All's Fare...

"My heart," came the simple reply.

"What?" Audrey said, then realized that she recognized the voice. "Keiko?"

"Good afternoon," the voice said, her smile almost coming across in her words. "I hope you slept as good as I did last ni... I mean this morning."

"I did... I mean...why..."

"Why am I calling?"

The silence on the other end said that was the question Audrey was afraid to ask.

"Well, it occurred to me that you left rather abruptly last night," Keiko said. "Something I'm not in the habit of my guests doing."

"I'm sorry, I just thought that ..."

"That we'd gotten our rocks off and it was time to go."

Again silence confirmed the statement.

"So, all last night was to you was a one night stand?"

"I just thought, I mean you and I are ..."

"Oh I know, separate worlds and all that tripe," Keiko said, frustration clear in her tone.

"Something like that," Audrey replied, now finding her voice again.

"Well, obviously, since I went to all the trouble of looking up the number for the company you drive for, I didn't see it that way," Keiko said. "So I'll ask again, was that all it was to you?"

"No," came the almost instantaneous reply, surprising even Audrey that she hadn't had to think about it.

"Good," Keiko answered. "So what would you think of our spending some time together and seeing what else we might have in common?"

"I think that would be a great idea."

"Now I know our schedules are somewhat different, but I can be a little flexible with mine so..."

"I just took two weeks off," Audrey said, cutting her off.

"Well then, how about we start with dinner tonight and take it from there?"

"Dinner sounds fine," came her reply, after which they quickly worked out the details.

After Keiko disconnected the call, Audrey stood there looking at the now useless receiver for a minute or two. Long enough for Naomi to take note.

"Something wrong?" she asked.

"No, in fact, I think something is actually very right," Audrey answered, her face practically beaming.

"I'm glad to hear that," Naomi said, a twinkle in her eye. "So, if you are taking some time off, I'd ask you to get the hell out of here. Some of us have work to do."

"I love you too, boss," Audrey said, kissing her on the cheek before heading for the door.

"God damn, who'd have thunk it," Naomi thought as she watched Audrey disappear out into the street.

Gifted with an almost photographic memory, the dispatcher had recognized the address she'd given Audrey as a last run last night. People tended to use the same cab service if they could. One of the other drivers had also radioed in about three in the morning about seeing Audrey's rig parked outside that address. Finally, a devoted viewer of Cable One News, Naomi had easily recognized the voice of the woman who'd called in with the message for Audrey to call.

"Damn," she repeated, this time out loud, "I guess what they say is true, all's fare in love and war."

END