It's been a very long week at work and staying alone in a different city from your family can actually drain you emotionally and physically. The only solace is the fact that there's a long weekend coming up on account of a regional holiday, which means I get to go home early and drive overnight to meet my family.
Before that though, I have to wait for the esteemed driver of this office van to receive his route chart and have all the employees signed and accounted for before we can get to the long drive home. Having opted to leave 3 hours early so that I can prepare for my trip later in the evening, I'm lucky to get a window seat. Not that I can see anything outside because its already 6 PM, but I just feel comfortable knowing that in case I get sick, it's easy to hurl without hesitation. To each their own problems!
As I fidget with my phone and scroll thru my Facebook and insta feeds, getting around to shuffling my playlist, I look up towards the front of the bus and see you climb in. I do my best not to freeze for a second but just like how I sensed you walking in, you catch me looking at you. Thankfully, things are not awkward between us and we break into a wan smile at each other, as you make your way towards me and take the seat behind me.
As you settle in, we greet each other and ask the customary polite conversation starters. I tell you that am heading home later that night hence logging out early, and you tell me something similar about having relatives visiting. I've always enjoyed conversations with you when we get the opportunity to travel together to and from work, but haven't had the chance the past few weeks because of work requirements. I remember you telling me the same in the past as well. Though not close enough to be called friends, we agreed that we are more than acquaintances.
By now, the van has commenced the trip and I realise that I've caught a crick in my neck with my twisting around to talk to you, and excuse myself with that reason. You wobble out of your seat and sit next to me to save me the discomfort and offer to massage my neck. I politely decline the offer even though the van is not full and there are only 5 other passengers apart from us, scattered in the 4 rows in front of us.
As I focus on my neck and massage with my left hand, while stretching my right arm to hold the seat in front of me, I realise that you've quietly dozed off sitting next to me. Your head resting on my right shoulder, and breathing heavily in gentle snores. I don't have the heart to disturb you so let you be. After a while though, when my right arm begins to go to sleep I have no choice but to move my arm which wakes you up in a jostle. You apologize in a rush and try to straighten yourself smoothening your shirt-top and trying to pull your hair in a pony tail, raising your arms to do so.
At that exact same moment, the van brakes very hard jerking us forward. Anticipating your imbalance, I stretch my right arm sideways to prevent you from crashing in front, while my left hand moves instinctively to help support. Crash averted. Also, my right arm is pressed hard against your boobs and my left hand has cupped your left tit. I don't realise this and remain frozen, instead look to the front of the van to see if it was anything serious. Seeing a traffic pileup, I turn towards you to ask you if you are alright and notice you looking into my eyes without speaking, and I notice where my hands are. Panicking, I pull my hands away and whisper my apologies dreading the possible hells I could go thru for this at work. You, on the other hand keep assuring me that its alright, no worries, stop saying sorry and after 2-3 minutes, I stop apologising.
As we settle back in and laugh off the incident, we realise that with this traffic it'll be another hour to 90 minutes before we get to our stops. Cursing the traffic, we talk about different things, but we both realise that there is a whole different current between us.
Somewhere in our conversation, we talk about highlights of the week and you naughtily say, "Well, your week ended on a high! You managed to feel my boobs before the long weekend, so you must be happy!"
Knowing you are cool with it now and having apologized in advance for the rest of our lives, I reply cockily as well, "Oh come on, that was an accident. And, there was no fun, because I only experienced surprise and fear. Enjoyment did not course through my veins at all. Sadly."
You: "Oh really? That is sad. I thought my staying in position for a couple more seconds would have made your day, and so I didn't budge!"
Me: "Damn! Missed opportunity. You should have said something right then, probably winked at me or something. How does a guy interpret such cryptic clues?"
