Forever Yours

The Limo Driver [1]

The silence had gone on for several embarrassing beats when I realized I was just staring at him like a mindless idiot. Okay, Maureen. Breathe, stop blushing, smile, speak...

Before I could even pull together a coherent thought, he spoke.

"Good morning, ma'am."

Let's run this through again, Maureen. Breathe, stop blushing, smile, speak...

"Hi," I said finally. The guy was staring down at me, an almost puzzled look in his eye. I swallowed. Keep going. "M-my name is Maureen. Are you my new driver?" Instantly I felt like kicking myself. Stupid. Why else would he be standing next to the limo, dressed in a tux?

There was another beat of silence and then he suddenly cleared his throat. "Yes, ma'am. My name is Ryan Adams. Your father's employment agency assigned me to you as your driver." Here was the first he smiled, and I tried not to swoon. When the word gorgeous was created... it was in an attempt to pay homage to the beauty of this guy.

"Oh... right. Of course." Of course what? I couldn't even remember what he'd said. Except for the fact that he kept calling me ma'am, which was pretty much the most awkward thing in the world. I was seventeen, for crying out loud.

Naturally, I couldn't leave well enough alone. I just had to branch off into a stumbling, stuttering monologue of nonsense.

"Well... you don't have to, um, call me... call me ma'am. I'm not - I mean, it doesn't... you don't have to-" I broke off, flushing. But once started, it'd be dumber to quit. Right? "I mean, you can just call me Maureen - if you want. I don't want... Well, I mean... that's not what I meant, I guess..." I trailed off when I noticed the spark of amusement forming in his eyes.

Well, that's great. Lifting a hand to my lips, I began to bite at my nails before suddenly realizing that they were manicured and the taste of acetone was now imbedded in my taste buds. I grimaced and dropped my hand back down to my side.

The guy- Ryan- hadn't said anything for a few long seconds and I hazarded to lift my eyes once again. He was staring at me silently, as if trying to work out some sort of math formulation in his head; suddenly, a warm, genuine smile spread across his face. I swallowed again.

"I'll call you Maureen if you want me to. I was told to refer to you as Ma'am, or Miss, but if that's not what you want, I am obliged to comply with any of your wishes." He sounded so professional; so poised - whereas I couldn't have sounded more like an idiot.

"Just call me Maureen." I said morosely. "Ma'am... makes me a feel a little weird."

"As you wish. Are you ready to go now?"

"Yes." Yes, end this conversation, please. I went to reach for the handle, but his arm suddenly reached around me and I froze when I realized he was standing about two inches away from me.

"Here you are," he said as he pulled the door open. I didn't move. "May I take your hand?" My gaze fluttered- actually, fluttered- up to meet his and I was taken aback by the very small smirk playing on his lips.

He thought I was just a bubble-headed idiot, didn't he?

"No," I stuttered. "No, thank you." I could feel the heat prickle in my face as I quickly ducked down into the limo. He shut the door behind me - but not before I saw the smile spread across his face as he turned away.

I sat in a daze for a couple of seconds. There was no way my Dad had seen this guy before hiring him, that was for sure, I thought, snorting to myself. If he had, I would have assuredly ended up with the white-haired gentleman of my previous expectations.