I nodded that I understood what he was telling me, and satisfied that I wasn't going to let him down, he went on to tell me "I know you're damn good, Jim, I just wanted to make sure you understood how important it is that this lady stays happy."
"Yeah, I can understand that, and I'll make sure I don't do anything to screw this up for any of us!", I assured him.
With that out of the way, he let me know that she'd be down in a few more minutes, and the two of us went back to the front desk to wait for her.
The elevators had cycled a few times when one of them opened up and a nice-looking redhead came out; the manager gave me a little nudge to let me know that she was to be my fare for the day.
When she got close enough, I could see that she was a lot nicer looking than I'd first thought, and outfitted real nice. Just a couple inches shorter than I am, she had curly hair that looked like it was made out of fine copper that someone had polished for hours on end; her face was attractive, with emerald green eyes that sparkled nicely, a small, straight nose, and full (but not overly so) lips. Her skin was pale, but not the white-with-freckles that a lot of redheads seem to have. Her bust was a trifle larger than average, and the dress she was wearing revealed an interesting amount of cleavage. Her waist was trim, and turned into a set of hips that was definitely womanly without being too wide. Her dress ended a little above her knees, and the legs that I could see were trim and muscular. There wasn't any one thing that really stood out as making her attractive; rather, it was the way that all of her fit together that made her appealing.
Though I'm not one to keep up with fashion or anything, I didn't have any hesitation deciding that the dress she was wearing easily cost as much as I took home in a month – the material and cut and attention to detail were that obvious. Seeing her, I was glad that I'd gotten into the habit of dressing better than almost all of the other cabbies in town. Not that I actually put on a suit or anything, just that the slacks and collared shirt I was wearing were nice enough that I didn't feel like some war orphan standing in front of her.
When she got close enough for the manager to introduce us, I got a whiff of the perfume that she was wearing and decided that I wouldn't mind having her in the cab with me at alclass="underline" it was a soft and delicate scent that put me in mind of a field of wildflowers.
When the manager had told her who I was and that I'd be driving her that day, she gave me a pleasant smile before saying "It's a pleasure to meet you, James, and thank you for being willing to answer our call for help, and getting here so quickly."
"It's my pleasure, Ma'am", I assured her, with a smile of my own.
"Shall we get started, then?" she asked, and I hastened to let her know that I was hers to command – something that earned me a pleased smile.
It didn't take long for us to get out to my hack, where I readily opened the door for her and helped her in. Once I was behind the wheel, I told her "I'm yours for the day, Ma'am, so please don't hesitate to let me know if you want something – the windows up or down, more or less air conditioning, or whatever."
"It seems like a nice enough day, so the windows down a little would be fine."
Figuring that she wanted fresh air without having her hair blown all over hell and back, I got a couple of windows to half-open before saying "I'll adjust them so your hair doesn't get mussed once we get going, if that's okay."
"That's fine, James", she told me, then following that by giving me the first place she wanted to visit.
I got us headed that direction, and as we were moving, tweaked the windows until I could see her hair moving a little bit, but no more. The ride was quiet, and I was even more careful than usual about my driving. Normally, my goal is pretty simple: to take as little action as possible – that is, to speed up or slow down gradually, to avoid having to brake or swerve, or do anything other than maintain a nice, steady ride. To do that, I do pretty much all the things that they try to teach in Drivers Ed: plenty of room between me and the vehicle in front so I have more time to respond; staying alert to what people are doing around me – not just in front, but to the sides and even back; looking at not just the couple of cars in front of me, but watching what's going on for the next couple of blocks, in all the lanes; and using my turn signals not just for turns, but lane changes, too. I usually don't get to my destination as fast, but I definitely get there with a lot less hassle and aggravation.
Anyway, when we get to the place, I hustle out to get the door open and help her out. She hesitates a moment, then tells me "There's no need for you to come inside unless you really want to. I don't think they have anything I'd be interested in, but I still have to at least look; I doubt that I'll be in there more than half an hour, or so."
"As you said, it's a nice day, so if it's okay with you, I'll stay out here and enjoy it. I'll be watching for you when you're ready to leave, though."
She nodded, and made her way to the door to the place; once she was inside, I found a spot where I could keep an eye out for her.
Just as she'd predicted, it wasn't much more than half an hour when I saw her just inside the door, talking with someone. I quickly got my rig there, and was waiting for her when she came outside. Once she was in the back, and I was behind the wheel, I asked her where she'd like to go next. She gave me the name of a place, and I headed us that direction. When we got there, I helped her out just as I had at the first place, then waited to see whether she needed or wanted me to go inside with her. She seemed to consider it for a few moments before telling me "I think I'll be in here for a while, so you're welcome to come inside with me if you like."
With my assurance of "I'd be glad to, Ma'am", she led us inside- I got the door, of course – after I got the keys and locked my cab.
I'd never been in the place before, and was more than a little surprised at the service they gave us: leading us to a private viewing area, giving us coffee, and generally fawning over us. Well, her more than me, of course, but they didn't fail to be polite to me, too. After getting the cup of coffee they offered me, though, I kind of wished I'd stayed in my rig – the cup was some tiny little thing that had me sticking my pinkie out because there wasn't anyplace else for it. On top of that, the coffee wasn't all that good; the stuff I had in my thermos was a lot better.
But I kept my mouth shut except for saying "please" and "thank you", and stayed as much in the background as I could. The stuff they showed her all looked pretty good – at least on the models that were wearing it; I didn't figure it would look as nice on her, since she didn't resemble any of the wispy fashion models that had the stuff on. Nobody asked my opinion, though, and I damn sure didn't volunteer it.
There were a couple of things that she decided she liked, and made arrangements for them to be altered to fit her. When I heard what they cost, I damn near dropped my dinky little coffee cup; the two outfits she liked cost more than I had ever made in an entire month.
I could tell when things were getting close to being done, and quietly excused myself so I could get outside and be ready to take her to the next place. I hadn't been standing there but a couple of minutes when she came outside and saw me. I could tell that she was pleased that I'd gotten ready ahead of her, and quickly got her settled into the back again as she told me our next destination. I got us there easily enough, and she again suggested that I might want to come inside, since she didn't know how long she'd be there.
That place seemed to specialize in lingerie and filmy underthings, and the show I got made up for the tepid mediocre coffee they served us. Again, I was staying in the background, content to watch the models showing us the wares (the stores AND the models!) when Katherine turned around to ask me "What do you think, James?"