Strawberry Kisses

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A metallic basalt grey Alfa Romeo cruised along Independence Avenue that winds through the bustling metropolis. Serendra City, bathed in a mixture of pink and orange as the sun dropped the horizon, was extra-alive.

There was a slight on and off drizzle the whole afternoon, magnifying the smell of damp earth, concrete and steel. It may not be his favorite time of the day but Gio has somewhere else to be. His mother had enough of him idling in his penthouse suite, doing nothing but watch his shares of stocks shoot while sniping his way around Black Ops.

For the nth time, he took a peek of his face through the rear-view mirror. His ash-blonde hair had grown past his ears and eyebrows. He brought his hand to rake down his hair, giving it a rumpled effect.

He angled his head a little to the right, the silver cross dangling on his left ear caught the dying light of the setting sun. He donned a matching black suit. The contradiction between his hair, accessories and garb made him an attention stealer more.

He thought he heard a faint sputtering sound but ignored it. His car was well-maintained so there's no reason for the engine to fail. With a mile left before the entrance to the city, his car gave another series of sputters and stopped right there in the middle of the highway.

"Damn it!" he cursed loudly. He tried re-starting the engine but there was no response. It was dead. He popped the hood open, but he knows nothing about car engines. It limited his relationship with his car to him driving it around town. He's yet to take their relationship to the next level, but it slipped his mind.

His wristwatch told him he's wasting precious minutes, so he called the number for the towing services. "I'm running late so I'd have to leave my car here in the middle of Independence Avenue, near KM 104. I'll leave you guys my contact details so you can bill me later."

It wasn't long before a highway patrol came. One middle-aged man and a guy in his twenties stepped out of the car and approached Gio.

"Good evening, Sir. How may we help you?" the younger man asked.

"Yes, Officer. I called for the towing services. But I can't stay to wait for them, I’m running late for a meeting. So I apologize if I'd have to leave the car here."

"Can I have your license, please? We'd stay to wait in your behalf."

"Here," Gio pulled his license from his leather wallet.

The young officer scribbled something and handed Gio back his license. "It's all good, Sir."

"Thanks," he said, eyeing an approaching cab.

"Where to, Sir?" the cab driver asked when the door closed.

"6th Street, Charington Hotel please."

The cab driver took a glance at Gio. "It's rush hour, Sir. The junction leading to 6th Street is busy. Would you like to take an alternative route? Say we take 8th Street then cut across the 7th."

"How long will it take for that route?"

"More or less an hour, Sir."

"Damn," he muttered under his breath. He hates being late. The cab's dashboard clock suggested eleven minutes past six. His appointment was at seven o'clock, there was no time. "Let's take our chances at the junction."

He felt a buzz on the left pocket of his suit. It was his mother calling. With a sigh, he swiped his thumb on the screen.

"Mom."

"Are you there yet?"

"My car broke down. I'm taking a cab right now so expect me to be late." He couldn't stop his yawn from breaking out.

"Goodness! Jessica’s already there, waiting for you." His mother sounded hysterical. "How could you make a lady wait!"

"Mom, stop the melodrama. Our appointment is seven o'clock. I'll be a little late but I know it won't kill her to wait. Besides, who told her to come early? She could have saved herself from waiting if she wasn't overly excited."

Aghast, his mother's voice came in a pitch higher than usual. "Gio Kwon! We did not send you to an Ivy League school to learn how to think, walk and act like a complete jerk!"

One after the other, his friends' faces came popping in his head. Ri with his mischievous smile, Tabi with his smirks, Sol and his obsession for working out and Dae with his eye smiles that made the ladies hang around them like a colony of bees.

You do not understand, Mom. He thought.

"Just tell her I'm running late. Bye Mom, I love you." He made kissing noises on the phone. His mother's laugh was the response he got before she disconnected the call.

He caught the driver shooting him weird looks. "Mothers. They could be a pain in the ass for bachelor sons," he said sheepishly, trying to save face.

"True," the cab driver agreed, toothy grin in place.

Thirty minutes past six, they came to the busy junction the driver was initially planning to avoid. Gio wanted to regret his decision now he's confronted with the real volume of traffic up ahead. An annoyed sigh escaped from his lips. People were milling about, others waiting to chance an empty cab.

I’ll rest for a while. He closed his eyes.

Just then, the door on his side opened and slammed shut as the cab moved. A kid sat next to him, body leaning towards the driver. A female. Her blue locks were playing peek-a-boo behind her black hoodie with every move of her shoulders. She was telling the driver to take her to 7th Street. Wait, what? This is his cab! Who's this impertinent kid to barge in and order the driver around? The clock on the cab's dashboard read a little over quarter to seven.

"Hey!"

For the first time, someone ignored his existence. Slack-jawed, Gio can only stare in disbelief. She eyed him with a blank stare before focusing all her attention to the driver. Her small hands gripped the back of the seat in front of her.

"Please, Sir. Would you be generous enough to take me to 7th Street first? This is an emergency," she begged the driver in her clear and well-modulated voice. Gio was expecting a high-pitched voice from her because of her size.

Gio snapped his fingers. "Hey kid, I already occupied this cab. Don't you think you're a little too much?" He turned to the driver, "Don't even think of listening to her. I can make life harder for you than it is."

The driver paled. He looked at the kid apologetically and mouthed a wordless sorry. With a satisfied smile, Gio leaned back on his seat.

"I'm not a kid! I have these," she pointed at her chest. "They just missed the memo from puberty! If I had any other choice, I wouldn't just hijack someone's cab. I was just in a bind! Can't you be nice today? Please?" she clasped her hands together, eyes wide to appear cute. Too bad, cute doesn't work on him. Never did and never will.

Annoyance flashed across his face. "No."

"I'll pay half the fare."

"No. I'm late and you're making me late even more. Keep your money, I can buy this cab if I want to if that's what it takes to drive you away." Gio paused. "Now, that's an interesting idea."

"No, don't kick me out, please! It's too hard to hail a cab at this hour and the queue at the train stations were a mile long!" she pleaded, taking Gio's hands on her own.

Gio tried slipping out of her grasp but her hands moved on his arm, clutching his suit. "Hands off! You're ruining my suit."

"Please. This is important."

"Look kid, my meeting is much more important. So be a good girl and get off the next bus stop. Okay?"

"That bus stop Sir?" the driver asked.

Gio looked up. True enough, a bus stop loomed ahead. "Yes, that one."

Then woman-child dropped her hands and clutched the door handle. "There is no freaking way I will step off this cab," she stubbornly declared. "I will attach myself here and scream bloody murder, loud enough your ears would fall off!"

"Miss, this stop is near 7th Street. We're going to 6th Street and it's the opposite way. You need to walk to get there." The cab driver gave her a sympathetic look.

"You heard him. Now, out!" Gio grabbed her shoulders and peeled her hands from the door. Her size made it easier for him. The door wrenched open, startling the people on the sidewalk as she stumbled out of the cab.

"Wait!" Her child-like fists pounded on the window.

Gio watched her with disinterest, willing the cab to move. He noticed a black backpack lying on the floor. "She must be after this garbage," he scoffed.

He pushed the button to open the car window and tossed her bag out. She came scrambling to catch it but was seconds late. It landed on a puddle, one of the many remnants of that afternoon's drizzle. The cab sped off, leaving her cursing him to the high heavens.