February Night

Chapter 5

                   

"What kind of music do you like?" Spencer immediately looked very interested as soon as Lucy had revealed that she loved music and books. They had already talked about some books and had found out, that they both had a thing for the Harry Potter series. Lucy had beamed at Spencer as soon as she got to know that he had read Harry Potter at least three times so far and still loved it. Finally, a guy who enjoys it as much as I do, she thought to herself while she smiled into her wine glass and then took another sip.

"I really enjoy Amy MacDonald, Ed Sheeran, Green Day, the Backstreet Boys...and some Spanish music", Lucy told Spencer and when he frowned she smirked and had to fight the urge to reach out a hand and let her fingers run over his wrinkled forehead. "What?", she asked after Spencer had remained quiet for several seconds.

He shifted on the bench. "Well...that's a weird taste in music."

Lucy laughed out loud at Spencer's words. "Why so?", she chuckled.

Spencer shrugged. "I...haven't met anybody with such a taste of music yet", he tried to explain and couldn't hide a smirk too right now.

"Well, then I'm glad to be the first one", Lucy grinned and reached out her glass to clink it with Spencer's. They smiled at each other for a moment but then Lucy broke the eye contact. Suddenly, her heart had started to pound much faster in her chest and she needed to take a deep breath. What the hell was it that made her feel so comfortable but also nervous when she was with Spencer? As if she hadn't had any boyfriends in the past! As if she was a teenager again!

"What about other hobbies?", Spencer continued his questions and Lucy was glad he gave her something to talk about. Otherwise she would have gotten lost in her thoughts once more.

"I do horseback riding", she said and curiously waited for his reaction.

"What? You can do horseback riding? Are there even any stables in New York City?", he asked as he couldn't hide any surprise. Lucy laughed once again and put a strand of hair behind her ear. She nodded.

"Yeah, you actually can. And yes, there are. Not in Manhattan, of course. A bit outside of the city", she explained. Her eyes now wandered back to the table where her brother and most of the others were sitting and chatting. Did Luke even realize that she was here? Yeah, he did, he had just caught her eye the moment she had looked up to him as well. He gave her a little smile and then turned around again to continue his conversation with Emily. "Do you like horses?", Lucy asked and Spencer almost immediately shook his head. "Why not?"

"They uhm...they're huge. And unpredictable. They scare me, I guess." He shrugged.

"If I should ever find a stable somewhere around here, I'll take you with me and show you that horses aren't scary at all and that they are in fact beautiful, deal?", Lucy said and reached out a hand towards Spencer. Grinning, he shook it.

"Deal."

They laughed and held each other's hand for some seconds longer than usual before Lucy took hers away again. She would have loved to let her hand held by Spencer's for longer but that would have been too awkward. So, she put her hands around her wine glass again.

When Spencer asked her what she was doing for a living, Lucy told him that she had studied linguistics back in New York City and that she spoke five languages. Spencer's eyes widened and he wanted to know which languages those were. "Next to English I speak Spanish, French, German and a bit of Italian", Lucy explained with a smirk. For once she could have been able to impress the genius boy as well.

And she knew she had done that indeed when he just said "wow."

Lucy chuckled. "Don't tell me you don't speak several languages with an IQ of 187?" She wouldn't believe him if he'd say no.

"Well, I do. But it's more like Russian and Korean", he explained and once again, Lucy sighed.

"And I thought I'd be the one with the amazing language skills", she grinned while shaking her head. Of course, Spencer would speak the languages she imagined must be very hard to learn. But what did she expect from a man with an IQ as high as his? She still found, it was fascinating. He was fascinating.

"You want some more?", Spencer asked and pointed at Lucy's glass. When she nodded, he grabbed it and went to refill both glasses. Lucy examined him while he was pouring the scarlet liquid She bit her lips as her eyes wandered up and down his figure. It had been a long time since she had found a man that attractive. And of course, those feelings had to hit her when she couldn't need them at all.

"Here." She put a smile on her face when Spencer came back and reached her a glass.

"Thanks."

"So, where did we stop? Ah, right. Your studies in linguistics. Do you want to do something with linguistics here too?", he continued with their conversation. That question took her unexpectedly and Lucy realized that she had no idea what she wanted to do for a living here in D.C. She hadn't even talked about that with Luke. He hadn't asked her yet but she knew, sooner or later he would. But Lucy has had so many other things in mind lately – and she still had – that there had been no place for other things such like a job. But she had to find something. There was no way she could stay here without having a job.

"I...haven't really thought about that", she then admitted, "maybe I'll look for a simple job at first. But I'd love to do something with languages or books in the end." Spencer smiled at her words.

"That sounds good. Books are one of the best things this world has to offer", Spencer said and Lucy nodded in agreement.

"They really are. So...now you know a whole lot about me already and I know nothing about you, except the fact that you're a genius", Lucy said and now put a leg over the other to find a new position to sit in. She had no idea how long Spencer and she were already here on that bench. But she didn't want their conversation to stop, no matter about what they would talk. She liked listening to his voice and she wanted to get to know him better.

"What about your family? Do they live in D.C. as well?" Her brown eyes examined him and Lucy could see Spencer's eyes getting a bit darker and that he pressed his lips together. With her heart pounding against her chest, Lucy waited for him to answer. What was that facial expression? Did she just ask the wrong questions?