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“I’m Maggie,” I went on. “It’s nice to meet you.” I held out my hand, and he glanced down, hesitating a moment before he shook it. His palm slid along mine, and a spark went through me at his touch. It was even more intense now that there was nothing between us, just skin.
His hand was warm and so much larger, practically engulfing mine. For a second, I was self-conscious, hoping my hands didn’t feel too dry from wearing rubber gloves and using cleaning products all day. If he noticed, he didn’t show it, his eyes still intent on mine.
He withdrew his hand, then reached into his pocket, retrieving his phone. I watched as his screen came to life. He typed something before turning and holding the phone out to me.
Just like that, my stomach twisted and panic set in. He’d written a message for me on his phone. It was probably how he communicated with new people he met all the time. He had no idea the very sight of him typing was enough to send me into a shame spiral.
It wasn’t that I couldn’t read. I could, but my dyslexia and the fact my schooling was limited meant I took a lot longer to read things than the average person. It was why I only listened to audiobooks despite loving stories, and though I’d wanted to enrol in an adult literacy course for years, I’d never drummed up the courage to go ahead and do it.
Long story short, if I tried to read whatever he’d written, he was going to quickly learn something about me I didn’t want him to know. My pride wouldn’t allow it.
He looked at me meaningfully, motioning to his phone. I knew my cheeks were red as I stared at it like he was wielding a cup of poison. Then the bus started to slow down, and I saw we were nearing our stop.
“Oh, that’s my stop. Better get off,” I said, flustered as I jumped up from my seat like it was made from hot coals and hurried to the exit. As soon as the bus slowed to a halt, I jumped off, speedwalking in the direction of my flat. I couldn’t bring myself to look back, to see if he was looking at me rushing down the street like I couldn’t get away from him fast enough.
It was only as I reached my flat I realised how bad that must’ve come across. It looked like I’d discovered he was mute, awkwardly introduced myself, then scarpered when he tried to use his phone to communicate with me.
I’d finally interacted with him, and I’d messed it up monumentally. Possibly irrevocably.
5.
Shay
Maggie.
Her name was Maggie.
I stood by the bus shelter, a light trickle of rain beginning to fall as I watched her hurry away from me. Frowning at her departure, I slid my phone into my pocket, buttoned my jacket higher to defend against the rain, then turned in the direction of home.
I was confused and disappointed. Why had she reacted so strangely when I tried to show her a message on my phone? All it said was, Hello Maggie, I’m Shay.
For some bizarre reason, she hadn’t wanted to look at it. There was panic and fear in her eyes, and it baffled me. Finally, after so many months riding the bus together, we’d officially met, but something about me scared her off.
Was it the obvious? Was she freaked out by my mutism?
I’d been unable to speak almost my entire life, and sometimes, people reacted poorly when they found out. I’d experienced the gamut of reactions. Some people were cool, others emotional and pitying, a few were dismissive or mean, but no one had ever reacted like her. She’d seemed surprised but understanding at first. Then I’d offered her my phone, and she fled. It didn’t make any sense.
Perhaps she was still on edge because of that dickhead hassling her.
My temper rose just thinking about him.
I dealt with pricks like him on occasion at work. You’d be amazed the amount of people who stayed at five-star hotels who proceeded to get belligerently drunk and had to be removed from the hotel’s bar or restaurant and escorted back to their rooms. That was my job, to be the muscle. I’d been unemployed for a few months before my cousin, Rhys, offered me a place on his security team at The Balfe Hotel. My last job hadn’t ended well. I had to leave because of a bad situation, and I’d sank into a depression for a while after I put in my notice. Rhys was the one who encouraged me to try again.
The very first day waiting for the bus, I saw her. Maggie. It had been raining heavily, and her freckled cheeks were flushed as she shook out her umbrella and smiled at me as we waited under the shelter. Sometimes, women smiled at me. They liked how I looked, my height and athletic physique, but often, they were weirded out when they discovered I was mute.
