particularly fond of some of his unfinished pieces from the 1400’s. To me they seemed mysterious and exotic. I frequently liked to envision how they would have turned out if he had finished them.
“Did you know the Vitruvian Man was named after General Marcus Vitruvian? It’s s’posed to be ‘bout balance in man and all that.”
The sound of another person’s voice so close to my ear startled me. I think I must have given myself away with my reaction because the voice started to laugh a little.
“Sorry ‘bout that,” said the voice. “Didn’t mean to scare you.”
When I turned, what I saw was more than surprising. While I had been admiring the fine lines of Da Vinci’s self-portraits, I hadn’t noticed the line growing behind me. In particular, I hadn’t noticed the individual standing directly behind me. He was a man some years older than me, although I couldn’t have immediately guessed through the large aviator sunglasses he was wearing. It was only the very subtle creases around his mouth that actually gave him away as being any older than me. Even then, however, I had to second guess that theory when I saw the cigarette behind his left ear, where lush, dark hair was slicked from his brow to his neckline. His neck and shoulders were buried deep in the folds of a denim jacket, and his hands were firmly tucked in his jacket pockets.
If I had been thinking properly instead of concentrating on the untraditionally handsome man behind me, I would have noticed how strange it seemed—the unusual choice in wardrobe for the humid ninety-degree heat.
But no alarm bells went off—at least not then. For the moment I was preoccupied with the exceptional line of his jaw and the ideal brow above his sunglasses. I found myself wondering what color his eyes were, and if they would be different under this fluorescent light than in the sunlight.
I actually had to remind myself to blink. “Yikes.”
“Huh?”
Hearing his voice again brought me back to myself. “You didn’t scare me.” I turned back around so he wouldn’t see me blushing; I hoped it wouldn’t spread to the bare flesh of my shoulders and cursed myself for not wearing a t-shirt instead of a tank top. I closed my eyes and counted to ten, willing the line to move faster. Behind me, I heard the distinct sound of male shoes shuffling around. Was that a Southern accent I had heard?
I put Da Vinci away and kept my eyes straight ahead, trying now to focus on anything and everything but the person behind me. But as the seconds ticked by, my heart started thumping in my chest like a caged rabbit, and the enormous building seemed far too small. Was this the craziness so many other girls had for boys? I felt myself blushing again when I thought of the stories my bunkmates used to tell at summer camp. And yet the person standing behind me was very clearly past his boyhood—
“You all right?”
His voice was so close to my ear again it nearly knocked me over. It was strangely soft, a sort of whisper. I almost I thought I had imagined it. Just the way it startled me forced me to turn again.
“You look like you’re gonna fall over.”
At least I managed my tied tongue. “I-um, just seriously need coffee.”
He seemed amused by my response and smiled for a second. I was grateful that I didn’t make a complete idiot out of myself. Still, seeing him smile at me did nothing to slow down my wild heart.
I think I felt his eyes on me for a few more seconds before I heard a phone ring. By the sound of his Southern accent responding, it must have been his.
“What?”
After a few more seconds, I heard him speak again.
“Yeah, I got it.”
I heard shoes scuffling away, but I didn’t have to turn around to know he was gone.
“Can I help you?”
“Huh? What?”
“What do you want, Miss?” An angry cashier rolled her eyes at me. I couldn’t honestly blame her; I hadn’t even realized I was the customer next in line. But for the sake of my own sanity and just to reassure my self-consciousness, I looked behind me. Sure enough, the mystery man was gone. I decided it was just as well. Someone like that and the caffeine could have easily given me a heart attack.
Chapter 2
Getting the condiments for the coffee reminded me of the solitary occasion when Mom and I went shopping