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The first thing she was aware of as she was dragged from the depths of sleep was the chill of glass against her cheek, quickly followed by someone persistently nudging her shoulder. Paige opened her eyes rather unwillingly, squinting against the glaring overhead lights as she peeled her face from the window and sat up with a groan. She glanced around the bus as she stretched, noting that it was mostly empty now before her eyes landed on what had woken her in the first place- or whom, rather.
He was biting his lip as he watched her cautiously, having moved back to his spot exactly two seats away from anyone else in the vehicle once he’d seen she was awake. Avoiding direct eye contact, the man dug into the bag at his feet to pull out a small laptop computer, beginning to type as if nothing had happened.
“You still haven’t told me your name, you know,” she called to the man, trying not to disturb the silence with her voice too much as she leaned closer, “You haven’t said anything, actually.”
Paige felt a surge of triumph as she managed to snare the stranger’s attention again, his gaze sweeping the area as if to confirm it was him she was speaking to.
“I um, I don’t know what you’re talking about,” the man mumbled back to her quickly, trying for a nervous smile. He attempted to turn his gaze back to the screen in front of him, but Paige replied before he could ignore her.
“C’mon, yes you do! I take this same bus home every night after work, and so do you, but some nights I’m so tired that I fall asleep during the ride. This is the third time now that you’ve woken me up-” Paige paused mid sentence with a smile, pointing to the speaker above them as it announced the next two destinations, “right before my stop.”
The man seemed torn for a moment, his tanned face screwing up for a moment before he asked, “And?”
“And… Thank you,” Paige answered as the bus eventually chugged to a stop. “My name’s Paige.”
She got to her feet as the doors opened, letting in a gust of chilly evening air, and the stranger held her gaze. The other passengers began filtering out onto the street behind her and Paige turned to join them just as her new acquaintance found his words.
“Walter,” he called to her retreating back, “Walter O’Brien. And for what it’s worth, you’re welcome.”
Paige spared Walter a brief grin over her shoulder as she paused on the steps, the last person to exit the bus.
“Nice to meet you, Walter. I’ll see you tomorrow night, and this time I’ll try to be awake for it.”
She stepped out into the dark night as the doors closed behind her, obscuring her from Walter’s sight while he put his high IQ to work figuring out what had just happened.
“Tomorrow night,” he repeated to himself with a slow nod. He frowned down at his laptop screen, shutting it and trying to spot a head of honey brown hair in the crowd below as the bus pulled away.