The Night Bus

LIGHTS

She sat down on the metal bench, her left hand in her pocket and the other gripped firmly on the handle of her branded luggage. As exhausted as she was, she managed to keep her eyes open and alert.

Midnight wasn't the best time to catch a bus but it was the only bus she could find on such short notice. She looked around the bus stop to see other business men wearing sophisticated suits and carrying briefcases, despite the odd hour. She felt safe knowing she was surrounded by people like her.

She was fatigued and with a lot of effort, refrained herself from leaning on the ice cold wall beside her. Her phone buzzed and she bolted up and answered the call with a quick, "yes, mum. I'm fine," and hung up before her mother could give her a lecture about how dangerous this time was for a young girl to be travelling alone.

Scorching hot days and arctic nights in South Asian countries weren't her idea of the best business trips. She wasn't really enjoying the atmosphere of Bangladesh so far, but she did what she had to do. She couldn't wait to leave Dhaka, the capital. The polluted air and bland buildings were driving her mad.

The bus was exactly 17 minutes late. She groaned as pulled her luggage behind her, then shoving it in the storage compartment before groggily walking into the bus. She cursed under her breath when she noticed how bright the lights were. She looked at the weary passengers; some looked quite pissed about the lighting and some were still sound asleep. She, then, found her seat and dropped on to it as if it were the arms of an angel.

It hadn't taken her five seconds to put her earphones on, put some music on and close her eyes, when someone had gently tapped her shoulder.

"Yes?" she said, squinting her eyes.

"I'm sorry to bother you, but this is my seat?" he said hesitantly, pointing to the seat next to hers.

"Oh sorry," she mumbled as she took her handbag off the seat and pushing it underneath her one.

"Thanks," he smiled, "I'm Alec by the way."

"Nice to meet you, I'm Manila," she finally said, putting her earphones back in, while dim lights took the place of bright ones.

What could possibly go wrong in a perfectly comfortable night bus?