Kyle Anderson's Arc

Chapter 1 of 4

Kyle Anderson had picked up the same passenger four times this month, and he still didn't know one true thing about him. The app said Sebastian. The pin always dropped at the tall glass building with the balconies stacked like shelves. Kyle drove a 2014 Honda Civic through Vigilpost for twelve hours a day and told himself passengers forgot him before the door clicked shut. Sebastian Ashford kept booking him by name. That should have meant something. So far it had only meant three rides of weather talk and one ride where Kyle asked about his weekend and got "fine" back like a closed window. Tonight Sebastian slid into the back seat in a pink sweater and sunglasses pushed up into his hair. He smelled like something expensive Kyle couldn't name. Kyle pulled into traffic and tried again. "Long day?" "Not really." "Big plans?" "No." Kyle nodded at the mirror and gave up. He drove three blocks in the kind of silence that made his hands sweat on the wheel. At a red light he saw Sebastian turning something small and gold between his fingers. An old charm on a worn cord. The paint on the edges was rubbed thin. "My grandmother gave it to my mother," Sebastian said, before Kyle asked. "My mother gave it to me. It hasn't worked once." He said it flat, like he was reading a receipt. Kyle laughed before he could stop himself. "That's the second-funniest thing I've heard this week." "What was the first?" "I'll let you know when I figure it out." Sebastian looked up. Kyle watched him in the mirror and saw the corner of his mouth move. It wasn't a smile yet, but it was on the way. "You always do that," Sebastian said. "Do what." "Say the thing most drivers wouldn't." "You noticed." "I notice a lot." At the tall glass building Sebastian didn't get out right away. He held the charm in his palm and looked at it, then at Kyle. "I'm Sebastian." "I know. It's on my screen." "I mean I'm telling you." He set the charm on the console between them. "Hold it for me until next time. It's been unlucky. Maybe you'll do better." Kyle picked it up. It was warm from Sebastian's hand. "There's going to be a next time?" "I already booked Thursday." Sebastian shut the door. Kyle sat at the curb with the charm in his fist and a name that finally belonged to a person. The small talk was over. Thursday was three days away, and he had three days to figure out what he'd say when it wasn't small anymore.