It was the most common question I got from riders. Some didn’t talk at all, but of those who did, at least 75 percent asked it by the time the ride was over.

I bit my bottom lip.

What could I say?

No, I don’t like the close quarters with strangers, the complaints about the temperature, the small talk with excited new grandmothers, or the drunk passengers who sway in the back seat.

No, I would very much rather be at home with Keith, even though he’d been in one of his moods when I left a few hours ago.

No, I don’t enjoy driving people around, not after a long day waiting tables at the diner.

Driving DAC was a job, just like any job, and I’d be hard-pressed to say I liked it.

“I love it,” I said with a smile and another quick glance in the mirror. Because, of course, there was nothing more “hard-pressing” than the possibility of a tip. The woman leaned forward as I continued. “I get to meet a lot of great people, so that’s nice.”

“Oh, I bet you do,” she said. “You must meet the most interesting people! Much more interesting than us…”

“Not at all,” I said, and then, without an ounce of shame, “You guys are such a joy, honestly…my best customers all day.”

When she got out of the car, the woman placed her hand on my shoulder. I looked down to see a rolled-up bill in her hands. I hadn’t been tipped outside the DAC app in a while, and it made me smile.

“You stay safe, dear,” she said.

For a while after they left, I sat in the hospital parking lot. I cranked up the air conditioner; the thick, stale heat made me want to open the windows, but the rain was beginning to pick up. I toyed with the bill the woman had handed me. I’d been shy at first, unwilling to work too hard for the tip, proud, even in one of the most difficult times of my life. But once I started to understand the difference between a good tip night and a bad tip night—easily a difference of a hundred dollars or more—I’d gotten a lot bolder about it.

Part of me knew I should go home; I hadn’t showered since I’d left that morning, and I needed to check on Keith. To be honest, he was both the reason I should go home and the reason I wanted to stay out. There’s no rule that says you can’t love someone deeply and still need time away from them.

I was still making up my mind when the app went off again, and I sighed.

One more, and then I’d call it a night.