Framed Connection

Chapter 19: Extarstellar Coincidence

Roxanna had wandered around the third floor a bit, having gotten carried away with looking around. Noticing that this section seemed a little bit like someone's residence. She feels a bit guilty that she's invading someone's personal space like this. Though she can't help but think "This place is bigger than my apartment." The natural lighting from the windows seeping out from the windows, the white crown molding with green matcha batten walls. Paintings hung up along the walls of the hallway. She feels like she should not intrude upon whoever lives their personal space any longer.

Although it seems she's a little lost and confused, not sure where she was going. She kept walking the opposite direction until she finally saw the stairs and started walking down. Making it to the second floor started to feel familiar with where she was now. As she turned the corner she thought she heard a familiar voice calling her name. She turned around but saw no one but she knew she heard it. Roxanna feels a twisting pain in her abdomen that prompts her to continue to the first floor.

Lucas heads down the stairs to catch up with Roxanna seeing that she was already standing by the car. He clicks the lock allowing her inside hoping he didn't have her waiting too long. "So what did you think of the gallery? It was eye catching wasn't it?" He asked but she seemed to have not heard him staring off. He wonders what was wrong or if she knows something. Tapping her on the shoulder "Is something the matter?" That seems to snap her out of whatever daze she was in.

"Sorry, what were you saying?" Lucas lets out a sigh and feels a little anxious.

"Are you okay? Do you need something else like a pain killer or another heating pad?" Lucas questions, Roxanna shakes her head.

"No, it's fine, thank you. By the way how did you?" Roxanna questions

"You were making the same face my fiance makes when she's on her monthly as well." Lucas says "So I always keep some handy for whenever she needs them."

"Is that so, then let me pay you back for the pad and heating patch." Roxanna says

"No need, I'll just grab some more from the pharmacy later." Lucas says, just wanting to help her out was fine. He starts the car.

"Okay then thank you, I really enjoyed my time there, getting to see them in person myself." Roxanna says feeling excited to see how the photos turned out.

"glad you enjoyed-" Lucas stepped on the breaks "you saw them too?" Roxanna was a little surprised by the sudden halt grabbing a hold of her seat belt. "Yes, I did, you were the one walking me around showing me the paintings. Were you not?"

He breathes a sigh of relief taking his foot off the breaks having panicked there. "Right the paintings." she looked at him wondering why he was acting strange then she said "thank you again really for giving me this opportunity."

" Too bad I couldn't do much but show you the paintings" Lucas said

" It was no problem actually I could quite understand where the artist was going with these"

Lucas eyes sparkled when hearing this "so do feel you no longer need that interview"

"Oh no I'm still gonna need that interview" She said

Lucasis on edge with hearing this feeling like that should have been enough for her to forget about it. "I'll see when a date can be set but no promises."

After dropping her off Lucas drove back to the gallery to check back on Marcel. He sees Marcel looking around the first floor as if searching for something. "Hey buddy, what are you doing?" As much as Marcel hates when Lucas calls him buddy that wasn't important to him right now.

"Lucas, be honest with me," Lucas began to sweat, probably knowing he's probably going to ask about Roxanna again. He braces for it about to come up with an excuse when Marcel asks " are you sure nobody else was with you when I came?" Lucas can hear his heart like a symphony of drums in his ears he was nervous so he laughs nerouvsly and says " I told you nobody else was here" But Marcel couldn't shake off the fact of what he had seen " no Lucas I saw her" Lucas chuckles again "You saw who? a ghost? Come on man don't be saying things like that." Marcel knows what he saw and she was definitely no ghost "you must be overthinking again, why don't we head upstairs and paly some board games." Lucas suggests

Marcel is led up stairs by Lucas who watches him closely. Marcel can't shake the thought of seeing Roxanna out of his head. Reaching his room Marcel lays himself on the couch trying to collect his thoughts. While Lucas looks around the room for some board games.''Can you stop touching everything" Lucas freezes looking over at him seeing he has his face covered. "How do you know if I'm touching your stuff?"

" I can hear you, that's how." Marcel says he doesn't feel like hearing Lucas whine about losing a railroad for the rest of the afternoon. "I want to be alone right now." Marcel says.

Lucas sighs before leaving the room knowing that he's gonna be a bit closed up for awhile. Marcel always knew that he was a bit weird sometimes but he couldn't help but feel it was too weird to be normal but shrugs it off. Marcel removes his hand from his face and sits up wondering where the day had gone.

Marcel wonders if Lucas hadn't stopped him would he have caught up to her? Wondering if she heard him calling to her knowing what he saw. He'd felt it for awhile he'd cared about her a little more than he realized. Having started to feel like she's more than just a friend or a figment of his imagination. Or at least he wishes she was more than just a person he made up in his dreams. With a heavy sigh he heads to bed.

Opening his eyes, planets hanging from the ceiling, Saturn and Jupiter clipping through the ceiling. Black floors with orbital planetary tracks as its pattern. Satellites and dark ambient blue lighting along the show floor. Banners and large poster boards with plantes, galaxies and the sun. With different display casing all about. He sees Roxanna waving to him from across the planetarium. He walks over to her "wow you're rather early aren't you?" he says

"Not entirely as I somewhat just got here myself." They both chuckled with each other both amazed by the realistic looking planetary designs. They headed over to take a look at a few of the display casing. One of them having meteors and asteroids in them "Meteors are fragmented rocks that break away from the surface of other planetary and celestial bodies (such as the moon.)" Marcel says reading off of the sign board. "Unlike Asteroids with are clumps of metallic particles and rocks that float around the sun and in between planets Mars and Jupiter."

Roxanna is fascinated with this piece of information more so one of the meteor chunks that was cracked open. Inside it had a beautiful shiny and smooth green crystal inside. "Space geoids" Roxanna says reading the description off the plaque underneath the glass. "Never knew thoes existed. The more you know." She says mesmerized by the crystals.

Her peridot green eyes seem to twinkle against the light with them"aren't they pretty" she asked "yes indeed" he says, his answer being soft as his attention is turned away from the geoid to her eyes.

they both kind of chuckle with each other looking at all the fake planets hanging from the ceiling and the diagrams of the different constellations.

A/N: Hello art directors don't this display from the C&L couple just make you feel soft even when one is absent. And What about the soft display that is being showed by Marcel he's definitely whipped isn't he. Have a good morning evening afternoon and night.

Happy Reading~