Taxi

1. I don't care

"Son of a b*tch!"

Samtou quickly glanced at the woman in the backseats through the rearview. She was frantically typing on her phone, her face distorted by a frown. She then angrily threw her phone, right at Samtou's head.

"Oh my God!" She hurried to check on him, a mortified look on the face. "I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to-"

"It's okay," Samtou cut her off with a polite smile.

"Tell me it doesn't hurt?" She grabbed his arm and pulled him towards her to check where the phone previously hit him.

"It doesn't hurt," Samtou lied with a polite smile, gently taking his arm off her grip to focus back on driving before they got into an accident.

Of course it hurt! What did she think, throwing a damn phone at him? That it would make a good massage?

"I'm so sorry!" She leaned back into her seat after picking up her phone and checking it was okay. "It's just that I received a picture of my boyfriend going into a hotel with another woman..."

Having been a taxi driver for over three years, Samtou came across a wide range of clients. Some were quiet, not saying a single word until they got out of the taxi. Some others were quite chatty, and would go on about their life all through the trip. That woman was more on the latest range.

Samtou remained quiet, mentally cursing the informant's awful timing. Why did it have to be while she was in his taxi? Now he'd probably have a bruise for some time.

"Sir, why are men like that, huh?" She leaned forward, meeting my gaze in the rearview. Then she smiled and continued without waiting for a reply - not that I was going to answer. "You'll probably tell me not all men are like that, and that you're a good one, and blabla. Excuse me, but you're all the same. You're just trying to protect one another. Tchip!"

Samtou did his best not to roll his eyes, because he had to remain polite. Whatever bullshit she was spitting, she was going to pay him, and that was the only thing that mattered.

He remained silent all along, distractedly listening to her and watching out for more eventual flying objects. Thankfully, they arrived safely to her destination, without any other incident.

Once she came out of the car, Samtou turned back the music on - he always turned it off when he had a client - and cheerfully hummed alongside Sheeran and Bieber's 'I don't care' on his way to the airport to pick up a regular.

When he arrived, Samtou quickly checked in the rearview to make sure he was presentable. He quickly ran a comb through his frizzy hair, put on some perfume and checked his breath. Once he was sure everything was okay, he sent her a message.

"Good evening, Miss Cassie! I am outside."

Two minutes later, the passenger's door opened, and a wave of lemon scent filled the car. "Evening, Sam!"

She sat next to him and gifted him her brightest smile. It was his favourite time of the day, and nothing else mattered at this moment. Not the furry he drove previously and the headache she gave him, nor his mother whose life was hanging by a thread.