He smiled at her. She smiled back. He caught her as she began to fall. “We really gotta stop meeting like this,” he said with a chuckle as he helped her back to her feet. She let out a loud giggle in return, you know the kind that comes with being totally drunk.

“You’re always gonna be my knight in shining armor,” she replied as she tried to steady herself on her 6 inch stilettos. Once he was confident she wasn’t going to fall, he opened up the car door and helped her into the back seat. As usual, she sprawled out on his leather interior and was out like a light. This had been their routine almost every Friday night for the last 6 or 7 months.

As he drove through midtown Atlanta, he couldn’t help but peek back at his sleeping passenger. They had met on whim. He was an Uber driver and she was out on the town celebrating a promotion with her law firm. Just as she had tonight, she had gotten way too drunk to function, let alone drive herself home. Their first couple of rides together were completely random, just the luck of the draw or Uber’s algorithms. But the same couldn’t be said after the third, fourth or fifth times he picked her up.

“It’s kismet,” she had said on that sixth ride, “We’re meant to do this song and dance for a while.” They exchanged numbers that night, purely for business reasons of course. At least, that’s what they told themselves.

There were nights when she was coherent for the ride from whatever bar he picked her up at to her home in Sandy Springs. Those were the nights he enjoyed most. He had learned so much about her during their time together. She was the oldest of three children, all girls. She had graduated at the top of her class from Harvard law. But instead of taking a job with a high-powered firm in New York, she came back to her hometown to try and make a difference. She started off working in the public defender’s office, but later moved on to corporate law. Hell, if he wanted, he could probably write her biography. But he wanted more than to just be her ride home after a night on the town. He wanted much more.

After a few minutes, they arrived in front of her townhouse. He put the car in park and went to help his still unconscious passenger out of the back seat. By the time he got around to the curbside door, she was already standing up and waiting for him.

“We’ve really gotta stop meeting like this,” he said, his voice a little more uneasy than the first time he said it earlier in the evening.

“But how else would we meet?” she retorted. He had no answer for her. They linked arms and he walked her to her door. Still arm-in-arm, he patiently waited for her to fish her keys out of her purse. Once she had retrieved them from her bag, he turned to walk back to his car. But she didn’t let his arm go. He tried to gently pul away again, but she responded by tightening her lock on his arm.

“Is there something else I can do for you,” he asked, confused as to why she didn’t let go.

“Spend the night with me.” As much as he had been dying to hear her say those words, he knew deep down inside she couldn’t possibly mean it. But that didn’t stop his imagination from quickly running wild with idea. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

“You don’t mean that, you’re drunk.” He tried to pull away again, but she resisted again. He turned to face her and she dove into his arms. As he had so many times before, he caught her. Every inch of his being wanted to kiss her, but he didn’t. He just held her in his arms and stared at her. He knew he was falling for her. If he was truly honest with himself, he knew he had fallen a long time ago. But he always told himself that they were from two completely different worlds and it could never work.

“Ive seen how you look at me when you think I’m asleep in your backseat.” He stood her back on her 6 inch stilettos. Once she was steady again, he took a step back. She instantly closed the distance and kissed him. In that moment, he allowed himself to indulge in his fantasies and kiss her back.

When they finally came up for air, he tried to walk away again. She grabbed his hand and pulled him back towards her front door. He feigned at resisting although there was no way to hide his feelings anymore.

“You’re drunk,” he repeated as she pulled him through the door. She ignored him and swung the door closed behind them. She stepped out of the stilettos she had been in all night. He let out a small chuckle as he noticed how much shorter she was without her heels on.

“I can’t believe it took me almost 6 months worth of binge drinking to finally get you inside my place.” She started to unbutton his pants as he stood there in what could only be described as shock.

“I’ve wanted you since the first night I saw you.” Then she took him by the hand and led him upstairs.