Appetite (18+)

Chapter 5: the taxi driver

I rushed out of my apartment as I dragged my sweater on and tried to fix my shoes. With my backpack held tightly at my side by one strap, I made my way to the street. Quickly spotting a taxi, I waved them over and thanked the stars he stopped. I had class in a couple hours but wanted to get to campus to go over some notes with a classmate. I had a really important test in a few days and had been feeling the stress lately. This would be my chance to re-center myself.

I opened the door to the back seat and scooted in. Then I let the driver know my destination and he nodded. As he took off, I laid my head back to catch my breath for a second. My heart raced in my chest with the adrenaline pumping from not waking at the sound of my alarm. Ro had already left for work so it was up to me to not oversleep. Obviously I had failed.

Once I felt more at ease I brushed back my hair with my fingers. There were still tangles since I hadn't washed it, only taking a body shower this morning. But at least I didn't smell bad. That thought made me self conscious for a moment, causing me to finally take more than a glance at the man behind the wheel.

He had shades on so I couldn't see his eyes completely, but his crow's feet peaked out. It reminded me of those on Scott Eastwood, one of my celebrity crushes. However, this man was probably older. He wore a jacket and a white t-shirt underneath. He had broad shoulders and arms that were on the harrier side, and I noticed no ring on his finger. His hair was slicked back, and he sported little facial hair. He seemed decent from what I was able to see of him.

I shifted my eyes away as to not seem so creepy for staring. Instead I pulled out my phone to let my friend know I was on my way. We would probably have to go buy something for breakfast seeing as I hadn't grabbed anything from home. I also wouldn't be able to focus if I was feeling hangry.

I recognized that we were maybe two streets away from the school, so I decided to prepare the cash. Reaching into my backpack, I dragged my hand around expecting to easily pull out my wallet. Not feeling it, I opened the zipper wider and pushed my binder and folders aside. I came up empty, realizing I hadn't switched my wallet out from my purse. I was riding without any form of payment. I mentally slapped myself feeling stupid for my mistake.

I nervously tucked a piece of loose hair behind my ear as I prepared to say something. But what would I say? How would he react? He might think I purposely took the ride without the money.

Maybe I could borrow some money from my friend but as I checked my phone to send a text, I saw they had replied that they were still waiting for the bus. I couldn't make the driver wait. I was growing more embarrassed by the minute as I scrambled for ideas.

"Um," I began, but it appeared he wasn't listening, being more focused on the road.

"Excuse me" I tried again a little louder.

"Hm?" He acknowledged, his head slightly turning upwards to glance at me through the rearview mirror.

"I'm really sorry to tell you this now but I just noticed I forgot my wallet" I let out, my face turning red.

"How do you plan on paying?" He asked. His voice was steady and comforting in its deepness. However, I had no clue if he was angry or not.

So how did I plan to pay?

The meter would be kept running if I chose to go back and get my wallet and that would be too much. Plus I didn't want to waste time that could be spent studying if I did that, as well as run the chance of looking bad by arriving late.

The man, Joseph, from reading his license on the dash, stayed silent. I allowed my eyes to momentarily roam him and decided he was pretty fit for whatever his age was. And he smelled clean. I was willing to take the risk with fingers crossed he would take the bait.