|| We were completely silent as we were now close towards our destination. It was mostly awkward because the two of us were now crammed into the cab, as another total stranger was sitting right next to her. Dory had insisted on sitting in the middle. The man sitting next to her seemed quite dangerous and refused to leave the cab when the driver tried to drop him off.
I was going to call another cab, yet Dory insisted that it would be fine. So far it wasn't fine.
"So..." as Dory spoke up my eyes widened. I hoped that she wouldn't start conversation as I was afraid for her safety. "I can play ukulele." I began to bite down on my bottom lip. The man turned towards her.
"Oh yeah?" the man looked to the driver. "Pull over here. This is my stop." the driver nodded and pulled over.
"Yeah. I can play almost any song under the sun." the man looked at her and smirked.
"See if I give a fuck." I gasped under my breath as he spat on her, then got out of the car. She wiped away the spit and smiled, her eyes closed as the man closed the door behind him.
"Have a nice day!" in that moment that man reminded me of someone. He reminded me of Ariel...I shook my head and began to climb over her. "Where are you going?"
"People shouldn't treat you like that." I gasped again and looked at her as she put her hand on my chest. My eyes were glued to her.
"It's okay! Don't worry! I'm fine, I've had worse experiences..." I slowly sat back down and stared at her.
"Y-you have?" I looked to her lips then to her eyes again. She nodded.
"New York is not the nicest place. But it's okay." she looked forward as the car started moving again. "I know plenty of people who are nice enough." as she kept her hand on my chest, I slowly put my hand over hers and moved to where my heartbeat was. My hand was shaking as I kept my eyes on her. She looked to me and laughed. "Whoa, nice heartbeat." I smiled.
"Thanks..." as she looked forward again I slowly licked my lips and leaned towards her. I closed my eyes and sighed as the car stopped. When she took her hand away, I swear my heart skipped a beat.
"Here we are, that'll be twenty dollars." the driver grinned and showed his yellow teeth. She wasn't at all intimidated as she handed him a twenty along with a five.
"I was going to pay--" she interrupted me as she got out of the car and waited for me.
"Keep the change!" I quickly got out of the car. The driver smiled before driving away. She held out her hand as we stood in front of the store.
"To Ikea?" I smiled and took her hand in mine.
"To ikea." she nodded and walked in, dragging me along with her. I chuckled and stopped her.
"Now now, remember, I don't want to loose you so make sure to stay close okay?" I spoke carefully while walking into the store. She tilted her head and smiled.
"Of course! You have nothing to worry about." she then looked over to see a moving escalator. "Ooh! Let's go see that!" she grabbed onto my hand again and began to run. I laughed, pulled her back and shook my head. "What?"
"Dory..."
"What?" I smiled at her and began to walk towards the escalator.
"Let's walk, please." I held her hand in mind and exhaled happily as we walked.
"Jesse?" I closed my eyes and focused on the moment. It felt so nice to hold someone's hand, to feel just a little less alone for once. I hadn't felt that in a long time. I had been with Ariel for three years and during that time I hadn't felt that feeling once. "Jess...e?" I slowly opened my eyes as I could feel both ends of my lips curl.
