Morning Bus Rides

3rd Stop-The Start of It All

Knowing her name was the start of many morning conversations during their bus rides together. It now transcended into a routine: either Dana or Leo will wait for the other in the terminal and both boarded the bus on their way to their destinations: Dana's university and Leo's office. Dana was always the first to go down from the bus, but despite the seemingly short ride, their talks were always complete and full of life. Leo may not be much of an animated conversationalist, but he always had something to say in good sense. He realized that Dana talked more than him, but it was never an issue for her if she did all the talking. She liked being listened to, and Leo was always a good listener.

One time, they both ended up standing in the middle of the bus aisle, as the bus was full of passengers. As Dana held on to the hand rail while the bus was in full motion, she was talking to Leo cheerfully when the bus suddenly made a sharp break in time for the red light. Most of the aisle crowd almost lost their balance. Dana almost lost her balance, if not for Leo, who caught her by the waist. Her face landed on his shoulder and she then looked up at him.

For a moment, their eyes were fixed on one another, being so close to each other. She felt so warm and soft, as if having no bones. I wouldn't regret kissing her right now, Leo thought, as he stared at those brown eyes of hers. But he was taken aback with that thought and he instantly let go of Dana, whose face was flustered pink. She was obviously embarrassed with him looking at her up close. She turned away shyly and reached for the hand rail.

"Drive more carefully, will you?!" she shouted at the driver.

"She's right, you know!" another passenger exclaimed.

The green light went on, and the bus continued on its way. 

"What were we talking about earlier?" Leo asked her as he tried to recover from that previous awkward moment.

"Oh... I... I have a Math exam next week," Dana replied. "I need help with those annoying Algebra equations," she said disgustingly.

"I'm a Math whiz. Thank goodness you've met me," Leo said smugly.

"Don't smile like that! You've got to be kidding me!" Dana exclaimed, pretending not to believe him.

"That's why I'm an Assistant Financial Manager," Leo answered back. "Tomorrow, show me your Algebra lesson, and I'll help you out with it," he told her.

"Yeah right, Mr. Math Whiz!" Dana smirked at him before she boarded off for the uni terminal. Leo thought she looked cute, and laughed at her.

"You will pass your Algebra exam!" Leo exclaimed at her laughingly.

"If I do, you answer my bus fare!" Dana shot back. She turned on her way and the bus went on. 

Cute, Leo thought. She was a pretty cute type of girl in a non-saccharine way. But Leo reminded himself not to go far with his thoughts of her. She's just fresh out of high school.

 

(Two days later...)

"Good morning Leo! You answer for my bus fare today!" Dana reminded cheerfully as she sat beside him on the bus.

Leo stared at her, pretending to be astounded. "You passed your Algebra exam?" he asked.

Dana nodded smilingly.

"No, really?" Leo couldn't help but smile. He did tutored her about her Algebra lesson and even went down with her just to continue as they sat in the university bus terminal.

"Yes! Thank you so much! Those polynomials now come easier for me!" she said happily. "So, you pay for my bus fare?" Dana leaned playfully on his shoulder.

Leo rolled his eyes at her jokingly. "Alright," he answered.  "I'll treat out to lunch as well. Let's meet on Tuesday."

(To be continued)