Chapter 9 -In which she is a little too late.

"I knew you'd call me. Can’t stay away, can you?"
The husky, seductive voice came from the other end of the line and I was momentarily thrown off-guard by it. I narrowed my eyes at the phone. Holy hell! Was Nikki trying to seduce one of her customers?
“Umm…Nikki?”
There was a sudden screeching sound and the line went dead silent for a few seconds before I heard her voice again. “Umm…who’s this?”
“Hi, this is Savannah.” I told her with a smile before remembering she couldn’t see me. “You dropped me off at Synclair Inc. a couple weeks ago. Sorry, I know you don’t re-”
“Ah! The interview girl! How did it go?” There was instant recognition in her voice.
"Wow…I'm surprised you remember me at all," I said as I shifted from foot to foot while standing in the near-empty bus stop. “I got the job…and I need a ride.”
"Of course! And send me the address and I’ll be on my way.”
Ten minutes later, Nikki’s cab pulled up at the stop and I hurriedly got in before the middle-aged man sitting at one of the seats could hop on.
“Moorland, please.” I told her as I settled in. “As fast as you can, please.”
“Yes, ma’am!” Nikki gave me a salute as she drove on. “So, what’s the occasion?”
“You were right about my boss giving me a hard time.” I sighed. “I got called in on a Sunday!”
“Bosses, am I right?” She shrugged. “Hold on tight, I’m gonna get you there in no time.”
I stared at her as she drove her taxi to my home town. I hadn’t been able to get a good look at her the first time around, but this time, I took the time to admire her apple red hair and cute face, but it was only now that I realized that she was quite beautiful. I mean, really beautiful.
"Done checking me out?" She gave me a backward look and winked.
"Eyes on the road, Muffin!” I laughed, angling my body towards her so we could talk easily. “I was just thinking, with your looks, you could be a model. Why drive a taxi?”
"Well, I could be, but I honestly don't have it in me to stand in front of the camera all day just so a bunch of horny freaks can ogle at me." She fake shuddered and then pouted her lips as if trying to find the right explanation. "I guess I like being a taxi driver because it kinda feels good to help people reach their destination...you know!"
"You mean, like suppose the Mayor gets in your taxi and goes to the Town Hall to give a life changing speech, you would feel like he couldn't have reached there without you?" I raised an eyebrow at her as she shrugged.
"Yeah, I wouldn’t get that cocky." She glared at me as I sniggered. "Ok Miss judgy pants and what kind of a nickname is Muffin?"
I blushed at that. "Well...when my mom was alive, she would make these really cute apple flavored muffins, but they would actually have beetroot to give that yummy color along with apple puree and your hair kinda reminded me of that." I told her.
"Awww! That's so cute!" she laughed as she drove on.
To be honest, I didn’t know if it was because she was taking me to my home town at nearly midnight or the fact that I had a really crappy day, but I found myself pouring my heart out to a complete stranger, who had kindly let me rant on and on, without any interruptions. I didn’t open up to people often but Nikki had a different kind of vibe about her that made me want to trust her.
“I mean…the least he could’ve done was apologize, right?” I sniffled, wiping at the corner of my eyes. “I know that he didn’t know that it was my mom’s birthday today, but he could’ve at least asked? Why didn’t he ask?”
“I know how you feel, honey.” Nikki sighed. “We girls just want someone to hear us out, but not all men are considerate. We just make-do with what we got.”
“I know right!” Damn, I could bitch about men with her all day.
"And here...we are!" She said in a singsong voice as she stopped in front of Moorland cemetery.
"Thanks, Nikki!" I exhaled in relief, seeing that there were still 5 minutes remaining to midnight.
I was going to open the door to get down, but stopped and turned towards her. "Will you come with me?"
"To your mother's grave?" She asked in surprise.
"Come on! Hurry! We have only four minutes left!" I yelled, getting out and running to the gate, which was closed, as expected.
"Now what?" I heard Nikki from behind me.
I sighed. "Now...we climb."
Not waiting for her reply, I started climbing the old iron gate, hoisting my dress up to my thighs. Who cares what she saw, we both had the same lady parts anyways.
After crossing, I landed on the other side on my bum, with as much un-lady like grace I could master. Nikki however, did a perfect cat like landing beside me and extended her hand to help me up.
"How the hell did you do that?" I asked, impressed.
"Gymnastics. How do you think I got this nice ass?" She gestured to her body with a triumphant smirk.
I rolled my eyes at her and took off running towards my mother’s grave and gave a triumphant smirk at Nikki when I saw her huffing and puffing to catch up to me.
"Looks like you do have a weakness," I said, taking the candles and pastry out of my bag.
I placed it on top of my mother’s grave and placed one candle in front of it. "You seen my matchbox?" I asked Nikki when I couldn't find it in my bag.
"No, but I have a lighter," she said taking it out of her jeans pocket.
"Ok, good." I took the lighter and finally looking at the time and gasped.
12.02 AM.
Tears stung my eyes as I sat still, numbly looking at my watch.
I didn't know how long I just sat there, looking at my watch with tears streaming down my face, but I was too ashamed to look at my mother’s beautiful grave, knowing that I had disappointed her. I was finally snapped out of my shock when a light flared up in front of me.
Looking up, I saw that the candle in front of the pastry had been lit and Nikki was sitting beside me with her knees pressed to her chest and her hands folded on top of them. I looked at her face to see that she was looking at my mom's headstone, a gentle smile on her face.
"It doesn't matter that you were a little too late to reach her on her birthday or that you couldn't be here early in the morning and wish her Happy Birthday. What really matters, is that even after a full day’s hard work, that too on a Sunday, you still came to wish her." She looked at me with a gentle smile and wiped the tears from my cheeks. "Even after all the hardships and not having eaten dinner, you didn't even stop but instead, bought a pastry to celebrate your mother's birthday. Your mother would be so proud of you right now, to see how far you have come in your life and how much you have matured. So stop crying like a baby and wish her!"
I laughed despite the situation and pulled Nikki into a tight hug. I was so lucky to have her by my side. I was elated that she, a complete stranger had become such a good friend in so short a time, while Nathan, someone I knew from High school, didn't even seem to care. And why would he? Why was I even expecting him to care about my feelings…about me? We were more like strangers than Nikki, a stranger who had just given me a ride.
I then turned to my mother's grave, while holding Nikki's hand in mine. "Hey mom, Happy Birthday!" I said cheerfully, wiping my tears."And I would like you to meet my new friend, Nikki. She is a really nice person and a very good friend, even though we've just met. I glad that I met her and I know you brought her into my life too since you're always watching over me. And I want you to know that I'm doing okay. I’ll achieve what I set out to do, I promise and then I’ll be back to tell you all about it." I couldn’t be more specific since Nikki was beside me and some secrets weren’t supposed to be out in the open. But I was very sure that my mom understood, she always did. And as proof, the candle flickered in the wind before going off.
We stayed there for a few more minutes, just enjoying the serenity of the moment and then we were back on our way home at around 1 in the morning.
"Why did you turn? Isn't the route back, straight ahead?" I asked Nikki when she took a left turn from the highway.
"Because I'm planning on murdering you and I have to dump your body where no one can find it," she said in a deadpan voice as I widened my eyes in fake horror. "There's a diner around here that stays open all night for truck drivers and travelers. We're going to have dinner and don’t worry, it’s very safe."
And that's how I knew that no matter what happens, she'll always be here for me.