To Kiss An Idol

146 The Cab Driver

Kyung-Soo kept insisting that Nivritti should get in his car. But Jae-Geun interrupted him. A moment ago they were in a fistfight that she had to break up and now again they were having a verbal fight. She had enough of the “she will go with me, she will go with me” fight.

Nivritti sighed loudly and rolled her eyes at the back of her head. She tilted her head, placed her arms on her waist and for a second, stared at both men. None of them was ready to back down. She closed her eyes in frustration and without saying a single word, walked away from them.

She was not thinking about how she will reach her home or where her things were, she just wanted to get away from those fools. She pressed the call button for the lift and instantly the lift opened. She climbed and looked at both the men.

They kept staring at her like morons. She just stared at them with fierce eyes and the door closed.

“Stupid idiots!” shouted Nivritti.

She came to the ground floor and in anger went to the main entrance of the hospital. The warm air, the smell of antiseptic, the chaos of people, nothing bothered her, she just walked out of the main door. The first thing she felt besides anger was the cold. The moment she walked out chilly air hit her hard.

She shuddered and wrapped her arms around her chest. She made sure to rub the arms to warm them up. Before she could think about her coat or her phone, a cab arrived before her, and a pregnant lady and a man got off the cab. The lady was moaning and groaning and exhaling loudly.

Without thinking twice, Nivritti jumped inside the cab and gave her address to the driver. The warm car felt good. She laid her head on the head rest and the driver turned the car around.

“Ah, the miracle of birth,” commented the driver.

.....

Nivritti kept her eyes closed and clenched her jaw when she heard his male voice. She was despising the whole men clan at that moment.

“Why can’t they act like mature people? Why do they have to fight about everything, can’t they talk things out?” muttered Nivritti.

“Don’t you think childbirth is a celebratory moment?” asked the driver, again, excited. “Today I became a part of their life. When their child comes into the world, they will remember me too as I drove them to the hospital, isn’t it neat?”

“Neat? It’s neat? Yeah, yeah, baby being born is neat, they remembering you is neat, that baby being a boy is neat, that boy growing into a moron is so, so neat,” shouted Nivritti.

“Woah!” exclaimed the driver, looked in his rearview mirror, saw her angry and frustrated expression and concentrated on his driving. “She looks angry. Must have a fight with her boyfriend,” he thought.

“You speak good Korean,” said the driver.

Nivritti didn’t want to talk to anyone she just wanted a moment of peace. She looked at the driver and just rolled her eyes at him.

“It’s cold outside, why are you not wearing any coat or jacket? You should take care of your health,” said the driver politely. But she was not ready to take any advice.

She was frustrated as since last night, she was not having a great day. She was worried, concerned, nervous, angry, confused and then Kyung-Soo had to say things about kissing her and then he carried her in his arms. Emotion after emotion made her cranky. Also, she woke up abruptly from a good sleep.

“Ahjussi! Can I have some quiet and peace?” asked Nivritti, rudely.

The driver was sad and he stopped talking after that. But his curious mind and fast mouth betrayed him. Within minutes, he again started grilling her. “Did you have a fight with your boyfriend?”

Nivritti shook her head in disbelief and lifted her head up. She looked at him through the rearview mirror and said, “I don’t have a boyfriend.”

“Oh, then your husband?” smiled the driver.

“No, husband, no boyfriend. Please just concentrate on driving, thank you,” Nivritti gritted her teeth.

“Oh, now I understood, the doctors made you angry. Yeah, they charge a lot nowadays. They will just take a look at you, write something on their computer and charge a thousand. I know,” said the driver.

Nivritti just lowered her head and rubbed her temple with her thumb and middle finger. She exhaled loudly trying to calm herself down. She didn’t want to shout at the driver when it was not even his fault. She was angry at Kyung-Soo and Jae-Geun for acting like idiots.

Both were well-educated, career-oriented, well-established in their career, mature men yet they acted like stupid kids.

“Ahjussi!” she spoke softly. “Will you shut up?” he shouted abruptly making the driver look at her in shock. “Eyes on the road,” she ordered.

The driver kept muttering about her rude behaviour under his breath the whole way. “Huh… youngsters!”

“Could you… could you pay the money now? Your house is nearby. I am getting late, my wife is waiting for me at my house. It’s our anniversary,” the driver spoke with fear.

“Yes, sure,” she said and turned to her side to grab her purse. Lightning struck her instantly when she realised that there was no purse near her. She looked around on the seat and in the crevices of the seat for her phone but that too was not there.

“Shit!” she shouted loudly and slapped her forehead, hard.

“What happened?” asked the driver.

She closed her eyes and sucked her teeth. Now she regretted being rude to the driver. “Ahjussi!” her voice as soft as possible. “I forgot my purse. Could you wait for me near my building, and I will get the money from home?”

“What?” shouted the driver and immediately parked the car on the roadside. “You don’t have money?” he shouted. Now it was his turn to be rude. He stopped the car and commanded, “get out.”

“Ahjussi! I will get you your money,” she pleaded.

“Get out,” he shouted.

“Ahjussi!” begged Nivritti but he was not ready to hear another word. He opened his door and walked up to her door. He opened the door and gestured for her to get out.

“You came all the way to your home and now you remember that you don’t have your money,” he shouted.

“Wait for a minute and I will get you your money,” she begged.

“What is the guarantee that you won’t run away? What is the guarantee that you will come back?” shouted the driver and zipped his jacket.

The speed of cars passing on the road was blowing wind at a greater speed. Nivritti slouched her shoulder and sucked her teeth due to the cold. She folded her hand and tried rubbing them to get warm. When that didn’t work she blew some warm air through her mouth.

“I will be back, I promise you. Just keep looking at the watch. Give me five minutes, if I don’t come back, you can report me to the police,” suggested Nivritti.

“I don’t even know your name, lady,” said the driver, condescendingly.

“My name is…”

“Ritti!” Someone completed her sentence for her. She turned to look at who that was. Her eyes widened with shock as she saw Kyung-Soo running towards her. She kept staring at him with an open mouth.

He urgently ran towards her. She could see his car parked nearby with the parking lights on. Kyung-Soo had worry and guilt written all over his face. Before Nivritti could react, he parted his coat and engulfed Nivritti in his arms.

“NK!” exclaimed Nivritti with shock.

Kyung-Soo tightened his grip and kept breathing heavily. “Are you okay?” he asked.

“Um… yeah!” replied Nivritti, confused.

He broke the embrace and took off his coat. He immediately wrapped his coat around Nivritti and scolded her, “who runs away like that? Do you have any idea how worried I was? You left your phone, your wallet, your coat, everything in the hospital. Do you want to get sick? How did you get a cab? Why did you get in the cab with no means of contact? What if he was a serial killer?”

“Se… serial, serial killer?” stammered the driver.

Nivritti had no idea how to react to the outburst of Kyung-Soo. “Well, say something!” shouted Kyung-Soo.

“What? What should I say? That you idiots need to grow up. And why are you shouting at me when it should be me shouting at you guys? If you would not have made me angry, I would not have jumped in his cab without any money,” she shouted back.

“How dare you call me a serial killer? I work hard. I earn honest money,” shouted the driver.

Both Kyung-Soo and Nivritti who were busy in a shouting match completely forgot about the driver. But his scream made them look at him.

“Who is he?” asked Kyung-Soo.

“My driver,” replied Nivritti. “He is not a serial killer.”

“Then why was he freezing you to your death?” inquired Kyung-Soo and stared at the driver.

“She had no money to give me,” the driver replied. “Who are you? She said she has no boyfriend, no husband, then who are you? Well… you look slightly familiar,” commented the driver.

Both Kyung-Soo and Nivritti looked at each other with fear. What would happen if the driver would recognise him?