Wednesday, May 07, 2008

XL

Much like, the more you learn...The more I see in the taxi, the more I realize that I haven't seen anything. Just when experiences are realized and the looming clouds of mundaneness cross my mind, something happens that completely takes me by surprise.

The doorman at the Mirage blew his whistle and I pulled up the 25 feet or so to find him waiting to open the door for a young and attractive brunette wearing a formal black dress and high heeled shoes. She held her sequence laden purse with both hands. Our eyes met before I even came to a stop and it was clear to me that there was something wrong. I brought the cab to a stop and the doorman grabbed the handle of the rear door to assist the young lady in. Just as she was about to place her left foot in the cab and begin to climb in she asked the whistle toting man:

Actually, is it ok if I sit in the front?


The doorman asked me if it was and of course, I have no problems with that. Not for of any ulterior reason. Just the simple truth that, I have no problems with that. In fact with my depleted hearing these days, I find conversing much easier when you're sitting right next to me anyway. The doorman opened the other door and I threw my carry on bag that usually rests on the seat in the back and pulled the other arm rest down.

She sat down and told me her destination as the doorman closed the door. I jotted the information on my tripsheet, engaged the meter and we began our way off the Mirage property to head Southbound on the BLVD. We sat at the light exiting the Mirage, patiently waiting for the light to change and the pedestrians to clear the way. As easy as it would have been to start things with small talk, for some reason or another I had yet to say a single word to the girl. Her only words to me were "Luxor please". Anything more just didn't seem right at the time.

Finally making our way onto the crowded strip, I decided it was time to break the silence. Or perhaps it just took me that long to find the words.

Do you want to talk about it?


I said as I looked at her. She returned the glance but contradicted her face with her reply:

No.


I suppose if the tides were turned, I wouldn't want to talk to me about it either. Whatever in the world it was. Her one word reply as she turned her eyes away and returned them to the ground was a good enough clue to deduct that trying to form any kind of false conversation thereafter would have been as pointless as it was classless. So I chose another method. I decided to break the silence by turning up just a little, the James Taylor Greatest Hits CD that I had brought along with me that evening. I've found that I like something mellow every now and again. A minute or so passed and from her continued silence, I concluded that I had made the right decision.

We finally made it to the stoplight at Flamingo at about the same time Country Road filled our ears. That was when I felt her hand on top of mine. To reserved, nervous or anxious to open her mouth, she made moving her left hand over from her armrest to mine seem effortless.

Startled is the right word but thankfully that lasted for just an instant. I turned to look at her. Her head pulled up slightly and after her eyes slowly made their way to mine, they asked for my permission. We looked at each other. I pulled my hand and my eyes away, but just long enough to push my arm underneath hers and interlock my right fingers with her left ones firmly. I looked at her again. This is ok.

The Flamingo light changed to green and the brunette and I held hands the rest of the way. I only removed my hand from hers twice briefly simply to ensure that we heard my two favorite James Taylor songs along the way, Walking Man & There's Something In The Way She Moves. They seemed alright. It seemed alright too.

We pulled up the front door of the Luxor, still having said basically nothing to one another. She reached in her purse, found a twenty dollar bill and placed it on my dashboard. She leaned over and kissed me on the cheek and whispered after a lips pressed, forced grin:

Thank you.


She left me and I watched her every step toward the front door of the hotel. She never turned back. You Can Close Your Eyes played on the radio, and it filled my depleted ears.

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

I enjoy the reading I really do. The only thing "wierd" about this one is actually asking "do you want to talk about it?". This line seems fit for a family member or close friend but not some brief encounter with a customer in a cab you probably will never see again. This whole entry reminds of "stripper syndrome". It's where guys actually believe the strippers care about them and like them as they keep dishing out the cash. They will hold your hand as well.

CA Heifner said...

Stripper Syndrome?

C'mon man...don't be such a cynic. I don't want to sound 'emo', but I wish that there were more moments in our narcissistic culture that were like these. Life is hard, but wouldn't it be a better if we all gave a shit, just a little? Instead of having to put up with 'bitter service industry person', wouldn't it be nice to be treated like a human? I had an experience like this recently... http://zyoose.com/blog_gotdomesticviolence.htm ...but I couldn't do anything positive to help it.

Good work Andy...

Unknown said...

Andy! Its me Danielle, and I loved this one....and even more, you mentioned my all time favorite song!

Well the sun is surely sinking down
But the moon is slowly rising
So this old world must still be spinning round
And I still love you

For as long as I can remember, this song just puts me in another place...and its WAY too short, don't ya think?!

Love ya!

Anonymous said...

I agree with Chris. It is nice that someone cares about someone else (regardless of who or "what" they are) in this big bad world. Andy, you are a class dude.

Anonymous said...

what no sex?

MrFunkMD said...

I think some of us are (Wrongly) assuming that this girl was a whore.

Hey D whatsup?

Yeah YCCYE is an outstanding song. Some of my favorite JT guitar lines. Personally, I'd rather a folk style song like that be to short as opposed to dragging on longer than it needs to. It's pretty standard for the style really. Plus I think the idea really fits with the lyrics..."I don't know no love songs...I can't sing the blues anymore..." He's kind of saying I don't know any good songs for us but I know this one, and you can sing it when I'm gone.

Christina RN LMT said...

You did good, Andy. Sometimes you just need some innocent human contact.

sundaysandy said...

Great Blog
Found out about it through "sparky"

SundaySandy
from Moline

Anonymous said...

I just stumbled across this site and I have to say that you write extremely well. I can tell that I will enjoy catching up! Great post.

Anonymous said...

One good thing 'bout music, when it hits you....


Good read Funk, keep it up.

Anonymous said...

Hi Andy
Looks to me like you have a heart after all...and why does everyone assume this lady was a hooker? There have been many times I wished I'd had her courage to reach out when clearly she was distressed. But she had the grace and the class lots of us seem to misplace from time to time. Keep up the good work. I'd hold your hand in Vegas anytime!