Bus Stop, Bus Goes

Mike was scrambling to get ready for his first day at his new job. His roommate Lucas left early for class. They were supposed to be looking at apartments when they were both done for the day. They needed to vacate their current apartment by the end of the month. Mike wasn't worried about finding another place, but they needed the time to actually look around for one.

He found the security card the company had sent him, and his keys. There was an elastic around the security card, it was his bus pass. Lucas knew the city a little better than Mike did, and told him what bus he needed to take to get to the office building where he was going to be working.

He grabbed the book he was reading. Mike took every chance he could to read. He liked watching horror movies a lot, but his first love was reading. He wasn't a super fast reader, but he enjoyed it more than anything else he could think of.

There was snow on the sidewalks and streets, but it wasn't too cold. It would have to get a lot colder before it reached the freezing temperatures that Hawkins could get to.

Mike hated to wear suits. He had to wear one for Will's funeral, and another for Nancy's wedding. And now for his first day of work in the real world. He didn't get it. They hired him for what he could do in his head, not for how he looked. He shook his head, he just didn't get the business world. Everybody would be much happier if they could dress the way they wanted.

Mike walked to the bus stop. The sun was out and it looked like the snow might be melting a little. It was getting a little slushy on the sidewalks.

He got to the bus shelter. It was empty. It made him wonder if he'd missed the bus because he was too late. He looked at his watch, 8:00 AM. He shrugged and opened up his book.

"Good morning!" It was a bright cheery voice. Ugh, Mike thought. We've got ourselves a talker.

Mike looked up.

And he was almost knocked off his feet when he saw her eyes.

Her hand went immediately to adjust her slouchy hat, and she grabbed the edge of the bus shelter entrance.

"I think we both may have missed the bus." Mike said.

"No, this bus gets here at eight-one-five." She said carefully.

"Eight fifteen? Ok guess I'm in luck then. I'm new to the city. I thought for sure I'd missed it."

Mike watched her open her baggy purse. Searching for her bus pass probably.

"Damn." She said frustrated.

"Forget your bus pass, I've got change if you need it."

She looked up at him. Something in her eyes, "that's very kind of you, oh" she looked back down into her purse, and pulled out her pass, held it up for him to see.

"Found it, " she gave him a smile amplified by the prettiest eyes he'd ever seen.

Mike was not prepared for that. He felt dizzy and leaned against the bus shelter.

"What's wrong?" she looked a bit worried at him.

Mike cleared his throat. Screw it, he was going to say it, "you have a nice smile." He felt himself turning red.

She looked down into her purse, looked up at him wide eyed and took a deep breath, "why thank you Bus Stop stranger. It's not often I…. oh, damn it all."

Mike's eyebrows raised.

"I forgot my store keys and I open this morning. I'm never going to make it back to my friends apartment and back before the bus gets here." She huffed.

"I see the bus is coming, no, you're not going to make it back in time." Mike had been half hoping he'd get to sit or stand with her in the bus. That hope was dashed.

"I'd better get going then, have yourself a nice day." She smiled at him, spun on her heel and walked off.

As the bus slowed to a stop, he saw something glinting in the snow where she'd been standing. He bent down to pick it up.

It was a set of keys with a strange key chain, a miniature Eggo waffle with the number 11 engraved on it. Has to be her keys, Mike thought. She's too far away for me to call her back. I'll ask about them tomorrow morning, if she's here. If not, I'll give them to the bus driver, they have a much better way of finding owners of lost items.

Mike got on the bus, he was the only person on it. He flashed his pass to the bus driver who nodded, and Mike took a seat near the side door farther back.

It was about a half hour ride to the building where he'd be working. It looked like an older part of town that was undergoing urban renewal. The high rise building looked completely out of place.

Across the road was what looked like a coffee place, he didn't catch the name, but maybe he'd go there for lunch and get a tea and muffin or something.

He got out, and used his security card to get into the building. Yup, this high tech building was definitely out of place in this part of town.

He walked up to the reception desk and showed his security card. "I'm looking for the Code Cruncher's office?"

"Eleventh floor," the blonde receptionist said with a plastic smile. There was a security guard standing nearby giving Mike a wary look.

Try not to look paranoid, he thought to himself. You work here.

He stepped off the elevator and started looking for the office door that matched his security card, once he found it, swiped and walked in. He immediately thought he had the wrong office when he went up to the reception desk there and the woman behind it was wearing a sweater and a pair of jeans.

"I guess you are the new guy." She said.

"Mike Wheeler. This is Code Crunchers right?"

"This is it, let me take you to your office." She got up from around her desk and led him down a hall way to an office.

It was completely empty. With the exception of one folding chair.

"Um, seems to be missing a few items?" Mike looked back at her.

"Yeah about that. We believe here at Code Crunchers that the more comfortable you are the better you will work. Most companies have not figured that out yet."

"I don't mind sitting on that chair, but usually some kind of desk with a computer is how I'll do my best work."

The woman laughed, "You get to pick anything you need, for the way you work, money is not really an issue here. She handed him a pad and a pen. "The boss will be here any minute, make a list."

Mike was determined to make a good impression, so he made two lists, one that had everything he needed to get started. And one that went overboard with the quality.

He was just finishing up when another tall blond woman wearing a sweater and jeans walked into his office, "pro tip? Lose the suit. Wear what you want."

Mike stood up to shake her hand, "I like this place already."

"We all get along here. No office politics. Office romance, well me and the woman you met earlier are off limits. Totally. Other than that you own your own for heartbreaks."

Mike couldn't believe what he'd just heard. It must have shown on his face because she said, "weren't expecting that were you?"

"I thought it would be little more on the stuffy side… office computers and all that." he said.

"We're all programmers here. As long as you have results at the end of each week, I don't care what hours you work. Everyone here is ok with that… are you?"

"You had me at 'lose the suit'"

The woman laughed, "that's what I like to hear. There's coffee place across the street if you need to clear your mind. Good people over there. Watch for the redhead though, don't give her any shit."

Mike worked with her to finalize all the equipment he would need.

"You might as well go over there for lunch and stay the afternoon while your office is built, They won't mind, but I want your approval near the end of the day. You ok with that?"

"My boss just told me to go have coffee for the afternoon. I'm ok with that. Thanks. Can I use a phone?"

"You can use Lisa's out front"

Mike made his call, and then left the office to get a nibble across the street.

The street had a lot of foot traffic but not a lot of cars. He walked across the street to the coffee place.

"Bean There Read That" was the sign on the door.

When Mike walked in he heard the soft jingle of a bell, and took immediate notice of three things. First, the smell of dark strong coffee was everywhere. He was sure if he knelt down and sniffed the wood floors, they would smell like coffee also.

Second, this was also a used book store. "Bean there read that. Ok I get it," Mike said to himself. There were tables were you could sit and read while having your coffee.

And the third thing, and what riveted Mike's attention to the counter, was the girl with the pretty eyes from the bus stop was behind the counter. He would have recognized those eyes in a crowd of millions

When she saw him, she ran her hand over her hair. Mike saw that she kept her hair really short. Really short. She looked sad or frustrated, Mike wasn't quite sure which.

He saw the redhead that he was "warned" about. She leaned in, leaned in close and whispered something in the pretty girl's ear.

Oh.

Ah, they were together. Mike sighed. As Zathras would have said, "Not the One"

He went up to the counter and said, "what in the world can make a brown-eyed girl turn blue?"

She blasted a smile at him, "great song! Ignore me, remember I couldn't find my keys this morning at the bus stop? Well, I couldn't find them at Zoomer's place either. The red-head looked over at her and smiled. "Now I have to get a few locks replaced."

"Maybe I can help you with that." Mike said, and put his hand in his pocket.

"See, Eleven? A locksmith shows up just when you need one."

Great. Mike thought. They pet names for each other. Zoomer and Eleven. They've been together a while. Eleven… wait a minute…

"Um, could you describe your keys?"

She frowned at him, "If you saw the keychain you couldn't miss it. It looks like miniature Eggo waffle with the number Eleven engraved on it."

Mike pulled out the keys. "That looks just like these."

Her eyes went really wide. And then she smiled at him. The smile could have toasted marshmellows at a hundred yards. The smile was for him.

"Where did you find them?"

"I think when you pulled them out when you took out your bus pass. We didn't see or hear them hit the snow. I noticed them just before I got on the bus, but you were too far away to call back."

"Well sir, your coffee today is free."

"Uh, It's Mike. Let me guess, they call you El for short?"

"No they don't, but you can." And he was given another smile. This one would have burnt toast at a hundred yards.

"I, uh don't drink coffee, don't really like it, how about two chai teas black?"

"You have not tried my coffee then, I'm a real barista, not just one of those cash register girls that call themselves that. But two chai teas coming up, you can pick them up over at the end of the counter."

Mike sidestepped to let the next customer at the counter and walked to the end of the counter.

The redhead was busy, but finally came over and called out his order."

When he stepped out, he said "that's me."

She looked taken aback. She turned and said, "Eleven, these teas are for the rock star?"

Eleven looked at the redhead, and winked at both Mike and the redhead, "Yes, Zoomer, two teas for that rock star."

Mike found a cozy table for two between bookshelves by a window.

He had just gotten comfortable in the chair when Eleven came over. She put a plate on the table in front of him. "My muff-in is on the house too." Her round eyes twinkled him.

"Um, my office is being equipped this afternoon, is ok if I spend a bit of time here?"

"People can read here all day if they want. You saved me a lot of running around today, so you tea is free all day.".

As she walked away, he couldn't help but sneak a quick peek at her bum. Jeez… nice. Unavailable, but nice.

When Eleven the Barista got back to the counter, he heard her talking to the redhead "Zoomer" in a low voice, "You did NOT!" the redhead said in a loud voice.

The two girls were still giggling when Nancy came in through the front door. She looked around and when her eyes scanned the room, Mike waved her over.

Nancy sat down smelled the tea and closed her eyes. "Oh that tea smells great." She put her hands around the mug to warm them up and took a quick sip.

"Oh this place is a gem, how did you find it?"

"It's across the street from the building I work at, " he indicated across the street,

"Ooh, convenient. Not to mention the cute staff who works here, one of them is making her way here now…"

Mike turned his head to see Eleven making her way towards their table. Her eyes were glowing. It was the only way he could think of describing them.

But when Eleven saw Nancy, he could see that her eyes just shut down. A worried frown accompanied those eyes. She looked like she'd just received some really bad news. Mike felt sorry for her. She turned away, her head slumped a little.

She was sad, her body language gave it away. She looked completely crushed.

"Shit, look at the time. I have to go." Nancy got up kissed Mike on the head and hurried out. He didn't even get the chance to say bye, but smiled after her as she left.

His attention turned to Eleven. He couldn't help himself and got up and walked over to the counter.

As he approached she looked panicked, the redhead said something and stepped in front of her to face him.

"Can I help you sir?"

Mike looked at Eleven entering an Employees Only door.

It was 'sir' now. "Is she ok?" he said concerned.

"No." The redhead said simply.

"Um, ok. Well I hope she feels better soon." Mike looked down and turned to go back to his table.

Maybe those two were having a bit of a tiff.

He didn't see her for the rest of the afternoon. He was feeling a bit down. He hadn't really stopped thinking about her since this morning.

Mike gave a deep sigh and got up to head back across the street. The last thing he wanted to do today.

What he wanted to do was look into her eyes forever.

Eleven.