Gentle As the Moonlight

The taxi driver pulled his car over as a young woman held out a hand.

'Where do you want me to take you to, ma'am?' he asked as the young woman got on.

'Just around the corner of Cherry, the tea-house,' she answered in a soft voice.

The moon shone on the road as he drove on. The young woman was sitting in the back, clutching tightly to her purse and watching the trees passing by outside. And though he doesn't mean anything by this, he must say that she looks very attractive.

'Just came back from a party huh?' he asked as they stopped at a red light.

'No, actually I work at Heaven, the night club, part-time,' she answered in the same soft voice, not taking her eyes off the sidewalk outside.

Must be a country girl, thought the driver. Nobody else lives that far from town. She probably has to work at two jobs too. Poor girl.

They had left downtown and were driving along a narrow road with stop signs instead of traffic lights.

'Hey! Pull over!' shouted a large man who stood in the middle of the road, stopping them from driving on. The driver pulled over and asked what he wanted.

'My date stood me up. I need a ride back,' he said rudely through the window.

'Sorry, but you see, I already have business,' the driver pointed to the woman sitting in the back who was looking quite taken back.

'Hey!' he said as he just realized that she was there. 'Where do you think you're taking this charming young lady?'

'She's going to Cherry. I'm sure that's a long way from your home.'

'Actually my aunt opened up that place so I could stay there for a night and come back tomorrow.'

The driver was out of excuses. He turned to the woman sitting in the back. She smiled slightly, her smile as gentle as the moonlight.

'It's OK. I wouldn't want to leave someone here this late at night. There might not be another car for miles,' she said. The large man got on.

They had barely moved a meter when a cell phone rang in the car. The two man looked at each other in the front but it was the woman who took out a cell phone from her purse.

'Hello?' she answered. The two man listened to the one-side conversation without even making a sound of breathing.

'Hey no! Don't! Something's interferred. No I'm so sorry! Please don't!' Silence. 'OK. I'll call you back as soon as I get home.'

She put the cell in her purse and snapped the purse shut.

Maybe it's the owner of the house, asking for rent, thought the driver. It might even be this large man's aunt. There aren't too many people rich enough living near Cherry to own a house.

Why's he still out so late at night? thought the large man. He must be hoping to get more money by threatening a young lady like the one sitting in the back. I doubt a so-well dressed girl with a cell phone like her wants to go to Cherry this late. He must be trying to get more money by driving around before I stepped in.

He doesn't look like a decent man, they thought together.

And on they drove. Nobody spoke for the rest of the journey and soon the only thing that could be seen outside is the gentle moonlight shining on the ground. The woman has stopped looking outside. She held her purse tightly in her arms and looked suspiciously from one man to another.

Finally they arrived at Cherry. The large man got off first with half the money paid and a glare at the driver. The woman asked to drive on a bit further and got of two minutes later at the gate off an apartment. She paid the rest and got off quickly. The driver watched her run in before driving back.

'I met a man on the way. He looked like he was about to hit on a young innocent lady. It's just lucky that I stepped in,' they both said to their family later.

Meanwhile the woman sat at the gate of the apartment waiting for her ride to come.

Damn it, she thought to herself, I would've already had that car by now if that stupid baboon hadn't got in. What's his problem anyway?

Her hair reflected the silver of the moonlight. She got up as a car pulled over and smiled at the other gang members as they got out of their car and greeted her, her smile as gentle as the moonlight.

Author's note: Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed this story! You know I had problems in choosing the genres for it. What do you think? Give me your opinions in the review! Thanks!