Jason was getting pissed. He looked at his watch. The bus was running ten minutes late, based upon the schedule. Samantha, Jason’s wife, could sense his irritation. “Don’t worry,” she said, we’ll get to the theater in plenty of time.”

Jason and Samantha lived in a fairly large city. One of the advantages of being urban dwellers is that the city has a well-developed intra-city bus system. They owned a car, but it spent most of the time languishing in their garage. They mostly took buses because they had their pick of bus routes within a few blocks from their home that could get them to and from just about anywhere within the city. So there wasn’t much of a need to use their car unless they wanted to head out into the countryside.

“Finally,” Jason said, spotting a bus several blocks up the street. But as it got closer, Jason realized that it was a local bus, not the express bus he preferred. When the bus pulled up to the stop, Samantha started to get on, but Jason pulled her back. “Let’s wait for the R.”

The “R” label was for “rapid.” It meant that the bus would bypass those stops not designated as rapid bus stops. These express buses stopped at only about a third as many stops as the local buses.

“Oh please,” said Samantha. “The buses are running late, so let’s grab this one while we can. This way you’ll have plenty of time to get popcorn and we won’t miss the coming attractions.”

Jason looked at his watch once again. “Fine,” he said. “But I hate taking the local bus.” They boarded the bus, found their seats, and sat down. After reaching the third stop on the local route, Jason saw the “R” bus passing them by.

Jason’s face turned a deep shade of red and Samantha knew that he’d be blaming her for not agreeing to wait for the express bus.

It’s going to be another one of those days, she thought.

Written for today’s one-word prompt, “express.”