Aisha checked her watch, tapping her fingers on her folded arms impatiently. The bus should be here by now, she thought. It's freezing out here. I should call someone. Aisha pulled her phone from her pocket to scroll through her contacts. She briefly considered texting her roommate, but she knew Mary was probably asleep and didn’t quite have faith in her driving this late at night anyways. That left her other friends including James, who she knew lived the closest.
James was an oddball in Aisha’s eyes, but he was a lovable one. Not that Aisha ever really had interest in him in the form of attraction. Usually she only felt such things once feelings were properly expressed, and James hadn’t shown any signs of interest either so they had settled in to a comfortable friendship. Aisha selected his contact and hit call. Two dialing tones and he answered. “Aisha?”
“Hey James, I know it’s late, but…”
A few minutes later James’ car pulled up on the street. He rolled the window down and waved her over. “Hey Aish-“
“Thank you so much!” She interrupted, stepping into the small space on the passenger side. She held her case over her legs.
James coughed. “You wanna put that in the back, or…”
“Oh, yeah. Sorry, hang on.” She turned her body sideways and lifted the case into one of the back seats. “Anyways, I know how late it is…” She continued, staring out the window.
“Nah, it’s not a big deal.” James replied. “I’ve uh… had a lot of free time recently.”
“Why?” She asked.
It was difficult to get a read on James’ face, illuminated by the lights outside as they rolled through traffic. “It’s personal.”
“Oh.”
“Yeah.”
They rode in silence for a while before James noticed the medallion hanging from her neck. “Did you buy some more jewelry for yourself?”
“Uh… yes. Do you like it?”
James gave it a better look. “Yep. Looks nice on you. Where’d you get it?”
“Oh, y’know, that place downtown…” Aisha lied. This confused her- there wasn't a particular reason not to tell him the truth.
“That place downtown.” James repeated, staring ahead at the car in front of them. “Did you make yourself a nice commission or something recently?”
Though James couldn’t see it, Aisha’s face had reddened. “Sure.” She said stiffly. “It’s personal though.”
“Oh.”
“Yeah.”
“Anyways, that necklace is pretty cool. Can I see it?” He asked, extending a hand.