She strained her eyes trying to make out the bus line’s evening hours. But someone had used a coin to scratch graffiti across the plexiglass covering the bus schedule, leaving it a blurred, indecipherable mess.
Sara knew that the buses ran at night, although at a much reduced frequency.
With no other choice, and because she had no means of paying a taxi, she began walking toward the next stop along her usual bus’s circuit. Sooner or later, one would go by and she would just have to do her best to flag it down.
She had only gone half a block when she heard the low rumbling of a large vehicle draw up beside her before slipping smoothly by.
A long, black sedan of foreign make came to a stop several yards beyond Sara and the driver quickly got out.
He was a young man, blond and smiling wide as she stopped in her tracks.
He’s just a kid, surely not old enough to drive.
“Hi,” he said it like a teenager would. Only his all black attire, down to the dark sunglasses and black leather gloves, somehow lent him a professional air.
“My name is Carson Flair, but you can just call me Flair,” he said, “Everybody else does.”
Sara smiled despite herself. His grin was infectious.
“And you can call me Sara,” she replied.
He nodded, saying, “Yes...Sara Renardine...I know. I’m supposed to take you home, Miss Renardine, or anywhere else you might like to go.”
Damn that man and his beautiful eyes. He doesn’t know when to give up.
Only Sara knew that she was relieved she would not have to walk who-knows-how-many blocks until she might chance upon a bus. She wanted to stand by her principles, but the fact was, it was very late and she was very tired.
She must have nodded then, but was not aware of it. In any case, Flair immediately opened a rear passenger door and with a flourish of his hand, indicated that she take a seat.
Oh, the hell with it. I’m too tired to argue any more.
She got in and the young man nodded, his smile still in place as he closed the passenger door.
The interior of the car was of deep cushioned, butter soft leather that smelled deliciously of Earl Grey tea. A dark tinted glass panel was up, separating her from the driver’s compartment and just as Sara was about to knock on the glass so she could give him directions, Flair’s voice spoke from a speaker integrated into the car’s interior.
He asked for the address and Sara gave it to him, but the street number she mentioned was one that would leave her at some distance from the hotel.
Her vanity was petty and she knew it, but the idea of where she lived getting back to the amber eyed man was too much to swallow.
As it was, everything about that man was too much to swallow and Sara sleepily watched the city streets float by, as if she rode a cloud within a dream.
Soon enough, the streets took on a meaner aspect. The lighting was dimmer. The few people who loitered on the sidewalks were dimmer, too. Trash gathered in the corners of the street gutters, as if placed there to say that order had no say here, as if wild creatures waited around every corner.
In a smooth glide to a stop, the car halted before a desolate brick building.
Sara had guessed at a street number that would get her close, but not too close, to her hotel.
She did not wait for Flair to come open her door but as she put her hand on the latch, the tinted glass panel abruptly slid down.
“Miss Renardine, this is for you,” Flair said. He reached through the opening to hold a cellphone out to her.
Without thinking, Sara took it and he continued, “Mr. Abraxis wants you to have it. Also, he wants you to know that you can expect a call very soon.”
She said, “What did you say? His name is what?
Carson Flair reached up to remove his sunglasses and said, "Mr. Abraxis? Brazier Abraxis, the man at the top, CEO and owner of Abraxis Industries...the man who owns us all."
Oh my god, oh my god....
Stunned, it took Sara a moment to reply.
"He doesn't own me."
...be careful of the powers you invoke....
Flair smiled even wider as he said, "If you say so, Miss Renardine. But, my nose tells me that he's got plans for you."
What have I got myself into..?
He nodded to the cellphone in her hand.
"If I were you, I’d keep that handy. Mr. Abraxis expects all of us to respond instantly to his calls."
Her mind reeling Sara nearly leapt from the car while Flair rushed outside to join her. His hands opened and closed, as if being deprived of opening the door for her wounded him somehow.
She did not care.
This is not happening.
Sara stumbled back a step from the car, the cellphone held loosely in one hand.
"His every desire...."she said under her breath.
Flair cocked his head and said, "I'm sorry? I didn't catch that."