I get their stuff in the trunk, and I head into town. The whole time I'm driving, I can't help but look back at her in the rearview mirror. I mean, she's just that good-looking. But I'm being polite about it, and not staring or anything; besides, she's got her head turned to look out the window, so I'm getting to see this beautiful profile most of the time. A few times, I notice the guy with her is looking at me when I check her out, but it isn't often and he doesn't seem like he minds.
I have to admit, I'm a little disappointed when I get them downtown and to their hotel; but when she gets out of the cab, I get the chance to eyeball her a little more as I'm unloading the trunk. The guy pays the fare, and gives me a nice tip, and I figure that's the end of it.
Except that over the next couple of days, I end up getting them as fares several more times. Sometimes, shit like that happens in this business: somebody will come in from out of town and you'll wind up getting them two or three or even more times while they're visiting. It doesn't happen all the time, of course, but it's not all that strange, either. It usually works out pretty good – they get to know you a little bit, and if you're a decent driver and friendly, the tips go up real nice.
So anyway, these two keep ending up in my cab. And as I'm taking them to one place or another, we kinda get to know each other a little. I learn he's Richard Thornton, and does some kind of work helping companies find places to build factories overseas. The woman is his wife, Jyota, and he met her when he was working in Bangalore – India, just like I thought. He speaks some Hindi, and a little Chinese and a couple of other languages, which is a big help in his line of work. Me, I'm interested in learning about other places and people – I was a philosophy major when I was still in college – so I ask him some questions about the places he's been. When I ask about India, though, he suggests that she answer me; reasonable enough, since it's where she's from. She speaks better English than I do most of the time, and she's got this voice and accent that go straight to my dick as she answers my questions. This doesn't happen all at once, of course; it takes a half-dozen rides, but we get to the point where each time I pick them up, we just kind of pick up the conversation from where it left off. I also get to see her in a variety of different outfits along the way, too: a simple white sundress that makes her an absolute knockout because of the contrast with her hair and skin, to a black shoulderless number that makes her look even more like a fashion model or movie star, to what I suspect was a traditional Indian sari that leaves her looking drop-dead gorgeous. She sees me looking at her several times, and all she ever does is just smile, letting me know she appreciates the looks I'm giving her. Richard sees them, too, and tells me "It's okay, Jim. I know she's pretty, and guys like to look at her – and you're a hell of a lot more polite about it than most! If she's not offended, then I'm sure not going to be."
It's the night before they're supposed to leave town, and almost the end of my shift, and I'm hoping they think to ask for me to take them to the airport the next day – not just for the fare, which is pretty nice, but so that I can get one last look at Jyota before they leave – when I get a dispatch to a local club. I get there, and I'm surprised to see that it's Richard and Jyota. He's in slacks and a sports shirt and she's in this pale yellow jumpsuit looking thing that makes her look stunning.
He tells me they're headed for their hotel, and I get us moving in the right direction when he asks me "Didn't you tell us that you get off work soon?"
I tell him that's right – that they'll be my last fare for the night, and he tells me "Then Jyota and I would like to know if you could come up to our room after you drop us off, and get your cab parked."
I figure they just want to give me an extra tip, or something, and tell him "Sure, I can do that. Take me a couple of minutes to find a spot to park, though."
He assures me that's fine, and tells me what room they're in; I look back at them in the mirror and see the two of them look at each other and smile. I don't pay any attention to it, figuring that they're just happy from having a good time their last night in town.
We get to their hotel, and after Richard pays me – along with a hefty tip – he reminds me "We'll be expecting you. A couple of minutes, you said?"
I tell him that's right, and the doorman for the hotel closes the door for them when he stands up. I find a spot to park my hack that's not too far away, and make my way to the hotel. I know the place, and I manage to get an elevator up to their floor without being noticed by any of the staff or guests – it's a pretty fancy place, and I don't want to get any bad attention that might keep the doorman from letting me pick up fares there.
I knock on the door to their room, and it opens right up – Richard is standing there, and invites me in. They've got one of the suites, so there's a small living area separate from the bedroom. Richard asks me if I'd like something to drink, and I figure I've still got the drive home ahead of me, and ask for a beer. He pulls one out of the mini-bar, and gestures toward the glasses to see if I want one. Normally, I wouldn't bother, but I figure I'd better put on my 'class' act, and nod that I'll take one. He hands them to me, and I tilt the glass and pour the beer down the side to minimize how much head there is. I take a sip and then look at them – first her, then him. Both are watching me, which makes me a little nervous, but since they asked me to come up, I put it aside as best I can.
I'm looking at Richard, wondering what's going on when he says "Jim, you've been quite the cabbie since we got here. When we wanted to know what places there were to visit, you didn't just rattle off the local tourist spots; you actually took the time to ask what we were interested in, and then told us about some places that aren't on the local Chamber of Commerce list. You've been unfailingly polite and cheerful, and far more helpful than either one of us would have expected. And once you found out that I've traveled quite a bit, you asked me questions that were much different than what I'm used to hearing from people. You even thought to ask Jyota things that even I had never considered. Both of us would like to know: with your obvious intelligence, why are you driving a cab?"
I took a sip of my beer, and told them about how I'd been majoring in philosophy, and been studying for finals when I realized that the education I was getting wasn't going to do me the slightest bit of good out in the real world. I told them that I'd been interested in philosophy since I first read Plato's Republic in my Senior year of high school, and that I was still interested in it; just not the stuff that was being taught as 'modern' philosophy. There were too many people asking questions without worrying about finding the answers; and to me, that seemed too much like the intellectual equivalent of playing with yourself: if you're going to do it, see it all the way through to the end.
We talked back and forth a little bit, and they finally understood that I'd been asking questions because I really wanted to know something about the places they'd been – things that weren't in the tourist books.
I'd finished my beer by that time, and waited as the two of them had some kind of silent conversation with each other. When it was over, both of them turned to look at me before Jyota said "We asked you up here so that we could give you an extra payment for all that you've done to make our stay here as pleasant and enjoyable as it has been. But both of us were also curious to know why you were driving a taxicab when you had the wit to ask some of the questions you did. We also wanted to find out if you're really the kind of person that you seemed to be when you were taking us different places. We've decided that you are that kind of person, and that you have a measure of character and intellect that we don't often see in others. So there is something that we would like to ask of you."