The Driver

CHAPTER 3

            I had raised a lot more money than I ever imagined. It seems that being a single man is still an advantage, especially when I had in my life a wife who was able to take the last penny out of my pocket.

        I had many days when I gave up buying food and sending my wife all the money. I knew she did not necessarily need them; I knew she did not have emergencies, but I still wanted to see her happy. Unfortunately, lately, only money has brought a smile to her face.

        I understood that, and yet I could not give it up. I thought we had a sincere and pure love when in fact she had only hidden intentions.

        It had been two years since my divorce when I quit my job as a community driver and decided to set up a taxi company. I had bought two cars, a black Volkswagen Passat, and a Red Peugeot 407. I decided to go out to celebrate my new business.

        I called my best friend. I had met him when I was taking care of Mr. Mihai. He was always like a brother to me, and whenever I was in the mood for a drink I was calling him to go out together. I did not have the chance to meet him very often lately, and I had owed him an apology.

        I asked him to work with me and he gladly accepted. He was in financial trouble after losing his job at the firm where he had worked for eight years.

        His wife had given birth to a little boy a short time ago and he desperately needed money. I was willing to help him because he was the only man who believed in me and always supported me.

        We got drunk like pigs that night and we remember the memories of the time we went out every night.

        We started together on the same road and nothing could stand in our way. I was driving the red car and Andrei was driving the black one.

        There were days when we were doing well and in the evenings we would go to bars to celebrate, as in the old days, and days when we were so stressed that we avoided it so that we wouldn't let each other get their nerves out of each other.

        I never had such a good friend. I thought of him as a brother and could not afford to lose him. He had always been there for me since we met and already knew much of my life. It was not easy for me to be weak in front of him, but alcohol can take out of man everything he would not really want to show.

        We had a habit of going together once a week around in the bars. We would walk into every bar that would get in our way and we would not go home until we had fallen from so much booze.

        A lot of times I wake up in the morning with a woman next to me in bed and I had no idea how she would show up there.   Sometimes I would just find a phone number written on a napkin and try to remember what the hell I had done the night before.

        I never bothered to call them or give them a second chance to wake up in my bed. I no longer trusted women and already associated them with devils.

        We both worked hard to buy two more cars. This time we decided to move to a more luxurious category of cars because through our seriousness and punctuality in this field we had made a circle of customers who liked luxury cars.

        Together with Andrei, we decided to buy the two cars no matter how much it would have cost us to place ourselves in the best place on the market. I bought a Mercedes S-Class E63 AMG, 4x4 traction that had a 5.5L V8 engine, a seven-speed automatic box, and 577CP, and a Porsche Panamera Turbo S Executive 4x4 traction with 4.8L V8 engine, an automatic box with seven-speed and 570CP.

        I had risked a lot by buying these extremely expensive cars, but I had a clear view of what I wanted to do.

        I had promised my friend that one day we would both sit at the office and I was going to keep my word. Andrei had a beautiful family and I did not want him to be exposed to danger.

        I wanted to expand, and nothing could stand in my way. I was being pushed by a mad force to be able to do something that everyone was amazed at. I wanted to show them all and especially myself that I can do more than I have done before and nothing can ruin my plans.

        I lost everything so I give up my family too. They did not approve of me divorcing and I cut off the relationship with them. I no longer needed their reproaches or useless advice.

        If they had known which woman I had married, they would have told me from the beginning that I was making a big mistake just like they said about divorce.

        I could not tell them the truth because I did not need any more reproach. I was going to start over on my own. I had promised myself that I would only show the good side to my employees and not let them see my flaws and weaknesses. I promised myself I would be a good boss.

        I knew my ex-wife would try to take her place in my life, but I will not allow it anymore. She had enough chances and missed them all. She knew that no matter what she did, I would be there to forgive her, or at least she thought so.

        When I was working in the community, I was willing to do whatever it takes to see her happy, but she did not even suspect the sacrifices I was making.

        It is nice to be a community driver! It is hard at the same time! You are making a lot of sacrifices! Stay away from your loved ones, drive, think, miss your loved ones. Have another sip of coffee and light another cigarette. You pray to God to get home whole and unharmed...

        To the ones, you left to give them a better life! A lot of people see through the parking lots, some of us may be laughing or smiling or maybe with a glass of beer. Under those smiles, there is also sadness, but we want to show that we are men and we are strong!

        But even the toughest and strongest men have souls, they have a heart that we cannot dictate to what feels to share with us. And then it comes to that sentence ”damn this life”! But we were going forward with good and bad!!

        It was time for Andrei to show me what he was capable of, so I let him handle the hiring of the drivers. I knew he could do that, and I had every confidence in him.

        Now I had four cars and I wanted to expand more. I knew I could do better, and I wanted to do more. I wanted to quit my job as a driver as soon as possible so I could stay hidden in an office.

        I felt more and more lonely and more dejected. Even though the business was going well, I was not satisfied. I no longer trusted women, nor had I found one that would arouse any feeling. I could not even afford the luxury of giving them this opportunity.

        Back when I was working in the community, before I married many years ago, I had met a woman. She was a lively woman and always set on dangerous adventures. Irina was ten years older than me; I was twenty-five years old at the time. I took her with me once.

        We had a week-long race and I was hoping she will manage to stay that long with me in the car. She did not know what life as a driver meant, but she was still excited to go with me.

        One evening we both managed to shower in a parking lot and left for France. As I was driving, I see her approaching me and unzipping my pants.  She gently stroked me with movements that were becoming more and more strong.

        At one point she leaned over and took my p***s in her mouth.  She started giving me oral s*x while I was driving. My adrenaline was at its maximum.

        I had to focus on driving as best I could so we will not crash, but also on the pleasure her mouth gave me. It was a combination of feelings between pleasure and danger that made me crazy to the fullest.

        It was the first time I had experienced such an experience. I stopped in the first parking lot that got in my way and we had s*x all night.

        Irina knew how to make me feel good and knew how to live life to the fullest. She lived every day with so much pleasure as if it were the last day of her life. Maybe I should have married her, but I knew she was not the kind of woman who would destroy her passion for life locked up in the house or next to one man.

        We saw each other afterward whenever I came back to Romania. We did not have a relationship where feelings of love were involved, but we respected each other a lot and when I felt the need to talk to someone, I called her. She knew how to lift my spirits and how to knock me to the ground a few times to make contact with the harsh reality in which I lived.

        Andrei had a wonderful wife and three children. He was happy and I envied him sometimes. I had a family once, and I lost it because I did not choose the right woman. In fact, I did not even have a choice. I was always away and could not afford to have fun or go out to meet new people. Until I met her.

        Out of a desire to help her get rid of those mafias, I fell in love with her and proposed to her shortly after. We rented an apartment to live together. I did not want to use Mr. Mihai's house and even after I divorced, I did not dare to move there. That house is way too special for me and I have not decided what I am going to do with it yet.

        The house was situated in the Ghencea district and Maria certainly would not have wanted to live on the periphery of the city.

        I felt like I was missing something, and I did not understand what it was.

        It had already been four years since the divorce and I still could not find my happiness. I did not look for it much, and I do not think I was going to give it a chance to get to me. I still had reservations and fears about a relationship with a woman.

        Maybe I should have turned my attention to men. They would certainly not be able to deceive their species. I took great care to live my life like this, not to allow any woman to take advantage of my soul.

        Those broken-hearted fools who sell their souls to all the witches desperate for money that smile at them have always screwed up. But somehow, I was the one who chose the other direction after I understood what women really want. I was the one who preferred to stay away.

        If you ask me, the method they chose was the hardest. Leaving feelings at the door and replacing them with insensitivity or anger, which are much easier to control, was simple. If you show what you really feel, that makes you vulnerable. Whenever I tried to explain this error to my friends, I was viewed with skepticism.

        Whenever I saw them crying or not sleeping because of some stupid w***e in heels who said, "f**k me" and did not give a s**t about them, that was something I could not understand. Women who break your heart like this would not let you fall in love with them too easily.

        They would not lean over your couch and let you seduce them to take them to your bedroom on the first night, not even the tenth. My theories were ignored because things did not work out that way. Attraction, s*x, crazy love, love, and then a broken heart. That was the logical order. And the order was always present.

        But not for me. No way. A long time ago I made the decision that I would feed on vultures until I came across a turtledove. A pigeon. That soul that would not bother anyone. Who would simply go about her own business, trying to live her life without destroying someone for the benefit of her selfish needs and habits.

        Courageous. Communicative. Smart. Beautiful. Compelling. A creature that would mate to procreate. Unobtainable until you give her a reason to trust you.