Part 4

When they stopped again Melissa looked out through the cab window and frowned. It was late and rain was still pouring down. She stepped out under the umbrella the cab driver has holding for her.

“I’ll take that,” she said and reached for the umbrella.

When she did her fingers brushed over his. The driver was a young man, maybe no more than five years her senior, he was tall and he filled out his uniform in just the right places. Melissa felt a tingle in her belly and like ripples on the surface of a pond the one tingle propagated into several that spread through her body.

Maybe I should invite him for a cup of coffee? she thought when her thoughts were suddenly interrupted.

Several lamps down the street a lonely figure was hurrying along the deserted sidewalk. She was dressed in a slim black coat, one hand holding the collar to keep the rain out and the other carrying a bag almost as big as herself. Melissa guessed the woman must have been about a hand’s breath shorter than her. It was hard to see much of the woman’s face; she was looking down, trying to keep the rain out of her eyes.

From the way she walked Melissa got the impression she was some kind of athlete, maybe even a dancer. However, her coat didn’t really seem to fit the more aesthetic affiliation. Neither did her leather pants or snakeskin boots.

When the approaching woman looked up, the light from the street lamps played over her face. She looked like she was around twenty years old. Her face was jaded and her features determined. Her raven black hair was plastered to her head and clung to her cheeks. Drops of rain left its tips now and then.

She was moving smoothly in a very self-assured way, almost turning her progress towards Melissa and the cab into a dance. When the distance between them decreased further Melissa noticed the woman was looking straight at her and suddenly she felt worried.

What is she carrying in that bag? Melissa thought. Maybe a gun or...

When only a few feet remained between Melissa and the other woman she pushed a lock of hair out of her face and swung the bag into the air. Melissa took a step backwards and couldn’t help giggling nervously. The bag landed on the woman’s other shoulder. Only moving her burden...

The other woman stopped and looked at Melissa. Her large brown eyes locked into Melissa’s and the moment froze. Melissa forgot the cab driver, the rain, the night, all she could see was the large, dark eyes. She immediately decided this woman was far more traveled than her young face let on; her eyes were full of knowing wisdom, and the natural confidence in her poise were obviously a result of experience. It was almost as if the woman’s gaze was pulling Melissa to her and for a moment Melissa feared she might actually fall on her face in the puddle between them.

The breathed. Had she been keeping her breath as well? Melissa realized she was gasping, maybe even panting. Who is this woman?

Melissa licked her lips nervously and forced her eyes away from their contest of gazes. After a second, long enough to announce her defeat, she looked back.

The woman gave her a wide grin and continued past her just as the cab driver placed another of Melissa’s bags on the sidewalk. When the woman passed she turned half around and let her eyes wander down Melissa’s body. Then she turned her back at an amazed Melissa and disappeared down the sidewalk.

She was checking me out! Melissa thought and couldn’t help grinning like an idiot. She checked me out!

“Miss?”

Melissa turned around meeting the chauffeur’s steady gaze, he was holding her bags as if they weighed nothing, Melissa knew better.

He isn’t so bad either, she mused and wondered if she could make him come to her room. Then she remembered there was supposed to be a roommate. She sighed.