Architect of paradise (PART I: Out of the Ruins)

5. The kiss

       It is seven o'clock at Friday evening. Dr Herman has a last appointment and I can go home. In the appointment book, there is the name, Daniel Parker. I heard about him from Mrs. Falcon.

    He is a troublemaker and a failure who came back home. He was wounded and had an operation at Washington. According to the doctor, he has to come to cut the stitches from his operation in the spleen. I don't think that I am needed for this kind of routine work, but Dr. Herman is so stubborn. This person seems to be trouble and trouble is the last thing I want in my life.

The door opens. A young tall man with short brown hair and crystal blue eyes comes inside. His body is harmonically muscular and well fixed. His gaze is out of this world with a tip of arrogance and cunning. I shudder while he is approaching like I am watching a small tyrant. His gaze stops on me. It is curious and surprised.

-"I am Daniel Parker. I have an appointment with Dr. Herman." He says giving me his medical card.

-"I know. The doctor is waiting you."

When he is getting in the exam room with the doctor, I try hard to calm my heart down. He is really dangerous. I close my eyes so I can calm down faster. I only want my quiet and peace. I try to focus on my job and to clean the waiting room before leaving.

After a quarter, he is coming out. He looks at me again. His gaze is piercing. My heart is starting to beat fast again. I lower my head in the reports. Only when I hear the door closing I can breathe. Fortunately, he has no other reason to come to the clinic and I don't think that he is a person of books, so that he comes to the library. I can avoid him.

   The one that I can't avoid is Lily Shelton. She really comes almost every day at the library for about half an hour to talk to me. She really thinks that we can be friends. She tries hard to make me open my heart but to no avail. 

    On the other hand, I heard the whole story of her life, about how she left Green Hill to work as a kindergarten teacher at Richmond. There, she met her husband. They fell in love and married. They were married about two years and when she finally got pregnant, he died in an accident, two months ago. Now she is a very young mother and widow, at the age of twenty seven.

I don't care about her life and I don't want her to care about my life but she is persistent and stubborn. This town is small but not enough so she can't befriend other women in her age. I can think of a couple of them, that I guess they were classmates in their younger years. Why is she glued to me? The words of Mrs. Falcon come to my mind. "You are a very interesting person." How am I interesting? I am a boring librarian, for God's sake!

My luck runs out when the wooden floor of the kitchen is falling apart. I almost fell down. I call the major and then an hour later, the carpenter comes but not alone. He is there. They get inside and they go to the kitchen. The old carpenter examines the floor carefully but the gaze of the young man is on me. I avoid his gaze looking at the carpenter.

-"It is old and with the moisture, the wood has gone bad. I suspect that not long there are going to be more falling floor all over. The best thing is to change it all."

-"How long will it take and how much does it cost?"

-"Without delay, it will take two to three days. If you choose a strong type of wood, it will cost a few hundred of dollars."

-"Very well. Do as you see fit." The carpenter nods.

-"I will start tomorrow," he said.

When they leave, I can breathe. Why is he looking at me so intensely? I can't be calm when he looks with the gaze of a predator.