Spending his 19th birthday eating dinner with the folks wasn’t Max’s idea of a good time. But his mother had insisted, so he couldn’t refuse and risk hurting her feelings.
His car was in the body shop getting repainted. He’d tried to use that as an excuse to decline dinner, but his father had called him a cab. While waiting for the ride to come and take him to the suburb where he was raised, Max straightened up his loft. He put away the newspaper and a dirty dish, wiped some glass cleaner across the coffee table and hung up the suit and coat he’s worn that day.
HONK! HONK!
The taxi arrived right on time and he took the elevator down three floors to the street. As he stepped into the dark orange vehicle, Max gave the old driver his destination address and settled in for the trip.
“Hey kid, I need to pick up another fare going in the same direction.” The man had a raspy voice, probably caused by years of having a cigarette lying on his bottom lip. He was white-haired and balding, and didn’t turn around when he spoke but looked in the rearview mirror instead.
They drove for about twelve blocks before stopping at a brick apartment building. A woman was waiting on the lit stoop and approached the cab as soon as it pulled up.
Max was intrigued as soon as he saw her. She was wearing a short belted leather jacket with a skirt peeking barely out from beneath. Her legs were long and slim, accentuated further by the high heels she was wearing. A full head of long, wavy hair was held back in a large clip.
Well, he thought. If he had to share the taxi drive, he couldn’t have picked a better riding partner if he’d done it himself. The woman put those amazing legs inside the car, almost giving him a view up her little skirt. As she sat down next to him, he smiled and nodded. She returned his smile with full coral lips and shut the car door.