The Commute

"I really appreciate all the attention you've showered me with. If my world outside was any different, I'd have loved to spend an evening with you. I mean it."

Looking in her eyes, Terry was sure she meant it. He nodded. Coral wasn't the only one who had a whole different world outside the reticulated doors of the bus. Terry was a different man than he had been a couple of months ago, but that didn't mean the reality surrounding him had changed too. He wanted Coral. He was drawn to her in a way he hadn't been drawn to anyone in decades. But he couldn't leave his wife. Nor could he risk losing his job over a public affair with an employee of his company. He suddenly thought of his Mercedes, still in the garage, and realised he missed driving it. Terry's world was secure, comfortable, accommodating, and sometimes it did still make him happy. These bus rides back home had been fun and exciting, but at the end of the trip, the adventure had to end.

Neither of them spoke for the remainder of the ride. Coral, however, stayed in his lap, her fingers stroking his chest. Terry's roamed her thighs. Her hair tickled his face but he didn't complain. As he saw his stop coming up through the front windows, he tapped her knee as he always did, and she stood up. Terry collected his things and got off his seat. Coral sat down in his place. The bus came to a stop and Terry took a step towards the doors as they hissed open. Something flashed in his mind and he turned around. Coral's eyes shot up at him.

"What if the trip never ended?" he asked.

Coral studied his face for a painfully long moment. Then a smile broke across her face. Terry grinned. The bus driver called out to him.

"You gettin' off?"

***

Friday came along, and passed painfully slowly. For Terry it was a day chock full of meetings, and even in between meetings he was constantly on his phone. More than one executive got reamed out by him as the afternoon approached. By 2 PM all five of his stress balls lay scattered on the floor, having been violently thrown at various objects and surfaces in his office. At quarter past three he had needed to go down to the basement parking level of his office building to kick some tyres and calm himself down. His smartwatch had been ceaselessly begging him to relax since 10 AM. An hour before clocking off, Terry had had a fairly tense discussion with his secretary, at the conclusion of which the flustered young man had turned around around and promptly walked face-first into the glass wall next to the door. That had momentarily raised Terry's spirits.

But when the clock struck five, Terry was as calm as a tree in a forest. The day hadn't gone by without hitches, but finally everything was in its place -- people, money, goods and services, stocks, assets. Even the stapler he had brandished menacingly at one of the division heads earlier in the day was now tucked away in his stationery drawer. There was only one thing out of place at the moment -- Terry himself.

Half an hour later, as the bus lumbered out of the financial district limits, Coral would have been hard pressed to find a single hair out of place on Terry's head. He indeed showed no signs of the tempestuous workday he had just finished. Nor did he seem too put off by the fact that Coral wasn't sitting on his lap this evening. Instead, she sat in the seat next to him. A bit surprisingly, Terry's usual slumbering seatmate had been a no-show today, freeing up his spot. Coral sat with her hands on her lap, occasionally looking out of the window during pauses in conversation. The amber sunlight streaming through the glass pane gave her hair a burnished glow.

When they made it out of the inner-city limits, Terry caught Coral looking around the bus.

"There's surprisingly few people on board today."

"Yeah... that's unusual."

There couldn't have been more than five passengers in the bus, including the two of them.

"They must've taken a different bus." Coral concluded.

"I guess so."

Terry switched topics and asked about her plans for the weekend. They fell into their usual easy rhythm of conversation, and it was a while before Coral caught onto the fact that the bus was not going through its scheduled route.

"Which way are we going?" she asked as they passed the third highway exit beyond the one on their normal route.

"I heard that there was a crash on the central freeway around 4 PM." Terry tried to reassure her. "Traffic's backed up for miles. We're probably diverting towards the airport to take the underground tunnel to the suburbs."

Coral seemed satisfied with the answer. Terry turned out to be correct -- the driver took the underground highway tunnel that bored under the river and emerged close to the inner suburbs. As they gradually weaved their way through the old houses, the sky turned a pinkish-orange hue. When they stopped at a traffic light, Coral pointed out a bungalow that stood on one corner of the intersection. It was a pretty non-descript house, one with sloping tiled roofs, a walled-off lawn and a small front porch.

"That looks like the house my grandparents used to live in." she told Terry. Her tone was brooding. "I'd like to own a similar place someday."

"Or you could aim for something better." Terry suggested. She turned to him and shook his head.

"You won't get it." She said, her voice suddenly quiet. The bus began moving again.

"What's not to get?"

"Terry... some people don't want bigger and better. They just want something that calls out to them."

"Like that house?"

"Like I said, you won't get it."

Coral was quiet after that. But she couldn't stay quiet for too long though, because about five minutes later the bus came to a halt. The engine shuddered to a stop and the driver hopped out of his cabin. The front doors hissed open and he stepped outside.

"Wait where's he going?" Coral asked. She looked out of the window. A couple of minutes ago, the bus had emerged out of the thicket of suburban houses and driven a mile up the foreshore road, turning into a vacant parking lot next to a thin strip of the beach. Waves gently crashed into the sand no more than fifty feet away. In the far distance, the sun was already more than halfway below the horizon. Coral looked around inside the bus. There was no one on board except for the two of them. She stood up from her seat and slid past Terry into the aisle.

"Is he coming back?"

This time, there was a hint of alarm in her voice. She went up to the front windscreen and looked for the driver outside. She turned towards the open doors, and was about to step off the bus when Terry called out.

"Coral, stop!"

She turned to her companion, an expression of confusion on her face.

"Once you step through those doors, the trip will end."

Coral's eyes bored into Terry's, who sat unmoving in his seat. Her eyebrow suddenly shot up, and her mouth hung open as she processed what he had just said. Then she frowned and looked outside. Then she looked back at him.

"You didn't..." she breathed. "You couldn't have."

"I couldn't?" Terry challenged her.

"No... I mean... you wouldn't."

"Pretty sure I would." Terry replied, a smirk appearing on his face.

"Terry!" Coral strode up to him and cupped his face in her hands. "This is... you?"

In response, her companion took one of her hands in his and kissed the back of her palm.

"Impressed?"

"I'm... not quite sure." She replied. "What is this? Where did you bring me? What are we doing? Why here? Why tonight?"

Terry didn't say anything. He just pulled his lovely young colleague down into his lap. Grabbing her knees, he pulled her legs off the aisle and into the seat row. He pressed his finger to her lips.

"You'll find out soon enough."

His smartwatch buzzed. Someone was giving him a phone call. He brought his wrist up and he tapped the screen.

"We're ready." He spoke into the watch. Less than ten seconds later, two men dressed in waitstaff outfits boarded the bus. Between them, they were carrying a small table. They set it down in the aisle around the front of the bus where the seats for the elderly and disabled were. These seats faced each other across the aisle and hence there was more room. They exited the bus and then emerged momentarily, carrying two small chairs. These they set down on either side of the table.

When they had departed, a woman came in, dressed in a similar outfit as the men. She was carrying a small hamper from which she pulled out a square-shaped white tablecloth. She pulled it over the tabletop. Next, she set down two wine glasses and a candle, which she lit. Coral watched the whole scene with silent fascination. After the woman had left, a distinguished-looking person in a suit boarded the bus, with one of the male waitstaff from earlier in tow, carrying another hamper.

"Pasquale!" Terry called out.

"Mister T, pleasure seeing you again sir." Pasquale smiled and shook Terry's hand.

"I want you to meet my companion, Coral. Coral, this is Pasquale, the maitre'd and sommelier of that Greek restaurant I was telling you about."

"It's a pleasure madame." He kissed the back of her palm, before straightening up and extending his arm towards the assembled furniture. "Let me show you to your seats."

Pasquale pulled the chair for Coral to sit down. Terry settled into his chair momentarily. Pasquale opened up the hamper and showed them a selection of wine bottles. Terry and Coral sampled each one before settling on a zesty white.

"We will have the food sent up shortly." Pasquale told them, before bowing and heading out.

"So... what, we don't get to see a menu?" Coral asked, bewildered. Terry could see she was still trying to process it all. But she was great at playing it cool.

"We actually did." he replied. "Unlike most places, they pair the food to the wine instead of the other way around. Speaking of which," he raised his glass. "here's to..." he tried to think of a good toast.

"Worlds colliding." Coral said, smiling.

"Eviva"

They sipped their wines. True to his word, Pasquale emerged five minutes later with their dinner -- mussels steamed in a red wine broth, and grilled octopus tentacles. For the main course they had swordfish steak with fetta and herbs. Pasquale kept appearing at their sides at just the right moments to refill their wines. After the waitstaff had cleared their plates, Coral and Terry sat quietly at the table. Coral gazed out at through the front windows at the sea. Apart from the tabletop candle, their only other source of illumination were the portable lamps placed at each end of the bus near the doors to help their servers navigate its length. The flickering candle flame produced twin reflections in Coral's dark eyes, like embers burning inside a pitch-black well.

"I still can't believe it." She murmured.

"You're trying to process it. Don't." Terry said. He extended his hand, palm up, across the table. "Just stay with me, here, now."

Coral stared at him for the longest time. Then she smiled faintly and clasped his hand in both of hers.

"I just have one question." She said. "Why me?"

"I was trying to think of a good answer to that, for the whole day today." Terry replied. His eyes left hers for a moment before coming back. "But until this evening I couldn't put the feeling in words. Until we stopped at that intersection." He squeezed Coral's hand. His eyes were soft.

"You call out to me."

"Terry..." Coral began, her voice barely above a whisper.

"I know, I know. Outside worlds, appearances, duties, responsibilities, and all that." Terry placed his other hand on top of Coral's. "But this evening is a fantasy, and I think we're both allowed to indulge in it."

"Both of us?"

"Can't do it without you." Terry winked at her. Then he stood up. Pasquale emerged from the front doors behind Terry, as if on cue. Terry kept his eyes fixed on Coral.

"I think we're ready for some music."

Behind him, Pasquale nodded and bowed. The waitstaff boarded the bus for one last time that evening to pluck the table and chairs away. In perfect concert, as soon as they had left, mellow jazz began to pipe through the bus's indoor speakers. Pasquale stepped out of the driver's cabin, having set the mood.

"Enjoy the rest of your evening, Mister T."

Terry held his hands out for Coral and she let him take hers. The two colleagues came together in an easy embrace -- Terry with his one hand leading Coral and the other wrapped around the small of her back. Coral's free hand twined around the back of Terry's neck. They danced softly in the aisle, in slow, graceful steps. Apart from the music and the sounds of the sea, all was entirely quiet inside the bus. The VP kept his eyes firmly on his young colleague. After the second song ended, Coral rested her cheek on Terry's chest and sighed.

"This is beautiful, Terry."

"I'm glad you like it."

"I'll never forget this evening."

"Neither will I."

Coral looked up at him.

"You're not lying to me, are you Terry?"

"About what?"

"About everything."

"Why would I do that?"

"You know why."

Terry was silent for a moment. Then he replied.

"The past few weeks have felt like a lifetime. A lifetime together with you. I didn't know... just how much you'd take over my mind." Terry focused his gaze on Coral's eyes. She looked out at him somewhere under those fathomless depths.

"I thought about you when I woke up, and I thought about you when I went to sleep. I've planned my days around you. I planned this whole evening around you. And I only realised the truth when you showed me that house today..."

Something stirred under the surface.

"And the truth is... you call out to me. I don't want anything else, don't care about anything else, because I just don't feel that connection the way that I do with you. I've never felt it before I met you."

Something was swimming up, reaching for the surface. And it was coming in hard and fast.

"This evening is a celebration of the way you've changed my life. This is me, answering that call. This is me... answering your call."

The pool rippled. The surface broke, and in the moment before the tears started to fall, Terry saw the real Coral.

"I love you." He whispered, pulling her face to his chest, allowing her to hide her vulnerability. When she finally pulled away, Terry leaned in and kissed her. Coral reciprocated, tenderly. Her hands cupped his face, and her thumbs stroked his cheek. When they separated, Terry felt his heart thumping in his chest so loudly that it drowned out the ocean. He gazed at Coral, wearing a drunken smile on his face.

"I..." Coral began. Terry placed his finger on her lips.

"Don't say anything." He whispered. Coral placed her hand on his wrist and gently pushed it away.

"I really like you, Terry. But I can't love you. I... already have someone." She whispered. Terry felt his heart sink. He remained silent, however. He knew Coral had more to say.

"But I want you to know that I really appreciate this. All of it. All the attention you've showered on me in the short time we've had together. I don't think I'll ever have anything like this, or anyone like you."

With that, Coral pulled Terry in and kissed him again. But this time was different. There was an urgency to the way their lips came together, and the way her body pressed up against his. Coral sighed against Terry's lips and pulled away.

"I can give you all of me tonight, Terry. But after that..."

"I know." He replied, before hungrily pressing himself into Coral again. Terry's hands wrapped around Coral's slender back, rubbing her through her cheap satin blouse. One of them wandered down to the back of her skirt and wrapped itself around a pert, fleshy cheek. Terry groaned as he felt up his colleague's ass. He had been dreaming about this since the day when she first settled into his lap on the bus. He wanted to sear her curves into memory, and it showed in the way his hands roamed her juicy flesh.

Coral began unbuttoning Terry's shirt, and only when she was almost down to his waist that he regained his senses and helped her pull the hem from where it was tucked under his trousers. Coral ran her hands over his chest, her fingertips so soft and tentative they almost tickled his skin. He felt her hands linger over his abdomen, which only last year sported a sizeable heft. Through diet and his recent workout regiment he had managed to bring it back to a healthy shape, but he hadn't lost all of his softness. Coral seemed to really appreciate that as she caressed him.

All this attention had gotten Terry harder than he had ever been in decades, in record time too. Over the years he had gotten used to his wife's touch in bed, but with Coral it was an entirely new feeling. Her touches were more playful, exploratory. She didn't know his body the way Terry's wife did, and probably never would. He brought his hand up to her face, caressing her cheek, the side of her neck, the base of her skull... and trailed his fingers through her luxurious mane. Coral looked up at him and smiled.

"You're so beautiful" Terry breathed. Coral took his hand in hers and kissed the back of his fingers. Still holding his hand, she started backing away, pulling her with him. Gingerly stepping back through the aisle, she led him all the way to the last row of seats. Then she stepped around him and pushed him down onto one of them. With the moon behind her, Coral was silhouetted in the pale night light streaming through the front windows. Her features became wraithlike, and Terry could only tell she was looking at him from the way her inky black eyes smouldered, a phantom fire under the surface.

Coral pulled her blouse untucked and began unbuttoning it. Slowly, she worked her way down until she got to the last button. Her fingers lingered on it tentatively, before she pulled her hands away and took a step towards Terry. She put a hand on the seat back next to Terry's head, and leaned in until her mouth was right next to his ear. The almost-unhindered sides of her blouse fell away, and he could see straight down the billowing fabric. Coral was wearing a lace-trimmed white bra -- something that would've passed HR dress code but only by a hair's breadth. Her full cleavage was on display as her breasts hung under her torso.

"Wanna help a girl out?" Coral breathed in Terry's ear and he shivered. He brought his hands up to undo the button and was only able to do so through great focus and patience. He felt Coral's eyes on him the whole time. As the last button slipped out of the button-hole, Coral straightened up and turned around. She slipped her arms out of her sleeves and shrugged the shirt off her back. Coral turned her head to the side and unhooked her bra. Terry felt like a caged bull. His young co-worker was turning him on to boiling point, and he wanted to wrap his arms around her and pull her body to him so, so bad. But he restrained himself...

... and was rewarded a moment later when Coral, holding the front of her bra to her chest, sank down on his lap, pressing her back against his bare chest.

"Touch me, Terry."

Her voice came from a million miles away, yet Terry responded as if it were an instinct. His hands found her hips and slid up her flesh, coming round her front and over her forearm which held her bra... and her modesty. He tried to slowly pull her forearm away, but Coral squirmed and giggled. Her ass ground on his crotch, stoking the flame in his loins further. Terry breathed on the back of Coral's neck. Grabbing her wrist, he forcefully pushed her forearm away. Coral's bra fell in a silent heap in her lap. Terry latched on to her tits with both hands, immediately squeezing, pinching and kneading her flesh. Coral groaned and arched her back, pushing her tits deeper into the older man's hands.