On the First Day, Part II
The sun rose for the first time.
In the heart of the City, shadows clung on to their existence greedily, holding out between the buildings. Somewhere west of the City's center, one shadow, immense and deep, thrived still at the base of a squat, sprawling building. Inside, electric light of a bright, antiseptic quality reigned, spilling out from the windows but failing monumentally in banishing the darkness without. There, a taxicab was parked on the road. The small sign on its roof glowed humbly in the darkness as it waited.
The cab seemed poised at the very edge of the building's shadow where it fell like a suffocating blanket across the dark street—perched as though prepared to make its escape.
To all the world concerned, the driver's name was Anthony Romano. While it seemed as though he waited patiently on his fare, this was far from the truth. In reality, he was watching the sky. Like most nights he had sat, watching the stars wherever and whenever he could catch a glimpse of them, straining through streetlight and cloud and fog. But now, though the eastern horizon was blocked from his view, he watched as those same stars were devoured by the encroaching light of day. He watched the light crawl up the buildings, the sun glittering in a brilliant, rosy splendor upon the windows. It struck him suddenly that it should seem so rare and special a sight to see. He wondered quietly when last he had taken the time to watch a sunrise.
It stirred something in him, a pressure that was almost painful. He found himself wishing he had a better view. He thought about what the dawn would look like were he up on top one of the towering buildings. Or even above them… What would that be like? He almost failed to register as his prospective passenger arrived, still lost in the wandering of his own thoughts as the man slid into his seat and the door slammed behind him. The cab rocked with surprising force, and Tony was rung soundly free from his daydreams.
"Corner of Florence and Mendel, please."
With a wordless nod to his passenger, Tony pulled the cab out onto the street.
To all the world concerned, Tony's fare was Julian Singhal. He had just come off of a late shift at the hospital—an extra shift—and he was exhausted. Under normal circumstances, he would have been content to drift into a half-sleep until arriving at his home, yet for the past week his circumstances had been anything but. The unusual had consumed his mind, burdening him with worries that precluded casual slumber. Still, amid the jumbled snarl of anxiety that had infested his mind something possessed him to take a look backwards as they drifted amidst the traffic, in search of what had captivated the driver. For a moment his troubled mind was cleansed of its apprehension as his eyes drank in the sight, the colors. Julian saw the sunrise, feeling an odd sense of wonder—and loss. He must have made a small noise that caught the driver's attention.
"It's beautiful, isn't it?"
"Quite." His reply came out rather curt, far more than he'd intended. Julian had never made it a habit to speak with strangers and the troubles that had crept so recently into his life had only made him more sensitive to the notice of others. Given a choice, he would just as soon pass the trip in silence. However, the driver seemed to have other thoughts on the subject of conversation.
"I mean, it happens every morning, but…" Tony paused for a moment as he collected together his thoughts from earlier. "I mean, we kind of just take it for granted sometimes, don't we?"
"I suppose so…" Julian admitted slowly, for his own thoughts had held a remarkably similar tone. For a moment, something in the other man's voice seemed almost familiar. He wondered briefly if they'd met before, and the sudden biting curiosity drew him out of his ordinarily solitary shell. "What's your name?"
The driver's eyes spared a quick glance into the rearview mirror. He caught brief sight of his passenger, of black bangs that shrouded dark brown eyes like a curtain, and found himself struck with a brief certainty that he'd seen those eyes before.
"I'm Tony."
"Julian." He hesitated for a moment, moved to share his thoughts with this man, uncertain why that should be. Casting a glance, almost accusatory, to the hands which sat curled carefully in his lap he realized that his recent concerns had driven him to isolate himself. "Tony... Do you ever get the feeling like you were meant to do…something else?"
Tony snorted a laugh, mouth pulling sideways in an uneven smile. "All the time, I drive a cab.
"No, I mean—who you are. I'm talking about being…" He caught himself, unsure whether he was unable or simply unwilling to put into words what he truly meant.
"Being…special." Tony could not have said, if asked, why the words come to his lips. He couldn't even begin to imagine why they seemed to affect Julian as strongly as they did.
"Yes". The reply came out feebly, quiet from a mouth suddenly very dry. Julian managed a slow, hesitant nod.
A moment passed between the two men in which each experienced a short-lived yet powerful feeling of symmetry, though neither were aware that it was shared by the other. For the most part, the interior of the cab was ruled by silence for the rest of the drive. Though Julian had longed earlier for the quiet, those long, speechless minutes passed almost painfully. As they'd grown closer to his destination, Julian's mind had been screaming, demanding escape from the cab, fighting with stern effort not to throw himself out the door while the car was still going and just run. Eventually the taxi came to a stop in front of the shabby cluster of apartments where Julian made his home. He wrestled the money out of his wallet after a period of desperate fumbling, passing the bills off almost blindly as he grappled with the door handle.
Their fingertips touched. A sensation passed between them, like cool lightning brushing the skin. Julian jerked his hand back as though bitten, flexing numb, tingling fingers. As far as he could see, Tony seemed rattled by the experience as well. For several seconds he merely stared at his hand which had closed spasmodically into a crushing fist around the bills. His questioning eyes turned to Julian, whose own expression he was certain returned only panic.
"Did you—"
Julian did not wait for the driver to finish. Still clutching the handle, he swung the door open with a quickness and was out of the cab in moments. The door crashed shut behind him with startling power, splitting the rear window with a dramatic crack. Tony's eyes were drawn to the fracture, widening in surprise. By the time he looked back to the sidewalk, his passenger was nowhere in sight.
Running a hand over his mouth, Tony directed the cab cautiously back into the stream of increasing traffic. After a few blocks, he turned into an alley and shut down the engine. He sat silently in the taxi for a long while—minutes stretching out uncertainly as he tried to wrap his mind around what had happened. He examined the hands which rested loosely on the wheel. In the rearview mirror, he eyed the crack marred the rear window of the cab. His reflection in the mirror was sheet-white. He shut his eyes, drawing in a slow breath that left his lungs as an anxious laugh.
He wasn't sure what had happened. He didn't know what he was going to tell his boss about the damage. He decided it was just as well his passenger had left in such a hurry.
Would've sounded nuts, anyway, asking the guy if when we touched he'd also seen my hand glow…
Author's Note: I've added a line of disclaimer to the summary. It should be plain after reading this chapter why I've done that. I normally prefer to warn in advance about certain elements, but this honestly didn't suggest itself to me until late. Apologies to anyone dissatisfied with the development. I just like their chemistry, sorry.
