Jar Of Hearts

Chapter 6 Awkwardness

“What should we do then?” Sasha pouted, her frustration evident. “Nothing I’ve tried so far has worked, and it’s driving me nuts!”

“We need an actual plan. Don’t do anything rash before we figure something out,” Erin said. “I just need to get evidence of that woman’s affair with Sean Wright. That’ll definitely get a reaction out of my brother.”

That being said, we failed to come up with anything, even after an extensive discussion that used up our entire morning. At least we were in it together.

After I left Erin’s place, my mind was still filled with memories of her, beautifully naked and sexily moaning under me all night to morning. My body was so drained that I passed out on the bed and did not wake up until afternoon.

Usually, it was my parents who would have picked up my son after school. Today though, my old man had a few too many drinks with his buddies, so I was picking my son up instead.

I parked my taxi in front of the school gates and lit a cigarette as I waited.

Most of the other parents who came to pick up their kids drove in luxury cars that were worth more than my annual salary. My taxi looked seriously depressing next to them, but I had long gotten used to it. Unfazed, I focused on searching for my son among the sea of students.

It was not long before I spotted him. He may have worn the same uniform as the other students, but his backpack was noticeably more outdated than the rest. I bought it last year as a birthday present for him, and it cost me about ten bucks.

“Over here, son!” I waved to him from my car window.

When the little guy saw my face, he immediately came running over while grinning from ear to ear. I shifted the car into gear so we could leave as soon as he got in, but just then, I heard a familiar voice in my ear.

“Why are you here?”

I was momentarily stunned and looked over to see Erin standing next to my car window, her figure accentuated in a blouse and a pencil skirt. I suddenly remembered that she taught at this school, though I did not expect to bump into her again so soon.

I cleared my throat and greeted her, “Fancy meeting you here, Miss Tate.”

When my son reached us, his eyes darted back and forth between us in confusion.

“Oh, is this your son? I didn’t know he was already in third grade!” Erin said in surprise, with a small smile on her face.

“He sure is. Say hello to Miss Tate, son,” I urged, sending him a quick wink.

“Hello, Miss Tate! Did I get in trouble today? Why did you call dad?” my son asked in confusion.

Judging from his reaction, Erin was his homeroom teacher. I immediately thought about what had happened this morning and felt a little nervous.

Hopefully, she won’t say anything.

“Don’t worry, sweetie, you’re not in trouble. Your dad and I just happen to know each other,” Erin explained. To my relief, she had a calm expression and gave nothing away. We exchanged a few more words, then I took my son and drove to my parents’ place.

After dropping him off and eating dinner with the family, I left for work. I used to live with them before I became a taxi driver, but I moved out because I did not want to wake them up when I returned at night. My current place was a basement that I rented.

I changed my clothes and drove to my usual spot to find work. It was in an area known for its abundance of bars and clubs, so there was always business to be done.

Tonight was no exception. In just a couple of hours, I had already driven many drunken customers and was so busy that beads of sweat dripped down from my forehead. However, it was the good kind of busy. In my mind, I calculated how much I made for the day.

Nice! I’ve already made over thirty dollars just now! Alright, I’ll treat myself to some food and drinks later. Then, I’m going to use the rest of the money to buy my son a new backpack like the rest of his classmates!

As I was relishing in my newfound “wealth”, I noticed a group of men and women stumbling their way out of the club right in front of me. They all looked pretty young and started to argue noisily amongst themselves. After a while, only two people remained.

Aha! More customers! I promptly drove closer to their spot and waited for them to wave at me.

Now that I was closer to them, the pair was actually a guy and a girl. They began to blatantly flirt with each other whilst I watched on in amusement. As I continued to watch the scene unfold, the more familiar the girl looked to me. Even though her face was heavily covered in makeup, her figure and voice reminded me an awful lot of Sasha Tate.

A few seconds later, I realized that she did not just remind me of Sasha Tate… She was Sasha Tate!

Upon further observation, I noticed that the guy next to her was taking a drag from his cigarette while slowly caressing her thigh upward despite her obvious discomfort. In other words, they were not flirting with each other, the guy was just being a complete asshole and was taking advantage of her!

I thought about getting out of my taxi to get him to stop, but on second thought – Sasha and I were barely acquaintances. We were more like strangers really. So, it was none of my business to be nosy on the matter.

Unexpectedly, Sasha snapped and shoved the guy away all on her own. She pinched her nose dramatically and cursed loudly, “Get your filthy hands off me before I kick your sorry ass!”

“Do you know how much time and money I spent on you, you crazy li'l b***h? I’m not letting you get away from me tonight!” the guy fumed as he grabbed her arm in a vice grip.

Realizing I could not just keep watching anymore, I rushed out of my taxi and got in between them. I faced the guy off to hide Sasha behind me.

“What’s your deal, old man?” he spat out, eyes glaring daggers at me. If looks could kill, I would probably be ten feet under already. It was pretty f*****g funny actually, because not only was he scrawnier but also a whole head shorter than me.

Despite that, I did not take the guy lightly. I slowly took out the steel pipe I had hidden from his view, the one I kept in my taxi for self-defense purposes. As soon as he saw me pull it out, the guy cursed loudly and ran away with his tail tucked between his legs.

Never thought it’d come in handy like this.

“Wait, I know you! Don’t I?” Sasha exclaimed in surprise when she got a good look at my face. She then casually pushed back her colorfully dyed hair, and for just a brief second, I thought she looked… sexy.

Her clothes were quite tacky and barely covered anything on her body. She was not my type, but for some strange reason today, I found her quite irresistibly hot.

"Get in the car,” I drawled out to her, with the most casual and charming smirk I could muster like I was driving a luxury car instead and not a beaten-down second-hand taxi.

Sasha burst out laughing at my antics. Her smile was so dazzling, it made me think that it could light up the entire night sky. Instead of making fun of my little act, she played along and climbed into the car.

"Where to, beautiful?"

Staying here any longer would be dangerous for both Sasha and me since that guy earlier was obviously a gangster. A group of his cronies could appear around the corner and screw me over the moment I let my guard down.

“Are there any cool places nearby that sell alcohol?” she asked. I looked at her, surprised that she still wanted to go somewhere instead of just heading home.

Places that serve alcohol? Hmm…

A few places immediately sprang to mind. I knew this area like the back of my hand, and could probably navigate every corner with my eyes closed. Well not really, but close enough.

Since I had plans to drink the night away, a bit of company would be nice for a change of pace. I suggested taking her to the place I was planning to go to afterward.

“I know a place. But it’s cheap and dodgy compared to the high-end places you’re probably used to,” I responded, briefly turning my head to look at her. She seemed to be thinking about something.

“I don’t care, as long as you’re with me,” she said teasingly, throwing me off-guard.

I coughed a couple of times and focused my attention back on driving. The distance and time quickly passed, and we arrived at the restaurant that I mentioned. I parked my taxi and guided Sasha inside.

The owner recognized me as a regular and waved at me from afar. When he noticed the beautiful girl standing beside me, a sly smile crossed his mouth, and he shot me a knowing look. It had been years since I had brought a girl to this place, so his reaction was to be expected.

“Are there any tables available?” I asked him from across the room.

“For you, of course! And even if there wasn’t, I’d still clear one up for you.” The owner gave us a grin and pointed toward a closed-off area. “If you don’t mind one in the corner, that table’s available. It’s nice and quiet over there.”

I nodded my thanks and guided Sasha to where he had pointed to. It was a small room sectioned off from the rest of the restaurant by a curtain, and after we went in, I could tell that it used to be a storage room. The owner had set up a decently clean table and some seats next to a wall, converting it into something like a private booth.

“What can I get for ya?”

The owner’s wife came into the room to take our order. She was in her late twenties and had left her hometown to make a living here with her husband, the owner. Her looks were average at best, but she had a friendly smile and a great figure.

“Would you look at that!” she whistled. “Got yourself a beautiful woman, eh?”

I could only laugh awkwardly in response to her teasing and tried to divert Sasha’s attention by pointing to the menu we were given on the table.

“Go crazy,” I said.

Sasha’s eyebrows furrowed in thought as she looked over the menu.

“I’ll take a burger and a couple bottles of cold beer, thank you,” she decided. I also ordered a few of my personal favorites.

The owner’s wife left and came back a few minutes later with our bottles of cold beer. Sasha and I each took one and filled our cups to the brim.

“You come here often?” Sasha asked, bumping her cup against mine with a loud clunk before downing the whole thing in one swig. It was a completely contradictory image to her age.