“Go, go, go,” Whitney told herself as she ran down the sidewalk, past the forest of buildings and through the crowds of people. Nothing else mattered; she had to get there in time. She couldn’t imagine the horror of losing that time.
Soon it came into her view: the bus stop. And the bus was already there. “Wait!” She screamed. But it was no use. She suddenly realized it was already moving. “Come back, damn it!” She through her bag at the vehicle as it drove away. It hit the back window and then fell into the street. She took a moment to catch her breath, and then yelled into the air, “Damn it!”
“There’ll be another one in fifteen minutes you know.”
“Huh?” She turned around suddenly, noticing a man sitting on the bus stop bench behind her. He looked rather mysterious, holding up a newspaper that covered his face, and wearing a hat that looked tattered and worn out. She sighed, and then walked over to pick up her bag, “I know.” She sat down next to him.
“Then why the fuss? Are you late for something?”
“No,” She glanced at him, wiping the dirt off the bottom of her bag, “I just… want to get home, that’s all.”
He nodded behind his newspaper, “I see. Do you have someone waiting for you then?”
“Like that’s any of your business—”
“So you don’t, huh?”
She stopped, and then glared at him, “Why are you talking to me? You don’t even know me. You should just shut it and read that paper of yours.”
“Right now, you seem quite a bit more interesting than this newspaper,” he put the paper down suddenly, and then held out his hand, “Name’s Benjamin.”
She glanced at it, and then at him. He was younger than she had thought; maybe even younger than she was. She looked forward again, “Whitney.”
He smiled, lowering his hand, “There, now we know each other. So why are you in such a rush, Whitney?”
“I just want to get home. I have a lot to do. I have a project to work on, and a paper to write, and there’s this book I want to finish reading, and I haven’t vacuumed in a week, and—”
He chuckled, “Slow down there. You do seem busy. But all that stuff can’t wait fifteen minutes?”
“No,” she replied, coldly.
“Why not?”
She glanced at him, pondering this for a moment, “There’s no reason for it to. If I had just left a few seconds earlier, I could have caught that bus, and I wouldn’t have to waste time sitting on this bench.”
He nodded, “I see.” He sat back in the bench, leaning on the back of it, and then covered his face with his hat.
She glanced at him, “Why… why are you here?”
He moved his hat slightly to glance at her, and then pushed it back onto his head. “Are you trying to debate philosophy with me?”
She glared, “No, I meant, like…” She motioned toward the direction the bus had gone, “You’re here, so I assume you were waiting for the bus. Why didn’t you get on when it came?”
“Ah,” he replied. He took his hat off and let the wind blow through his hair, “If I’m honest, it’s because I noticed you coming.”
She stared, wide eyed, and then slowly inched away from him, “Are you some kind of creep?”
He laughed, “Wouldn’t be the first time I was called that.” He glanced at her, noticing she looked terrified, “Oh… but I’m not going to murder you and wear your skin, if that’s what you mean.” She didn’t look convinced, “Look, I just thought you seemed… interesting. I figured it was worth waiting another fifteen minutes to find out if you were.”
She looked down, “Oh.” She shuffled her feet, “You… missed the bus… just to talk to me?”
“Yep.”
“Why?”
“Why not?” He paused, looking down at the flowers, “For all I knew, you could have been destined to become my best friend, or even the love of my life. I’d say even the chance of that being the case was worth waiting another fifteen minutes.”
She nodded, “I see.” She glanced at him, “So… am I?”
“Are you what?”
She paused, “Interesting.”
He chuckled, “Absolutely.”
“Is it… because I’m alone?”
The wind rushed through them as she said this, and they both stayed silent for a moment. The man glared at her, crumpling his newspaper in his hand, “No.” Whitney clenched the bench, almost not believing him. “It’s because you think you are.”
She looked back up at him, “What do you mean?”
He smiled, “You’re not alone. No one is ever truly alone. Not in the city, not anywhere in human society; it’s just not possible. People who care will always find you. It’s just a matter of…” he glanced at her, “Slowing down enough to let them catch you.”
She smiled, pushing her hair behind her ear, “You’re a nice man, Benjamin.”
He nodded, and then suddenly, they noticed the next bus come rolling down the street. “What do you know; those fifteen minutes went by before you knew it.”
It stopped in front of them, and the door opened. A few people had arrived in that time, and they all boarded. Whitney watched them all climb those three steps. And then she watched the last one board. And then she watched the bus driver look at her. And then she watched the doors close. And then she watched the bus role away. Benjamin glanced at her, “You missed it… again.”
She nodded, and then smiled at him, “What’s another fifteen minutes?”