 suit and tie.
Then the damn driver, it seemed he drove with his foot either fully on the gas, or the brakes. Jeremy was barely able to keep his feet, first lightly bumping the lady, then the man behind him.
Finally he shifted his laptop and briefcase to his left hand again, reached up and grasped the overhead strap.
Sorry." He said as his hand touched the hand of the woman in front of him. She looked over her shoulder and smiled.
"It's OK. Busy tonight, isn't it?" She said.
"Yea, concert I guess." Jeremy replied. Just then the bus lurched again and pulled over in front of the next stop. At least a dozen more people got on, the first one was a huge fat guy that took up most of the width of the row.
He moved back as people leaned over to let him by and stood right in front of the woman, bumping her in the process. The rest crowded in front of him, then the driver stepped on the throttle and pulled out.
He wasn't being any too gentle about it either, the woman got jammed right back against Jeremy.
Jeremy tried to step back a few inches but only managed to step on another older woman's foot.
"Sorry." He said without looking back, she didn't respond. Then he felt the woman in front of him bump him again. Jeremy sighed and tried to just hold still.
At the next stop the woman behind him wanted off, Jeremy turned sideways to allow her to squeeze past to the side exit. A younger couple got on through the same doorway and moved past to behind him.
As he did, he saw the woman in front of him turn to look at him.
She smiled, he noticed again that she was really pretty, so he gave her his best grin. He had already noticed that her hair smelled nice, there was no way to miss that.
"What is that scent, miss? In your hair, I mean?" He asked her, not thinking.
"God. He just asked a total stranger, a female at that about her hair?" He thought, blushing.
She beamed.
"Lavender, I use a bit of it in my shampoo. Do you like it?" She asked.
Jeremy nodded.
Just then the bus lurched again. Man, could this driver use some lessons, he thought.
"Oops!" The woman said, catching her balance as her shoulder bumped his chest. Then she gave Jeremy a smokey look and turned again to face forward. Jeremy shifted his laptop under his arm to get a better grip, reached up again to grasp the strap.
The smell of her hair filled his nostrils, it was intoxicating. His mind flashed to his latest girlfriend Trena. Things had been going so good there, at least from his point of view. But then she decided she wanted to play the field some more before settling down.
Jeremy knew very well what that meant and he was not one to sit back and wait while she tried out other guys to try and figure out which one she liked best.
The break up had not been gentle, there had been some yelling and throwing things. He saw Trena a couple of times after that, with some guy that drove a red Eclipse. His morning bus went right by her place, the Eclipse was parked outside.