The Taxi Cab

Chapter 3

I stumbled out of the elevator and through the lobby. Tears were still streaming down my face. I walked out into the chilly winter air. I felt the cold snowflakes hit my cheeks as I walked to the edge of the sidewalk. My apartment was about a 45 minute walk from here. Sometimes if I felt up to it I would just walk back home but today was not one of those days.

A taxi pulled up and I got in. I told the driver my apartment buildings address.

"Are you okay?" He asked me.

"Ya i'm fine." I responded.

He looked back at me and gave me a small smile.

Traffic was pretty heavy and it was taking a really long time to get to my apartment. I could feel my eyes getting tired.  I checked the time on my phone, it was a little after 5:00. I looked out the window and watched the snow fall from the sky, and I slowly fell asleep.

*****

"Ma'am, Ma'am."  I woke up to the taxi driver looking at me.

"We're here." He said, giving me a small smile.

I rubbed my eyes as I dug around in my purse looking for money.

"How much?" I asked.

"Free." He replied.

"Thank you." I said, smiling back at him.

I got out of the taxi and shut the door. I looked at the apartment building. This wasn't my building.  I turned around to tell the driver we were at the wrong place, but he was already gone. I checked the time on my phone. It was almost 7:00.

Where did he take me?

I tried calling for another taxi, but none of them pulled over. I tried for 10 minutes before giving up and sitting down on the curb. I could feel the tears forming in my eyes again as I watched the cars drive by. After a while I put my head in my hands, feeling the tears roll down my arms.

"Hey are you okay?" A deep voice asked.

"Ya i'm fine." I responded without looking up.

"What are you doing sitting out in the cold?" The voice asked.

I turned my head and looked up. It was the guy I ran into on the elevator earlier. What was he doing here?

"It's been a rough day." I replied.

The man sat down next to me.

"Do you want to talk about it?" He asked.

"Not really." I replied, looking at him with a small smile.

"Hey, you're the girl from the elevator." He said smiling wide.

"Ya." I said laughing a bit.

"What are you doing all the way over here?" He asked me.

"I don't know." I replied. "I fell asleep in the taxi and the driver took me here."

"Well how about we get you out of the snow." He said standing up.

He reached his hand down and I grabbed it. I stood up and we walked into the apartment building.

You really shouldn't follow strange men into their apartment building but I really wasn't thinking straight anyway.