"You need a ride, lady?"
His accent was thick but his English was good, good enough to turn Nami's attention his way. She was far from home, and the familiar cadence of her native language was strange and out of place here, and yet almost welcome to her ears.
She'd been traveling for almost a year now, never settling in one spot too long. It was mostly for her job, she studied climate changes on a global scale, and she liked to experience both the climate and its effects on a personal level. The job was just a convenient excuse though. Truthfully, Nami just wasn't the kind of person to settle down in one place too long. It made her skin itch. Nami liked to keep moving, to keep traveling. One day she'd see the whole world, and when she had she would start over and travel it again.
The man who had spoken to her looked to be about her age. He had the tanned, olive colored skin most of the native people around here had, and his hair was a mess of long, dark curls secured back in a hair tie. His nose was longer than average, but overall he wasn't bad looking. Still, Nami wasn't born yesterday. She knew the dangers of getting into a car (or in this case climbing onto a moped) with a stranger. That was how travelers disappeared, sold into underground slave trades or murdered for their pocket change.
"No thanks," Nami politely declined. This guy was probably friendly enough, maybe working for spare money as a side job by offering rides to tourists, but Nami wasn't going to risk it. She had established rules of travel for herself, and accepting a ride from a stranger was a big violation of those rules.
"Wait." The man followed behind her as she headed down the street. "You want to go see the mosque?"
She stopped and half turned. This guy was strangely persistent. She didn't know if that made her more or less wary of him, but it certainly intrigued her. Most people who offered her rides places gave up after her first no, but this guy had abandoned his moped by the curb and was following her down the street.
"Most tourists like to see the mosque," he continued. "You'd need to change though, cover up more."
She looked down at her outfit. The short skirt and tank top she'd chosen to wear today was the perfect outfit to combat the intense dry heat present even in a city so close to the ocean.
"It's a respect thing, you see." The man looked away sheepishly, a blush darkening his cheeks. "There are rules. Though, you look pretty like that."
Nami laughed. She hadn't meant to, and the poor guy that had been following her looked even more embarrassed. The whole situation struck her as comical. The guy clearly wasn't suited to this kind of job, he seemed too shy to be soliciting strangers. Even now he was avoiding eye contact and fidgeting nervously. There was something about him that was charming to Nami, though she wasn't sure why. Maybe it was because he was the first person she'd talked to for more than a few minutes in almost a month. In a strange way, she kind of liked him already.
"I was thinking of seeing the city…" she trailed off. All her business had been attended to, and she was planning to spend today shopping and sight-seeing. Enjoying the country more. What better way to do that than with her own personal guide. "I'll go change, will you wait here?"
"Yes." He smiled, straightening a bit. "My name is Usopp."
"Nami," she replied. "I'll be right back."
As she changed her clothes, she had a moment to consider the stupidity of her current decision. Why trust this stranger of all the strangers she'd met in her life? Why break her one steadfast rule for this guy? She was an idiot, she mentally berated herself. And yet…
An azure blue sky above a place of worship. Nami took a moment to breath in the air, the slight tang of salt from the ocean filling her nose.
Her only request had been that he showed her the city. Her first few days in the country had consisted of her research work or spent by the hotel pool, but she couldn't enjoy the splendor of the country from behind her barometer or in her hotel. She wanted to experience the culture of the land she was currently staying in.
"What?" She asked, noticing Usopp's dark eyes watching her.
He glanced away and shook his head. "You look like you're at peace."
She paused in her movements and glanced at him again, but he carefully avoided her gaze.
"It's beautiful," she said, commenting on the mosque, hoping to draw his attention towards it.
"It is. It's a place that makes me feel closer to God."
She smiled and turned her attention back to the stunning architecture of the building. It was unlike anything she had ever seen before. It was not the first religious building she had ever been in, but for some reason it was one of the most powerful she'd ever been in.
"Hey, Usopp," she turned back to him. "Will you take me some place to shop next?"
"Would you like to visit the market?" He asked. "Though, it's not fancy like a store, the things there are usually handcrafted."
"Handcrafted?" Nami's eyes lit up. "Will you take me there?"
"Of course," he smiled.
The streets varied from narrow to wide, and the traffic ranged from non-existent to heavy. Usopp had an advantage on his moped, being able to weave in between cars, but sometimes even that was impossible with the thick overcrowding of vehicles. Eventually they came to a standstill, stuck until the cars ahead of them moved some.
"Sorry," Usopp apologized over his shoulder. He wasn't wearing a helmet, he had given his to her.
"For what?" She asked, confused.
"You came all this way to get stuck in traffic. You could have done this at home right?"
She laughed. "It's okay," she assured him.
The sun blazed overhead, and reflected that heat off the pavement below them. The cars around them release heat from their engines. It was hot, and Nami could feel her hair frizzing as a glaze of perspiration broke out across her skin.
"Hey, Usopp," she called.
"Yeah?"
"Will you tell me a story?" She asked.
"What kind of story?" He turned again, curiosity brimming in his eyes.
"Any kind. Any story you want."
He told her a story of a time he saved a group of children from a den of monsters. It was obviously fabricated, and she laughed, despite his pouting insistence that it was the truth. Time passed quickly with his tale, and traffic moved once more.
"Oh wow," she gazed in awe at the shoes for sale in the stall. They were like loafers, but hand crafted out of leather that was dyed the most vibrant colors she had ever seen. On them, beautiful patterns were made out of shiny beads. "What do you think of these?"
She held a turquoise pair with a silver star of beads stitched on out to Usopp. He placed a finger against his chin and seemed to consider them for a moment before giving Nami herself a long, considering look.
"I think you'll make them look beautiful."
She tried to assume his choice of wording was a matter of poor English speaking, even if his English had been near perfect since they met.
"Shall I negotiate a price for you?"
It was handy to have a native speaker around in times like these. Nami didn't speak a word of Arabic and her French was broken and poor. Without Usopp around, she'd be paying full price for everything. Thanks to him, she was able to talk down the prices to the lowest rate possible, and saved herself a little money in the process. If there was anything she loved more than handcrafted goods, it was a bargain price. She was eternally grateful to Usopp.
She watched him now, arguing the price of her chosen footwear. Though he seemed like such a timid man, he was able to wear a disguise of professionalism during times like these, and although she couldn't understand what was being said, she could understand that he was arguing his best for another price.
"It must sound weird to you, right?" He said, returning with the paid for pair of shoes in his hands. He had managed to talk the price down a quarter from it original state.
"What does?" She asked, confused.
"The language. Most foreigners dislike it."
She shook her head. "No. I like it. It sounds so…" she paused searching for the right word. "Alive."
Usopp wouldn't meet her gaze again. He fidgeted uncertainly for a minute before a sudden thought seemed to strike him. "Hold on a minute," he said, before disappearing into the crowd.
She stood for a long while, growing more and more uncertain by the moment. Had she offended him somehow? Did he leave her here? Maybe she had been wrong to come with him. She didn't want to believe that though. Usopp had been nothing but kind and attentive all day; she didn't want to believe that she was wrong to have met him, or to have taken this chance on him.
There were other ways to get home, she wasn't concerned about that. She could find transport of some kind, and she knew the address of her hotel, so finding her way back would be easy. But her feet remained rooted on spot.
She hadn't even paid him. Why would he leave without receiving pay?
She waited, and waited, watching the other shoppers in the market with some interest. Everything around her was new and exciting, but there was some part of her that was anxious and distracted, and that part remained unfocused until the man with unruly curls and a large nose reappeared amongst the crowd.
"I'm sorry!" He apologized sincerely. "It took longer than I thought it would."
Relief washed over her, cleansing the tension and uncertainty from her body. "What did you need to do?" She asked curiously.
"I was looking for this." He held out a necklace with an oval pendant made of silver and adorned with turquoise beads. It went well with her new shoes, and shined brightly in the sunlight.
"It's beautiful," she breathed. "How much is it?"
"I got it for you," he smiled.
"You what?"
He laughed. "It's a gift. Will you put it on?"
She took the necklace from him in awe, slipping it around her neck and securing it's clasp. "I can't accept this," she said, even though she was already wearing it. It seemed too unreal.
"I hope you will," he chuckled. "I don't know what I'll do with it if you don't."
He brushed one finger over the pendant. He could feel the warmth of his finger through the metal, fleeting, but it made her shiver.
"You make it look beautiful," he said. Like the shoes. It wasn't a poor use of English, he meant it.
Their ride back to her hotel was quiet. Quiet, and yet meaningful. She circled her arms around his waist, and held herself close to him. The sun was setting behind them. She tried to ignore it.
He stopped at the side of the road by her hotel, right where he had been stopped this morning when he first called out to her. She clung to him even after the engine shut off, taking a moment to breathe, to commit the moment to memory before she released him and climbed off.
She handed him his helmet back, and raked a nervous hand through her hair.
"Maybe tomorrow, I could come get you again?" He asked. "Maybe we could see the ocean?"
"I can't," she confessed, a heavy feeling settling over her chest. It threatened to suffocate her. It made speaking difficult. "Usopp, I leave tomorrow."
"You leave?"
"I'm going to Greece next," she explained. The where didn't matter, but she said it anyway.
"Oh." He chuckled, a dry, unamused chuckle. "That's pretty far."
"It is," she agreed sadly. She'd never experienced this before. She'd never wanted to stay stationary. She loved to move, to travel. But right now, she wanted nothing more than to remain here on this side of the road.
He took an uncertain step closer to her. "You won't be back?"
"Maybe," she shrugged. "But I couldn't say when."
Another step closer. She wanted nothing more than to reach out and cling to him again, as if by doing so she could anchor herself here, even a little while longer. She kept her limbs locked firmly in place.
"About your pay," she started.
A pair of lips placed a gentle kiss against her forehead. She froze, caught off guard for a moment until the realization crashed down on her. By the time it did, those lips were already gone.
"Don't worry about the pay," he said, stepping back. "It was never about the pay anyway."
She was speechless. "What was it about then?" She asked, confused.
"A day with a pretty lady," he chuckled. The smile melted off his face almost immediately. His hand reached out, brushing the pendant of her necklace again. "I hope you arrive in Greece safely."
"Thank you." The words came out thick from her throat. It had tightened too much to speak or breathe properly.
Usopp took a step back, and then another, and another, until he was sitting once more on his moped. His eyes never left hers even as he pulled the helmet over his head and started his engine.
"Goodbye, Nami," he said.
"Goodbye, Usopp," she whispered, watching as his moped disappeared around a turn.