I gripped my cellphone in anger, the plastic creaking as I squeezed it, hard. "Moxie, I just finished with a client, but the taxi that I had asked to wait, and paid a hefty tip, left me here, stranded. It's after five, so no cabs are going to come pick me up in this area. There's a bus terminal two blocks up, so I'll go catch a bus back into the city and hopefully be able to meet you at Caesar's at seven. See you then, baby." I said, trying to sound upbeat and assured. Truth is, I was in a shitty part of town – did I say shitty? I mean dangerous. The hood—it should evoke all of the visuals to help picture where I was.

Luckily, I had driven to this client's sad little apartment twice before. Ok, yes, he was a drug dealer, and I hated working for him, but he paid cash, and he wanted me to run a good set of books for the adult store that he ran down on the east side of town. Only thing with him was, he never left the hood, never. So I had to come to him each month to get his ledgers for the month, and we'd sit and smoke some very good weed, sip expensive liquor, and just talk. He loved to talk, but he was constantly paranoid because of who he was.

When I came over, he let his guard down, and we had genuine fun together, hell, we even would sit and play video games for hours at a time. Most times, he would have one of his people drive me back home, but this day, for some reason, that wasn't an option. And strangely, I never actually saw Shaky. His right-hand man, Mike, just came out and said Shaky was busy and handed me an envelope with two grand inside. He said Shaky would be in touch at the end of the month. I felt the unease, so I was eager to leave, not knowing if I had unknowingly stumbled into a dangerous situation. I slipped the money into my shoes and the rest into my money belt. I wore it each time I came down to get Shaky's books, just to be on the safe side.

I began the walk to the bus terminal, keeping my eyes peeled without looking afraid. I don't drive anymore; three DUI's had seen to that. I'd done four months in jail, and paid four grand in fines that had tapped my bank account and left me in trouble. I'd had to sell my SUV to keep the bills paid while I attempted to get my clients back. I was an accountant, and a damn good one. I have eight private clients that kept me well paid, but after my arrest, they'd gone silent, no longer having trust in me.

I mean, I couldn't blame them, could I? Would you trust your accountant if he got arrested, driving drunk for the third time? Yeah, me either. I walked the short distance to the bus station, which was about to close. The bus terminal looked pretty much like you'd expect. Graffiti on the outside, empty parking lot, peeling paint, and junk, and some trash blowing about the parking lot. There was also a covered shelter on the other side of the parking lot, where people could wait in a storm if the terminal was closed.

The attendant gave me a look as I knocked on the dirty glass door to make sure a bus was running. It should arrive if on schedule every half hour, and it was ten minutes away from that time. She shouted through the door rather than opening it, "Be there in about ten or so, but it's coming." She assured me and turned back to her corn dog, which I watched her envelope with lips the size of inner tubes. I turned away, knowing I could never not see that picture again. I walked outside and then over to the covered bus stop right there in the bus station parking lot.

There were two people waiting for the bus as well. One was an old man with a cane. He sat both hands propped on the cane, holding him up, slightly mussed white hair atop a thin head, atop a thin body. His clothes hung on him, his cheeks sunken in by age or illness, it didn't matter. His dark eyes were intelligent and keen and watched me as I approached. He lost interest in me quickly and continued to look off into nothingness.

The other person was younger from what I could see. They wore sweatpants and a hoodie with the hood pulled up so I couldn't see who it was, boy or girl. Then they crossed their legs as they played with their phone, and I knew it was a girl. As I stepped into the open shelter, she looked up and our eyes met. Her eyes were a piercing blue, almost luminescent, and for a moment, I was taken aback. Soft baby cheeks and soft innocent pink lips gave her an innocent beauty.

I flashed a quick smile. She returned to her phone, and I began to look down the road, waiting for the last bus of the day to come and take us away from the sad, dangerous part of town where you did not want to be caught after dark. It was five o'clock now. My attention moved back to the girl in the hoodie, and I let my eyes casually sweep over to her. She was still engrossed in her phone, she was texting someone, and I wondered if it was a boyfriend or perhaps a girlfriend. Would they be sharing a sensual evening together? Would he end up taking off that hoodie, so that he could see her body? The thought made desire sweep through me; I felt myself begin to stiffen slightly at the thought of what she might look like under her unflattering clothes.

She looked up, and our eyes met again. I saw the realization in her eyes that I was looking at her once again, too interested. Slightly, ever so slightly, her eyes narrowed, and I saw the remnants of an attempt at eye liner, now looking drab and making her face look off somehow. Her eyes flicked up and down, taking in all of me, head to toe, forming an opinion. Yeah, I was plain as they come, that's why no one ever remembered me for very long. She realized I was checking her out; her brow furrowed, and she looked away again, retreating back into her phone.

Just then, the bus came over the hill, and everyone looked up in the direction the bus was coming from. The girl took a hold of a backpack that was sitting beside her on the bench seat and stood. I smelled soap and something else, fresh, clean, flowery scent, that wafted ever so slightly from her. When she stood, I could see more of her body. She was lean, with a curvy ass that drew my eye, my brows rising in appreciation.

We got onto the bus, and I headed for the rear of the bus, the same place I always sat when riding public transportation. She sat down, one row in front of me and on the opposite side of the narrow aisle. So I could see her, and I wondered that she had chosen that seat out of all the others that were available. Had my being brazen with my roving eyes turned her on? I got settled in and looked around at the other passengers that were taking their seats. Eleven of us in total, most of them choosing to sit more towards the front of the bus.

Shaking my head, I returned my attention to the mysterious girl that sat close by. I checked out her expensive sneakers, pink Jordans. I smiled to myself thinking about her cute little feet, and how soft they might be. The hiss of the air brakes signaled we were departing, with the side-to-side movement of a bus when it takes off from a stop. I knew I was riding for about fifteen minutes to the Fourth Street terminal.

Why not pass the time in a pleasant way I asked myself, as I let my eyes once again move to the hooded girl sitting in front of me. Suddenly, she shifted in her seat, and with one practiced movement, she had pulled her hoodie off, over her head. The absence of the hoodie revealed a girl with short pink hair done up in a sexy bob cut that accentuated her baby-like face, large pouty lips, and all. She glanced to her left, and then back at me casually and saw that I was staring at her. Her brow furrowed once again, and she looked away, wrapping her arms around herself in a protective gesture of discomfort.

I felt myself stiffen in my pants as I realized I had affected her, made her nervous, or maybe, even frightened. The feeling of power surged through me, and to my surprise, it excited me! I felt alien feelings come over me in that moment, the twisted arousal at causing a young woman to feel discomfort because of my gaze, my wicked eyes moving all over her body.

Did she take off the hoodie just for me? Again, my dick responded, sensation snaking down the shaft and making me close my eyes as the pleasure overtook me. She wore sexy luminescent green and gold dangly earrings meant to draw the eye. Well, it had worked; she had drawn my eyes and now they were discovering her. She had large, firm breasts, and her cream-colored shirt showed off the swell of her breasts admirably. I watched as they jiggled slightly due to the motion of the bus. I could see her left breast, and only the side of it, but it jiggled and I fantasized it jiggling as I licked her nipples as they jiggled against my tongue.

Before I could turn my head, she looked back and saw me staring right at her breast. But instead of turning her head in shame, she stopped and turned her head farther towards me and looked me right in the eye, before turning away a few moments later. I was shocked; she had confronted me, and if I wasn't mistaken, there was a slight smirk or something a lot like it on her lips. Was she enjoying my attention? Was my obvious arousal turning her slutty little ass on too?

What happened next I couldn't have prepared myself for if I'd had a year. She reached over with her right hand, and rubbed the nipple of her left breast, back and forth, and then slowly pinched it as she turned her head and looked back at me, suggestively. And then as quickly as she had gotten all dirty, she sat up straight and reached for her hoodie, pulling it on over her head, her body disappearing into the gray fabric once again. I smiled to myself; I'd gotten a younger woman's attention, and it made me feel confident. I could feel the smirk that I wore on my face grow as we can to my stop ten minutes later. I gave the girl a good look at the smirk I wore as I looked down on her as I passed by.

But she had her face hidden as she stared down at her phone. She turned away as I walked past her to get off the bus. No matter, I'd dominated her good and made her give in to my animal desires and it felt empowering. I'd do well with Angie tonight, and I'd enjoy my evening with her, and we'd have a great time together after a hundred and fifty dollar meal with drinks and more drinks in the lounge. Plus, a cab home because she wouldn't let me drive, even if I'd had one drink, but alas, I had no car anyway, so it mattered little.

I pulled my London Fog coat around me as a cold wind rushed down the street suddenly, sending papers, trash, and a steel wire garbage can sliding down the sidewalk. Dark clouds had slid in overhead without me noticing, a low rumble off to the east. For some reason, a feeling of unease washed over me as I left the bus terminal parking lot and began to walk to the Yellow Cab depot I knew was less than two blocks away.

I'd get in a cab and make it into the city, hopefully by seven. It was six fifteen, and I still felt I could make it. For some reason, I stopped suddenly and looked behind me, nothing but a dark-haired white woman in a beige dress walking along, a large sunhat on her head, concealing her face. I shook my head, she seemed out of place in this shit hole part of town. I put it out of my mind as I turned, hurrying as the thunder grew closer.

I made it into the parking lot of the Eastern Yellow Cab company and went inside. It took a minute to explain why I had walked into their base of operations rather than calling from somewhere and having the cab pick me up. The thin, awkward clerk looked uncomfortable with me just walking in, as if I were about to rob him. But I explained I had come on a bus, and after a few moments, he realized that yes, there was a bus terminal right up the street, so maybe I was legit, and he got me a cab to the restaurant. We'd only gone seven miles or so and still had five miles to get to the restaurant when we hit traffic. Rain had begun to fall by this time, and I was glad I would be in a wonderful high-end eatery with a delicious woman in just a few minutes.

That cocky smile came to my face again, I can tell when I'm wearing my cocky smile, just by the way my face feels, as if it's lighting up. Maybe my cocky smile is "the" look for me.

I glanced to my right, looking out at the now gray, rainy city around me, and froze, the smile slipping from my face. The girl from the bus was in the cab right next to mine, staring at me out the closed window, her eyes large and cold. Fear shot over me like a cold bucket of water, and I heard myself gasp as our eyes met.

At that moment, traffic moved, and we shot ahead, my vision of her eyes following me, full of malice as we moved away. I turned in my seat to see if I could see her in the cab that was in the next lane, but I couldn't, and I turned back, stunned. I tried instantly to convince myself that it hadn't been her, just someone that maybe looked a bit like her. It was raining, and almost dusk. No, it was dusk, and I was tired, so no. It wasn't the weird girl from the bus; she hadn't gotten off, I would have noticed.

And why would she follow me? I made myself laugh and shook my head as I closed my eyes, pushing the vision of her eyes, looking directly at me, out of my mind. A wonderful evening lay ahead of me, and I intended to enjoy it to the fullest.

End of Chapter One