‘Not at all!’ he seemed friendly, accommodating.
She wanted to feel the cool air on her face; not only was she overly warm but sitting still helped her understand just how much she’d drank. Not that she was sloshed, but she certainly felt the edges of her world softened and smudged by a boozy haze. This not bad thing, a moment of relief, distraction. A large glass of water before bed would sort her out. She did, after all, have a busy Saturday planned. A day of chores and admin that her life and role – in the HR department at the university – meant were hard to complete from Monday to Friday.
‘Have you had a good evening?’ his manner enquiring, friendly, his voice pleasant.
‘Yes! Out with work friends. And at least I don’t have to set my alarm tomorrow. That’s one good thing.’ She relished her sleep.
‘It’s Ruby, isn’t it?’
‘Yes.’ She became more attentive, wary, as the man used her first name, asked for information. Even Mohammed after years of picking her up and dropping her off still called her Miss Brown, respected her boundaries. With her guard up, she spoke confidently. ‘Mohammed usually picks me up.’ She wanted to let him know she was a regular.
‘Yes, Frank said. Mohammed and his wife are visiting their son in Manchester, I believe. Sorry you’ve got me, a poor substitute, I’m sure, but I promise to deliver you safely home.’
So he knew Frank, the controller. Knew Mohammed who liked to talk about his boy, who was about her age, studying in Manchester. She relaxed a little.
‘My name is Chen.’
‘Hi, Chen.’
Some minutes passed before he spoke again.
‘Can I ask you a question?’ he asked as the cab halted in the traffic.
‘Sure.’ She shrugged. I mean, why not, it’d help the journey go quicker. Besides there weren’t many questions she hadn’t been asked on a night out.
‘Can I buy you a drink?’
‘Fancy a dance?’
‘Why’s a pretty girl like you not out with her bloke?’
‘Can I get your Instagram?’
‘Wanna come home with me?’
‘Why so sad? Come on smile! It might never happen!’
Ruby would stare at them knowingly, tight lipped and resolute. Because the one thing she didn’t share was that it had happened. And not only had it happened, but it had robbed her of her smile, for a while.
Chen cleared his throat. ‘If you could spend time with anyone no longer alive, who would it be?’
‘Oh, that’s a great question!’ Ruby sat forward, this a most unexpected topic and something she liked, games. ‘I suppose,’ she tapped her long nails on her mouth, ‘I’d have to go for Dr Maya Angelou. I would sit at her feet and soak up the wisdom of everything she said! That’d be some night.’
‘You’ve read her poetry?’
‘I have, but it’s one of her quotes that I think about most days, it motivates me, helps me.’ Why she felt the need to expand further to the stranger driving the cab would have been hard to explain, yet she did.
‘Which quote?’
‘We may encounter many defeats, but we must not be defeated.’
‘I like that.’
‘I like it too.’ She smiled out of the window of the cab, watching the neon signs of fast-food outlets, vape shops and brightly lit convenience stores slide by as they motored on.
‘Dr Maya Angelou,’ he repeated. ‘You like the idea of it, Ruby? Having that chance to chat to someone no longer here?’
‘I do.’ She nodded, staring now into her lap. ‘Who wouldn’t?’
