Adam:
Why was it so hard? He had stalked back to his car and just sat there. Waiting. Waiting for the courage to rise in him so that he could just walk into Starbucks to talk to her. He sighed heavily and slammed his head against the head rest of the driver's seat.
What was the point?
She was talking to her friend. He would likely make things awkward for all three of them if he just barged in there and tried to talk to her. Tried being the issue, because they had practically nothing to talk about.
Should he just go in and say "hi" to her, buy something and walk out?
He sighed again and put his hand on the key sticking out of the ignition...when she walked out. Only her. She had her phone to her ear. Probably too much noise inside. God, she was adorable. He watched her scan the vehicles like she could tell he was looking at her. He doubted that she could see him from that far, especially with him in the shadows the car provided. Yet, it did not prevent him from ducking his head behind the steering wheel out of the path of her piercing eyes.
He remembered the way those eyes used to leave a trail on his skin after passing over him when he was in surgery. Like she had laser vision. She smiled as if the person on the phone could see her and swayed and paced as she spoke. He would have loved to be the person on the other end of that conversation. He did not care who she was talking to, but wished he was the source of that smile.
Did she have a boyfriend?
No way, why wouldn't he be here with her if that were the case? He banished the thought from his head when he started to feel the burn of jealousy rise in his chest. He ducked again as her eyes scanned the parking lot again, inside and out of the vehicles.
He wondered if she ever felt safe here. Was this out of habit? That she had to constantly be aware of her surroundings to keep herself protected? As suddenly as she came out, she walked back inside. When the taxi arrived, he could not help the relief in his chest that it was not a boyfriend that she was talking to, but the taxi company. He watched her and her friend get into the taxi and leave.
Then he finally started his own car, and left.
Lucy:
The dream last night left Lucy feeling loved.
She and her brother were in the same class and had put their last name next to the presentations they were to do, so they realized that they could split it either way they wanted. Then he said "means we don't even have to do it".
She was walking through a corridor with an old Indian friend of hers and another person and ducked into a class. She realized that her bra straps were not on her shoulders and her boobs were out, as if the clasp was closed but then swung around so the bra cups were at her back. She fixed it in a small room in the classroom and told her friends about it. Her friend showed her the blue dress she was wearing and said "That's why I like this" and was smiling. They continued walking and said that guys did not care if they did not see it. She looked down at her oversized shirt but she realized they were talking about the belly. One of her friends said "They're fine as soon as they touch you and feel it, then it's like Ahhhhh!!!!"
They all started laughing as they descended the stairs and a very large lady passed in front of the base of the stairs before Lucy could.
She was walking with Keisha and they were laughing when Lucy flung a hand over Keisha's shoulder and felt that she was very small. She felt that she was too much in Keisha's space so she pulled away but then they were suddenly close again and kept walking. They saw a stand selling frosted cookies and Keisha suddenly was in Lucy's embrace. She was so cold that she was shaking and tried to rub some warmth into Keisha. As she was trying to warm up Keisha, she asked the guy for the price of the cookies, then began trying to figure out how five cookies would cost $400 and began a shaky calculation.
She was sitting on some steps outside, peaceful environment, with Adam next to her, his knee almost touching hers. They were smiling and laughing. Rare. He bent his middle and index fingers inwards and hooked Lucy's nose bridge and gave a gentle shake. Lucy was giggling. Their foreheads were very close and they seemed to just be enjoying each other's company. Lucy was showing him pictures on her phone and he zoomed into a particular one of Lucy. She was facing a large building, wearing a stripped long pants and long differently stripped shirt. She was very far away and he had to zoom in on her since he was not able to see her too clearly. Her hair was swept into a loose braid. She was not sure what he was looking for.
Suddenly she was in a class with the list of topics for them to present again and the students had written them on the board. One of the doctors came to her. She recognized him as the one Priya had called "Nobody". He stood next to her and asked about her topic that she was presenting on Friday. He said that he had one as well. He asked her if she had another topic, which she admitted to, but she really did not want to present that one, so pretended to not know what he was talking about. She soon realized that he knew exactly which one was hers and she gave in and admitted that she had not presented it. He told her something else, but she could barely hear as she was somehow attracted to his unibrow. He smiled and as he was leaving, his hand stroked her bare ankle. First the front, circling slowly to the back, then to the foot itself. She held perfectly still and let the warmth of his hand caress and soothe and stimulate her.
Even when Lucy woke from the dream, the warmth of that hand lingered on her ankle. She did not think there was any man wo had ever touched her foot before. Not even in a professional capacity. That was interesting.
She wondered if she just thought of Adam too much yesterday for her to have had that dream about him. But it had been so pleasant and wonderful, although she was not sure how to interprete it.
The heat was infernal. It was ridiculous and belonged in hell, not on Earth. Lucy walked in the blazing sun all the way to the hospital. Granted it was only a ten minute walk but she swore parts of the ground were opening and allowing smoke from hell up into Earth. It was that terrible. By the time she got to the hospital, she sat down heavily on one of the benches outside and began fanning her neck and wiping the sweat off of her face.
"Hot day eh?" she heard from her right. It was the security guard with a too-raspy voice. He never spoke to her before. She made a dramatic facial expression and said "Waaaaaay too hot!" and began fanning more vigorously to emphasize her point. He laughed and asked her from where she was walking from. She told him that it was a ten minute walk and his eye brows shot up. She soon learnt that his name was Dwayne and that he would like to visit her country. As she got up to leave she told him that he was very welcome to visit, just don't come as one of her patients. He burst out laughing and bid Lucy a great day. She returned the sentiment with a genuine smile and headed inside. He seemed like a genuinely nice guy. Easy to talk to and made her laugh. She was not physically attracted to him nor did she want to go out with him, but he did not make for bad company.
She went to meet Keisha who was waiting in the student lounge. As she walked to the lounge, she almost stopped dead in her tracks. That same doctor from her dream, the one whose hand she could still feel caressing her ankle, was looking right at her. He was sitting on a bench outside the hall with another male. Although they made eye contact, both Lucy and the doctor pretended that they did not know each other, since they never really spoke to each other before. So she passed right behind the bench and was devastated when Keisha told her that there was no AC in the lounge, Lucy almost started crying. Keisha obliged her and they went outside the lounge.
She sat on the little wall, within ear shot of the doctor and his friend and said too loudly "It is to fricking hot!" and fanned herself dramatically, "I'm dying in this heat". Yes, she was being dramatic, but she really did feel like she was melting. Keisha offered for them to go back to the place she had just finished talking to the security guard, as that was where the strong AC really was. She whole heartedly agreed.
They entered the little food place in the building and ordered food to eat while they cooled off in the AC. When they were done, Dwayne suddenly appeared next to Lucy as they got up to leave. He smiled to Lucy and leaned close to her in the food line. Lucy returned the smile and when she and Keisha left, she saw Dwayne come out of the food place looking at her intently. God, why were these men so creepy? She picked up her pace, subtly urging Keisha to walk faster and soon, they were out of the guy's vicinity.
Lucy loosed a breath and wondered if there would ever be a point in her life where she would not to need to constantly look over her shoulder.
