The bus rumbles on after a stop… and the next one is Dale’s
“I’ve never been offered a job by an overweight stranger on a public bus before.” Dale says, scratching his head.
The betting man in the seat behind leans in between Dale and Terry to whisper into Terry’s ear.
“You’re on!” Terry says with a grin. “Well, now there’s money riding on your decision. What’s it going to be?”
The bus rolls up to the stop, and the doors open. People begin to file out the doors, but Dale sits still. The doors close and the bus begins to chug ahead.
“Well, that was my stop. I’m in.” And with that, the man in the seat behind lets out a loud sigh. He reaches forward, handing Terry a fifty dollar bill.
“Ha ha ha. I knew it. Who could pass something like this up? Okay… first up, we’ll be meeting with the promotions company people.” He hands Dale a portfolio. “This is everything they sent me about their company. Read up. We get off in two stops.”
For the next few minutes, Dale scans through the documents while Terry dozes in his seat. The driver calls out their stop while the bus is still in motion, and they get up and begin to make their way up the aisle to the exit doors when the bus suddenly jerks to a stop. Dale easily braces himself, but Terry is too large and barrels down the aisle with Dale following in a futile attempt to hold him back.
For Dale, it feels like everything is moving in slow motion as the immense sumo crashes through one… two… three middle-aged men, then an elderly woman, and finally comes to a stop on top of a beautiful young professional woman. Her blonde hair flies up around her head and her legs buckle side-by-side in her fitted skirt.
The bus driver hears the commotion and comes racing to the scene of carnage. Fortunately, nearly everyone is getting up and just a little surprised and embarrassed… everyone except the gorgeous woman, who is still lying on the floor with her eyes closed.
As Terry composes himself and begins making frenzied apologies to everyone, Dale races to her aid. He kneels down beside her and places his jacket gently under her head. She begins to stir as he takes her hand.
“Miss? Are you alright? Can you speak?” Dale says softly beside her ear. She opens her eyes slowly and stares into Dale’s eyes;, just a few inches from her own.
“My name is Clementina.” She whispers with a smile, her green eyes twinkling.
Is this…
