Bus Stop (Patreon)

Home to office. Office to home. For the last two month’s that’s been the routine. I don’t have time to hang out with friends or work with hobbies. Heck, it’s an hour just to get to the office. If this job didn’t pay so well I’d have quit long ago.

Each morning I sit at the bus stop, headphones on, music playing at half volume, mindlessly scrolling through social media until the bus arrives. A boring wait for a boring commute.

But today, it was just a little less boring.

Someone sat next to me, a weird faux pas in the modern age. I’m used to everyone giving each other space, keeping a considerate gap between passengers so no one has to talk or make eye contact.

But there she was, like a sculpture in a museum. Long beautiful hair. Perfectly tone legs. A soft face curled into the same long-eyed stare we all have when browsing social media. For a split second, I thought maybe I would talk to her… and then the bus came.

We got on. I sat in the back. She sat in the front. We spent the trip staring at our phones. Another usual commute.

I looked up again when I got to my stop. Time to head into the office. Imagine my surprise when she got off too. Imagine my surprise when she entered my building! I followed her a few paces behind, watching her registering at reception and step into an elevator. Had she always worked here? Had I just not noticed?

Her elevator stopped at the eighth floor before coming back town, two floors above mine. I guess that made sense. I had little reason to go to any other department.

Thoughts of this girl made the day pass a little faster. I had something to focus on other than numbers and distracting websites. Could you believe I almost actually talked to someone? Crazy right. Commutes aren’t for talking. They are for zoning out and regretting your life decisions.

Still, my commute would be a little bit better if I could wonder about her.

The next day came, same schedule as ever. Wake up, brush teeth, grab a quick breakfast and head to the bus. I was running a little late today, a bit out of character, but I suppose I slept pretty well yesterday. I took my seat at the bus stop, put in my headphones, but let one earbud hang loose. I don’t know why, but I wanted to pay more attention to my surroundings today. Oh who am I kidding. I wanted to see her again.

But the bus arrived and she did not appear. Typical. A girl like that probably owns her own car. Maybe it was a one-time fluke? Or maybe she usually catches an earlier bus. Heh, I wanted to let my mind wander about her, but not like this.

Without the distraction, my day continued as usual: bland… uneventful… like I was just swept up in the current of time, waiting for the clock to punch out.

When I got home that night, I set my alarm a bit earlier than usual. I figured, maybe if I showed up at the bus stop early, I had a chance to see her again.

Waking up early sucks. I dragged myself out of bed, skipped brushing my teeth and had toast for breakfast before dragging my feet to the bus stop. It was cloudy, raining, and cold, and here I was heading out early just for the chance to see a random stranger. How stupid was that?

When I got to the stop no one was there. I don’t know what I expected. She wasn’t going to show up in this downpour. No one was. Only me, sitting on the bench, hoping to catch sight of a girl I saw once like some sort of creep. I sighed, put on my headphones, leaned against the side of the stop and drifted…

WHAM! A sound of something leaning against the side of the stop shook me from my mid-morning daze. I looked up to see… her! Soaked to the bone and holding a briefcase over her head, it was the girl I saw the other day.

But something was… different. The water had made her blouse just a bit transparent, and underneath the fabric I swore I could see the outline of six breasts, each getting a little smaller than the last. Also, what I thought was a belt was twitching, around her waist? A tail? A furry cat tail? What the heck?

I never imagined she would be a mutant. Heck, I didn’t even think we had mutants in this city. From the outside she looked like any other girl. Heck, I wouldn’t have noticed anything out of the ordinary if she didn’t look like she just went for an inopportune swim.

ACHOOO! She sneezed so ferociously I felt like the bus stop shook. She wiped her nose and looked at me, and I bashfully turned away. I didn’t want her to think I was some sort of creep.

ACHOOO! Another sneeze. She wasn’t doing well. She came under the roof of the stop and tried to wring out her clothes. Why didn’t she bring an umbrella? Surely she saw it was going to rain.

ACHOOO! … I sighed and took off my coat. She needed it more than me. I extended it to her and said in my most unflattering monotone “here, cover yourself up or you will get sick.”

“Eh?” She said, with nervousness in her voice. It seems like she wasn’t particularly ready to strike up a conversation on her commute either. “No… I’m fine. I don’t get sick easily… ACHOO!”

I winced at the sneeze. “Even so, you should probably cover up a little. Your underwear is showing through your blouse. You can’t get on the bus like that.”

“I… what?” She looked down at her chest. “Gah, don’t look!” She swiped the coat from me and covered herself quickly, hiding everything from view. “Th-thank you” she said avoiding eye-contact. It must have been a nightmare for her.

“So….” I said desperately trying to make small talk. “Did you forget your umbrella?”

“The forecast said it was going to rain later in the day…” she said with a pout.

“The clouds said otherwise,” I said with a chuckle. She laughed back. I guess conversation with another person isn’t so bad.

“Hey…” she said with a trepidatious look on her face. “Don’t tell anyone what you saw here OK? I don’t want anyone to find out that I’m a-“

“That you’re a what?” I said cutting her off, just trying to avoid the conversation taking a hard left turn back to awkwardville, “A bad judge of weather? I think they already know.”

“No I mean a… you know,” she said, avoiding eye-contact.

“I have no idea what you are talking about,” I said with a wink. “Just a wet girl at the bus-stop here.

“Heh, thanks…” she said pausing, realizing she hadn’t introduced herself yet.

“Alex,” I said. “My name is Alex.”

“Selena,” she said back, extending her hand in greeting. We both shot each other a smile. It was worth getting up early today.

The bus arrived seconds later and we both got on. We took our usual seats, me in the back, her in the front. I put on headphones and listened to music, dozing off again. I couldn’t wait for the ride to be over, even if it just meant I could talk to her a bit longer as we walked to the building.

Sadly, I wouldn’t get the chance. She rushed off the bus the second it stopped and ran to the building to avoid getting soaked again. By the time I had entered, she had already taken her elevator up to her floor… and had taken my coat with her.

… I liked that coat.

The next morning was sunny, so at least I didn’t miss my coat too much. I was back to my normal schedule, slinking out to the bus stop casually. It was crowded today… but no Selena. Huh… “She must have gotten sick from the rain…” I mumbled to myself as I got on the bus. To my surprise, there she was, already on the bus, sitting in the back where I usually do.

“Selena?” I said sitting next to her. She must usually get on a stop before me.

“I told you,” she smirked, “I don’t get sick easily.” She held out a bad to me and inside was my coat, folded and clearly washed. “I hope you don’t mind, but I took the trouble to wash it. It was soaked!”

“Oh uh, thanks. It needed a good wash.” I took the package and smiled. It smelled clean, fresh, and sweet, faintly like the perfume I noticed Selena was wearing.

I leaned back in my seat and prepared for a nice ride with some nice conversation with a nice new friend. I suppose I wouldn’t mind if the ride lasted a few minutes longer today.