- HubPages»
- Books, Literature, and Writing»
- Commercial & Creative Writing»
- Creative Writing
The Taxi Driver. Story of a Professor
The Ride
It was 8:00 pm when he finished his dinner. During dinner, he was thinking of the route to get a ride tonight. As soon as the meal was over, he took the keys and head towards the garage. Soon the taxi was on road and he was going down the street slowly looking at the people walking around. His eyes were looking for a person with whom he can spend some time. Few nearby folks stopped his taxi but he refused to pick them up. At the corner of the road, he looked at the bus stop, if he can get any wanted ride. A gentle wave of a hand appeared and in the very next moment, a lady enters the backseat and settled herself.
"Well, where you want to go Ma'am?" He asked politely looking at her.
She looked into his eyes confidently and said, “I will give you the address in a minute."
In his mind an engagement started and ended in few seconds about accepting the ride. He looked at the rear mirror, she was busy with her phone. An elegant lady, dressed up in black and with a matching handbag. Her face was glowing due to the light of mobile in her hand. He looked at her, wanted to ask more but unintentionally switched the taxi on.
"Are you waiting for someone else?" She asked politely.
"No, I am not, sorry, let me start the ride." He was not expecting this question at all.
The pauses in his one-sentence were enough to tell her that he is confused but she didn't bother and kept on looking at mobile.
The taxi was now on the road and he didn't even know where to go. She was still busy with her mobile. He wanted to ask her about the destination but his wish to have a companion for some time discouraged his thought. He keeps on lurking on the straight road. This deadly silence was killing him. He was thinking about a starter.
He smiles, adjusted the rear mirror and composedly said "well, you know, things are a bit difficult here for people like us."
She looked at him. His eyes were on-road and his hands-on the steering were clearly visible in the street lights. She started looking out of the window. After a while, she again took her mobile in hand and kept on scrolling the messages. She wanted to ignore him but as she tried to focus on the mobile, she felt his eyes staring at her. A deadly silence between them is making the environment stranger. She tried to kept herself busy but not for long. In a moment, she again heard his voice.
The Driver's Taxi
The Pick up Line
He smiles, adjusted the rear mirror and composedly said "well, you know, things are a bit difficult here for people like us."
On the Road
She was so lost in her mobile that she had no idea whether to answer an unknown taxi driver or not. She was also totally unaware of the fact that she has not yet given her address to him. The very next moment when he asked her about the address, she held herself up to put an end to her abasement and made a loud laugh.
"Oh, how crazy I am" a tilted laughter was with her voice when she spoke. She murmured those words again and smile at the rear mirror.
He slowed down the taxi and looked at her. She looked exactly like a doll in a black dress with pearl-like teeth. He smiles while looking at her. He didn't know where he was going at that time, but still, he was happy about how well he did to allow a beautiful lady in her cab.
"So, would you like to tell me your address, please? He asked again. He didn't want her to stop laughing.
His eyes were focused on the black dress and the matching bag. He was wondering how amazing this color looks on her and this bag is looking so parallel to her dress.
She giggled softly, informed her about the address and inadvertently disappeared in to the mobile screen again. “It’s going to take us a long time to get there. It might take more than an hour I think.”
His best effort to somehow communicate with the lady and that’s exactly why he was there driving the taxi. He did it just so that he could get to know people and draw them in to his thoughts. This was his developed habit ever since Sarah left him.
The Black Dress
She looked exactly like a doll in a black dress with pearl-like teeth. He smiles while looking at her. He didn't know where he was going at that time, but still, he was happy about how well he did to allow a beautiful lady in her cab.
Jack and Sarah
It was a matter of those days when he was a curious young man and the prince of many college girls' dreams. But he was not seen with anyone. Everyone lived in the same quest to find out what was the matter with him. There had a girl, Sarah. Agile and beautiful, rejoice in her life. She was never hear talking about nor did she allow anyone to approach her. Girls teased her that someone would descend from the mountains for you and one of them often says that his prince is Jack, who descended from the mountains and is so mysterious that we don't even know what is behind him and what he is looking for? At this point, Sarah's face would usually turn red and she would faintly rattle her feet, leaving them while growling something in her mouth. The rest of the girls laughed loudly and got busy with their tasks soon after she left.
In those days, while shopping, Jack encountered Sarah. Not wanting they asked each other formally. Jack forgot about this, but Sarah could not forget the first meeting. Now whenever Jack was mentioned, she used to listen with great excitement. She listened intently and pretended like she didn't even know it. How long can girls hide? Finally, one Sunday morning, she phoned Sandy and called her home and told her about Jack. Sandy became silent because she knew Jack, but still encourage and assure to help her.
He didn't know how Sarah got so close to him in such a short time. But she well remembers that Sarah used to say, "Jack, you are a strange man, my love is not changing you, you do not know what you want, a day will come when you will find myself in other people." He well remembers that she used to say such things, pausing for a moment and again continue, "You will not just only find me but everyone around you right now". He used to listen to her words quietly and sometimes respond with a cold temper. "You know I try but ...”. How many times has Sarah asked him to go ahead with this "but"? But never fully succeeded.
He well remembers that the last time when he said "but" Sarah had started to look out of the window, adjusting her dress. In the shadowy shade of evening he was looking at her curly hair. For a long time, she stood like this. She turned to him a few minutes later, stays there for few seconds and walked out the door, slowly lifting her black bag without saying anything. He well remembers the moisture in her eyes and was about to start speaking but she was gone.
Love
Sarah used to say, "Jack, you are a strange man, my love is not changing you, you do not know what you want, a day will come when you will find myself in other people."
Agony
He adjusted the rear mirror again and started looking at the lady's black bag. His hands were dragging the taxi gently down the road. The lady motioned her eyelids and gently said "Well, no problem". He was helpless. "Don't know why people don't speak so much? Can anyone be so quiet?" He took a deep breath. The silence in the taxi was killing him. He was fed up, he wanted to lift the lady out of the taxi. He began to curse at the moment when he rode the lady in his taxi. Overwhelmed by these emotions, he extended his hand toward the rear mirror to look at the lady for the last time, but his eyes turned to the black bag lying on the lady's left arm. His foot increased the pressure on the accelerator and his hands firmly held the steering.
The lady turned her gaze from the mobile and began to look at the rear mirror with a slight glance. He tried to look at the driver's face carefully, but immediately shook her shoulder and leaned eyes back on the mobile. The next time when she raised her head, driver was stopping the taxi in front of her house. She put the mobile in her black bag, opened the door and walked out.
"But......."
He stopped the car and put his head on the steering like a tired man. The last time she saw that bright face was in pursuit of the voice of "Excuse me! Take it!" He raised his hand slowly and collected 10 pounds. The lady noticed the moisture in her eyes and slowly turned her back to the taxi and entered courtyard of the house. His eyes were following her on the way. The black bag was swinging with her left shoulder and she was looking back with surprise almost with every step. He looked at 10 pounds held in his hand and smiled lightly "but ..." After a while he said, "But these are just a few, I mean not enough, are you here to listen I am speaking to you". Laughing and saying this again and again. He started the taxi.
The black bag fluttered and entered the door slowly.
© 2019 Waheed Alam