Lina 13
Waking early, I dressed and headed to work. My goal was to avoid Gavin, which meant skipping breakfast. It worked; he was nowhere to be seen as I slinked out of my own house like a criminal. I needed some time away from him to think about things, to get things figured out. It wasn’t fair to either of us.
The door was unlocked. Weird. I hadn’t seen Seline’s car out front. Maybe it was just the cleaning crew. After a quick looksee into our empty office and one lap around the first two floors, I came up empty. The cleaning crew must have forgotten to lock up. I’d have to let Seline know so she could address the issue. While the museum probably wouldn’t be the first place a person broke into, it’s still dangerous to leave the doors open. I headed down to the basement. Being there before Seline was a rare thing.
Three steps from the bottom, I knew why. Telor was here. I couldn’t see him yet, but I could feel him. Walking softly, I pressed myself against the wall and sidestepped to where his work light was shining. He looked good: gray pants, a baby blue shirt, and his black hair flopping over his glasses. He had a slightly Mediterranean look to him with his deeply tanned skin and the slight bump on his nose. He was muscular in a natural lean way, nothing like Gavin’s obvious ‘I lift weights and often’ physique.
Telor was diligently working on something, scribbling notes on every blank surface of the paper. I sighed, content to just stand there and watch him.
“Are you going to come in and help or are you going to stand there and watch me?” he asked. His tone was not unkind, but it also didn’t scream I want company.
“I think I’ll watch you,” I said, wincing as I realized how it sounded. I was rewarded with his mouth turning up at the corner. He spared me a brief glance that nearly stole my breath. That was ridiculous. It was just a look—quick, fleeting. But in those few seconds that our eyes connected, I felt…something. Some form of recognition sparked. “What are you working on?” I asked cautiously, setting my bags down and joining him at the table.
“The same thing we were working on yesterday,” he said, not looking at me.
“Hey, I’m not sure what happened yesterday at lunch, but if I said something to offend—” I started, but he cut me off by holding one finger in the air.
“You didn’t say anything to offend me,” he said, sounding annoyed. Oh, how audacious of me to try to handle an issue with a coworker like an adult. While I wanted to be indifferent to his words, I couldn’t. “Now, are you helping or leaving?”
“Um, maybe I should leave.” I fought the irrational tears pooling in my eyes. My face must have been bright red. God, this was so embarrassing. Why was he getting to me so much? “You seem to want to be alone.”
He didn’t confirm nor deny my statement, just returned to his work, ignoring me entirely.
Vacating the scene as quickly as I could, I headed back up to my office, deciding to make myself scarce for the rest of the day. I passed Seline on the way upstairs, letting her know I would be working up in the office. She was more than happy to let me toll away in administrative hell in her place. After grabbing a stack of mail from our inbox, I sat at my desk and furiously ripped open envelopes. Really, I had no reason to be angry or upset even. But that didn’t change the fact that I was. The same wrongness that I felt last night slowly gathered into a haze around me, suffocating me with a stranglehold.
My plan was successful for about three hours.
“Lina, why don’t you come back downstairs. We could use the help,” she said as she fished a spool of twine from her desk.
Wishing I could say no, that I wanted to stay up here and avoid everyone, I took a calming breath, pasted on a smile, and said, “Sure.”
Seline made a beeline directly downstairs and pointed me toward the same tunnel that Telor occupied. Slipping in silently, I picked up a notebook and started entering information in an attempt to not draw attention to myself.
It seemed to work, Telor hadn’t glanced my way once in the last hour. Now that it was lunchtime, I kept my head bent at my desk as he hurried out. A sweet smell lingered in the air after he left. It was smoky and spicy. I inhaled deeper, trying to get a better grasp on it. It was familiar and evoked that same sense of déjà vu I had around Telor. Closing my eyes, I took another deep breath, letting the scent fill my lungs.
Suits, lots of suits, and a pretty cream-colored wedding dress on a dressmaker’s dummy, tucked in the corner of a closet. There was a woman talking in the background, her accent was as lovely as it was familiar, wrapping a blanket of comfort around me. I wanted to stay here forever.
A short woman with brown hair pulled into a messy knot and secured with two crochet hooks parted the clothes on the rack. She smiled brilliantly and stooped down so we were at eye level.
“Fancy your biscuits in the closet, love?” she asked, the words flowing beautifully off her lips. She was middle aged, and her blue eyes sparkled against her beige skin.
Scooting under the rack of clothes, she pulled me into her lap and kissed one cheek, then the other, then my forehead before she repeated it all again. My heart swelled with joy and love at this strange woman. I wanted to throw my arms around her and clutch her tightly to me—cry on her shoulder and let her fix all my problems.
A thump on my desk broke my weird trance. Sitting directly in front of me was a bowl of pasta salad, a Dr. Pepper, and a chicken salad sandwich. Telor was back at his spot at the table, writing away. How long had I been staring off into space? I racked my brain, trying to place the memory, and came up blank.
“Thank you,” I said. Telor was the only one around so I was hoping he knew I was talking to him. He didn’t say anything, or even acknowledge that I’d spoken.
Well then. Talk about mixed signals. I grabbed the assortment of food and headed toward an empty table so I didn’t have to make room on my already cluttered work area to eat.
“You’re welcome,” he said, finally, in a defeated voice, and his shoulders slumped.