When the Bus Stopped

Chapter 17

"Krishna, I didn't expect to see you today!"

In all of the drama that had unfolded around her, she'd nearly forgotten about his imminent arrival. "How did you know I was working here?"

Krishna gazed at her in surprise. "I actually wasn't looking for you. I was searching for a kindle... You have a job!"

"I always have a job, Krishna. I'm not a worthless bum."

"But, a proper job! Do you have a tax code number now?"

"Well... I haven't ironed out the finer details with the boss yet." Lucy gnawed her lip nervously. "I hope it doesn't make any difference." If she could sell every gadget known to mankind to her brother, then perhaps she could convince the boss that not hiring her (for something so simple as her not having an IRD number) would be foolish. "How can I help you?"

"I'm feeling so depressed Lucy ... the only thing that will make me feel better is a kindle."

"Can you buy them here?" Lucy asked in surprise.

"Yes."

"Oh, there must be a whole grocery aisle that I haven't seen!" Lucy started walking toward the furthermost side of the store.

"Lucy I think you are getting kindles confused with kinders."

"What is the difference?"

"One is an electronic device that you can read a book on and the other is a chocolate egg with a toy inside."

"Yeah, a chocolate egg! That is what I was thinking of. Remember? We had one of those once!" The two fell silent, lost in their thoughts. Her, reflecting on the magic of childhood of eating a Kinder Surprise, her feet submerged in the sand while the Pohutukawa tree cast shade across her.

Meanwhile, her brother was thinking of the exact same event but was traumatized by it. That was the problem with being a parent, Lucy decided. For one child you could be a saint, yet another might be tormented by your attempts at discipline.

Poor Krishna had never been a happy child. All he wanted was the one thing he could never have... boundaries.

Now she'd started to find empathy for the poor serious soul. Because she finally knew what it felt like to want something she could never have. It was a little too early to get excited but she was beginning to develop strange feelings for detective Daniello. Strange feelings that she was trying to repress and suppress - anything that ended with PRESS really - and she couldn't. They kept growing and making their way to the surface every time she saw his face.

The more Lucy got to know him the nicer he was. After spending her life in quiet reflection, with her gaze on the road, she couldn't be with a man that was too chatty. It would do her head in. There were times when she was sociable and filled to the brim with chatter and laughter but then there were times where she sunk into a meditative quiet space that she wasn't prepared to have ruined by an overly needy life companion. But Daniello was just the right mix of chatty and quiet. Could she give up traveling for him? Both of them living in a house without wheels and staking out perps? Giving up the endless roads, the endless sunsets and sunrises. Could she? For a man? No. She really couldn't.

"You seem sad," Krishna remarked.

"Really?"

He nodded. "So why are you working here? Have you decided to join the suits?"

"God no," she shuddered. "My bus crashed and I had no backup savings leftover."

"Crap!"

Lucy shrugged. "Life happens."