The Last Bus



For several nights now, Benjamin Riley has been getting the last bus home after work. He finishes his shift at the Eastern warehouse district just outside London, catching the last ride home at 11:32pm. Most buses run much later than that, but not that far out from the main city. It is a long and tiring journey, one that drives across the whole city before finally, after almost 2 hours of travelling it reaches a bus stop a further 20 minutes walk away from his home in some god awful council estate (there aren't any buses that stop closer to his apartment). Benjamin is 32 years old and he's been a warehouse operator since he was 20 and what a shitty career path he had chosen, this must've been the 15th (possibly 16th) warehouse job he had since then and they were always just as bad as the last. Early days are usually the best, because that's when the bosses go easy on you. Even the regular staff give the new guy space, you're lucky if that lasts even a month in these types of places. People soon show their colours and they ain't bright, beautiful blues, reds or greens, but shit stained brown, piss yellow and black as coal. Everyone who works in ware housing is positively depressed, and it simply sucks the life out of you! The only good thing about Benjamin's current workplace was the hour long lunch break (an absolute god send!) and finally getting home after a 12 hour, long, boring and dreadful shift. Now he felt like a massive creep about this next part, but there was a young, beautiful woman who had been getting the same bus home recently from Camden Square, she was an absolute bombshell! Long, blonde hair, an angelic face and stunning features, such as a super model's body and the designer clothes she wore only added to the lady's beauty. The reason Benjamin felt like a creep, was because he simply couldn't keep his eyes off her. No matter how hard he buried his face into a book or his mobile phone, he just couldn't help but glance at her from time to time. He suspected she was aware of him, despite never making a fuss about it. She must've been in her early twenties, while Benjamin was a balding thirty plus guy, who would never stand a chance with her anyway. Yet sometimes her gorgeous smile could brighten his day, even though he never actually spoke to her and tried to keep himself from even talking to her, he admired her and hated himself for even looking in her direction. The last thing he wanted, was to scare this crush of his. Benjamin had never been good with women, he was always better off ignoring them because they always found him creepy. The man simply had no game, no luck whatsoever when it came to the opposite sex. He lived alone and hungered for company, despite this he was a secret gentleman giving the woman her space, not once advancing on her as the weeks and months went by. Then one Friday night, that all changed. There was a big gang of men, all drunk wearing neon glow sticks and necklaces, obviously coming home from a mad night out clubbing in Camden. The Mysterious woman that Benjamin fancied, always sat at the front of the bus, while he always sat at the back, half asleep after his long shift. This night however, as the young hooligans boarded the bus, screaming, shouting and laughing drunkenly, being loud and obnoxious, Benjamin was wide awake. The blonde up front looked visibly uncomfortable as the men entered, looking at her up and down because she was (at least in that moment) unfortunately incredibly attractive.

"Ello love!" One of them said in a comical cockney accent. She ignored him and looked outside the window, squirming a little in her seat.

"Don't be shy, sweetheart..." The same creep approached her, as the three other drunks laughed and grinned, terrifying the poor, young woman.

"Piss off..." She whispered weakly.

"What?!" The creep roared, "what you say, bitch?"

"Nothing..." She replied, looking out the window, away from his ugly mug of a face, she could smell the alcohol on his breath as he crawled up to her like a predatory snake! Benjamin watched from the back of the bus, praying, hoping that the bus driver or someone else sitting near the front (as it was a full bus) would stop this bullshit, but nobody did. Nobody cares in London! Then some of the drunks began filming the poor woman on their phones too, as she struggled to fight off the handy monster that was attempting to kiss her.

"Oi, enough of that, you twats!" Benjamin yelled, as if the words were spoken through his vessel by God himself. Then he stood up, as the three drunks looked up to stare at him.

"Think you're hard, do yah?" The one filming laughed, as the third one (who was just standing) marched up the stairs inside the bus to confront Benjamin. Without a moment's hesitation, Benjamin sucker punched the drunk fool, sending him crashing down the stairs. Everyone on the bus gasped, some teenager sat in the middle row even pulled out his phone and began filming. Most importantly, the young woman Benjamin liked was smiling at him too. Before the drunk could stand back up, Benjamin round kicked the idiot's face, knocking him out of the fight. The molester stopped touching the woman and charged for Benjamin, who dodged his rugby tackle, looking like something straight out of a Kung Fu or Karate movie from the 1970s. Then he kicked the man's back so hard the thug fell to the ground, then began crying in pain. Benjamin still stood triumphantly and even winked at the teenager's camera that was still filming him. The last drunk put away his phone and he wasn't laughing anymore.

"You're a bastard!" He sneered at Benjamin.

"Me?!" Benjamin snickered, "you're the creeps harassing innocent women!" Then the final fight ensued, Benjamin's blood was pumping madly and all he could see was red. Like a bull; he charged for the last drunk, smashing his head against the bus hand rail, pressing the bell button over and over; Ding! Ding! Ding! The bell sounded, it reminded everyone of a boxing round. The bus had stopped suddenly and the bus driver climbed out of his echo chamber, he was a big bloke and demanded that Benjamin; "get off!" Then something miraculous happened.

"This man's a hero!" The beautiful blonde cried.

"Yeah!" The teenage lad (who was still filming on his phone) agreed, "he saved that girl!"

"That he did, gov'nor!" An elderly woman cheered on Benjamin.

"Exactly!" The woman Benjamin liked smiled, "you should kick those horrid little virgins off, not him!"

Everyone laughed at that insult, including the bus driver.

"All right, you little rats, off me bus!" The driver laughed, dragging all the drunk hooligans off the vehicle and outside onto the cold, wet ground, leaving Benjamin alone, "just don't start anymore fights and I'll let you stay on, all right?!" He warned Benjamin.

"I won't." Benjamin replied, then he turned and began walking back towards his old seat.

"Where are you going?" The woman he fancied asked. Benjamin turned yet again to gaze upon her beautiful face, she was smiling rather cutely.

"Back to my seat." He replied.

"Don't be daft!" She giggled, moving her slender legs aside to clear the seat, then she patted it to beckon him to sit down next to her. Blushing, Benjamin did as he was instructed, sitting right next to his crush was a dream come true. Her blue eyes stared into his and Benjamin felt his heart skip a beat, this woman was truly breathtaking.

"I've seen you before, haven't I?" She asked, her voice and mannerisms were well spoken and slightly posh, perhaps she was from Chelsea.

"I take this bus every night." He said.

"Yeah... I've noticed." She grinned. Benjamin suddenly felt foolish, knowing she was onto his creepy behaviour. He was speechless and simply looked away in the most awkward way possible. She giggled and patted his knee. Another rush of excitement took over him, he looked into her starry eyes.

"Thank you for saving me..." She kissed him, she actually kissed him, passionately too! He embraced her tightly, good god did her lips taste delicious, the scent of her perfume was incredibly enticing, it was beyond heaven! But then she pulled away and giggled, "save it for the bedroom." She flirted, Benjamin felt hard as a rock then and that night she didn't get off at her stop, she stayed on, rubbing his leg, moving her hand closer and closer towards his crotch.

"Wha- What's your name?" Benjamin breathed heavily.

"Linda Ware..." She whispered into his ear.

"Sounds like... Underwear..." He replied, speaking quietly into her ear.

"I bet you'd love to see me in my knickers, wouldn't you?" She teased.

"What colour?"

"Pink..." She pulled her waistband a little to show him the bright pink cotton under her tight blue jeans.

"Oh my..." Benjamin almost came!

"Not yet..." She bit his ear lobe, "when do you get off?"

"Soon." He smiled widely.

"That's good..." She giggled. Finally they arrived at his stop, then walked towards the sunrise that was finally waking up and lighting the depressing city a beautiful orange. Despite the black eye Benjamin got from his fight, that night had been the best time of his life. He and Linda married a year later.