"Let me stop to the next unloading area, Ma'am, I'm not fond of ticket treats of policemen." The driver requested.
Maia is starting to have difficulty in breathing, she moved away from the driver's seat and look at the city lights, she tried to calm down but her hands won't stop trembling and her forhead keeps on dripping beads of cold sweat, panic is obvious from her irises which the driver can clearly see through the rearview.
To make the situation worse, while Maia still cannot comprehend how she end up inside a taxi, the driver stepped on the gas, sensing this, she wailed "Why are you speeding up? Where are you taking me?!"
"I'm speeding up to get you to the next stop immediately, Ma'am!" The driver explained as he focused on the road.
"Uwaaahh... Mama..." Maia cried.
"Calm down, Ma'am! No one is harming you! People might think I'm abducting you!" The driver finally shared his thoughts to her.
*Abducting?* Maia thought in a second then she quickly rummage her bag for her phone, she slid her cold finger unlocking the screen and went straight to her contact list, since it's alphabetical, she saw the word 'Brother' among the first registered phone numbers immediately so she made a call right a way.
The other line did not took too long to answer the call, "Hello? Maia?" A guy from the phone ask in a groggy tone.
"Brother! Help me! I'm inside a taxi! I don't know where he's taking me!" Maia begged.
"I said I'm taking you to the next stop, Ma'am!" The driver interrupted the siblings' conversation.
The brother heard this but did not said anything.
"You're the one who hopped on this taxi and told me to just go straight, why am I a kidnapper all of a sudden?!" The driver's defense.
"Is it passed 1 AM now?" The brother finally spoke, but instead of coaxing her sister, he asked this weird question instead.
"What's with that question?! It's out of tangent!" Maia complained but took her phone away from her to see the time on the phone screen anyway, "It's just 10! And I'm losing my mind!" She held her phone back to her ear and clamped her hair with her fingers from the other hand.
"That's odd, it's not yet early morning." The brother said on the other line.
"What are you saying?!" She exclaimed.
"Oh goodness..." The driver exhaled as he drives. Everyone is silent for ten seconds.
"Can you put the phone to the driver's ear?" The brother broke the silence with his request.
"Why would I do that?!" Maia asked.
"Just trust me." The brother said in an affirming tone.
Even with doubt, Maia still complied. "My brother wants to talk to you." She said to the driver with shaky voice.
"Go ahead." The driver simply responds. So Maia raised her hand that was holding her phone and reached out for the driver's ear. "Hello?" The driver said on the phone.
"Hello Sir, I'm sorry on behalf of my sister for causing you trouble, I bet you took her from the University but things got out of hand?"
"You bet it is." The driver replied.
"Look, the situation here is pretty complicated to explain to you now, Sir. But if you haven't passed by the Weekend Supermarket, please drop her there, however, if you already did, just drop her to Jammy Bakery at the Westwood Avenue Branch." The brother instructed from the phone.
"We're just three kilometers away from Weekend Supermarket, Sir. Shall I then drop her there?" The driver's response.
"Is that so? Okay, okay, thank you, thank you! And I'm sorry again for the inconvenience, Sir!" The brother expressed his sincere gratitude and apology.
"I don't know the situation but it must be tough for the two of you." The driver just concluded as his reply.
"It's tougher for her, Sir."