twelve
Sabrina got the ice cream order correct after only four tries. The AI earned her keep today. Candace scooped a bowl of cookies and cream for Colin and one of double chocolate fudge for herself while he got them both a glass of water. She set the ice cream on the table.
Colin picked up his bowl. “It is a clear night. Let’s go eat in the observatory.”
Candace followed him up a stairway and then a spiral staircase that reminded her of the one in Art House. Only, instead of a cramped loft, it led to a room with three-quarter walls and a glass roof. Music played softly from hidden speakers. Colin took a seat on the leather sofa. She sat next to him. The light from two buildings over shone through the south window.
“Sabrina, close the south binds up to point B on the roof.”
Within seconds the space between the panes was filled with a solid-looking substance blocking out the light.
“Those aren’t normal blinds, are they?” Candace winced at her obvious observation.
“It is an invention I have been working on, but it still has issues. It heats up too much in the summer sun, so I have a set of exterior metal blinds that cover the room when not in use. The glass offers UV protection—not that it is an issue at night.” Colin continued into the more technical aspects of the substance in the windows.
Candace ate her ice cream and nodded whenever she grasped a point.
Colin paused. “Sorry, I went a bit overboard there. I guess you didn’t need to know the chemical makeup of it, did you?”
“I like how passionate you get about your projects. I don’t need to understand everything to enjoy it.”
“Finished with your ice cream?” Colin held out his hand, and she passed him her bowl. He crossed the room and set them in a small dumbwaiter, then returned to her. “Now, for the show.”
The sofa began to recline until she was almost prone. With any other guy, Candace would wonder if she was being seduced.
“Sabrina, artificial light filters.” The electric glow that defined Chicago at night dimmed. Light from stars rarely seen in the city twinkled through the windows.
“Oh, wow. I never thought I would see the Big Dipper in the heart of the city.” Candace pointed northward.
“There is Mars. Tomorrow is the autumnal equinox. Fall will really be here.” Colin slid his head closer to hers and pointed. “That is Taurus.”
“Pumpkin-spice time can officially begin!” Candace refused to start fall a day early, even if the stores had.
“Just as long as you don’t eat that pumpkin-spice cereal.”
She turned to him. “They have cereal?”
“Don’t get too excited. It might be good if it were oatmeal based, but the stuff Janie bought for me tastes pretty bad. I have most of the box left if you want to try some, but I did warn you.” His face relaxed as it did when he moved to topics that were not computer or invention related.
“My favorites are the donuts and pumpkin-blueberry muffins. I usually make a batch or two to share with my roommates so I don’t eat them all.”
“I can eat a few.”
“I’ll bring some up, then. I can take some to my coworkers. Maybe that will help them not think I am so odd.”
“Odd? Why would they think that? How is work going?”
“My end is easy, but I work alone at this point. I may bring an intern in next semester. Everyone else is working on the restoration. Some of the paint on the carousel has lead in it, and some of the colors have pigments that are now banned or considered unsafe, like uranium yellow and Scheele’s green.”
“Whoa, someone made paint out of uranium? Wouldn’t that be radioactive?” Colin rolled over and propped his head on his arm.
“It was a popular color for centuries. Women who were helping in the World War II war effort would roll the tips of their brushes in their mouths, and many got cancer. All of what they have found here is registering at very low levels on a Geiger counter, so low it’s well below EPA standards. However, since children will be using this, there is a yellow bench a master carpenter is rebuilding from scratch. In places where the yellow can be removed, it is being replaced with a safer, slightly less-vibrant color.”
“So what about the green?
“The emerald-green color contains arsenic and is everywhere on the carousel. The color was trendy until about 1900. It was in clothing, wallpaper, and on children’s toys. People died from it. The restoration specialists have to take all kinds of precautions to remove the old paint. Some of those cleaning and removing old paint are protected in what looks like hazmat suits.” Candace didn’t envy them. She’d dawned one of the outfits to inspect and photograph a couple of the horses.
Colin made a face. “That can’t be fun. Are you wearing one?”
“Right now I am working on the center tower, where an operator would sit, and the central pole is located in the tower. The paint is badly faded, so I am recreating the original murals on a canvas-type material so the reconstructed tower can be wrapped. There is some debate about how to redo the center tower, as part of it was badly damaged. The only thing anyone agrees on is that it won’t be run by an operator sitting inside. Another thing I am glad not to have to deal with.”
“Do you like the job?”
“It is different. Much of it is like paint by number since I am repainting what someone already created. In some ways it is strangely satisfying. I feel like the old artist is smiling down on me for carrying on his or her legacy. I have found a few initials that make me think there were several painters.” Candace lay back and contemplated the stars. She had always believed in a heaven, but other than her aunt’s incessant genealogy stories, she’d never deeply contemplated the lives or stories of people who’d lived before. She pictured someone sitting on a stool with the unpainted animal, trying to decide if lavender was too odd a color for the mane.
Next, to her, Colin rolled onto his back. He held her hand again, his fingers exploring her wrist and sending wonderful chills up her arm. Cells that had gone her entire life without being noticed now made their presence known. They lay in silence until a plane crossed the sky, its red lights interrupting the view.
Candace blinked, realizing how close to falling asleep she was. “I think I should get to my place.” She searched for a button or lever to return the sofa to a sitting position.
“It is on my side.” The seat began to rise. Halfway up it stopped. She turned to find Colin only inches away, studying her. He leaned over and quickly pressed his lips to hers, then leaped back.
“That was terrible, wasn’t it?”
What had he done? It certainly wasn’t what he’d planned or visualized. The kiss was more like the one between the kids he had seen on a viral video where the little girl had started to cry. Only Candace wasn’t crying.
The need to apologize filled him. “I’m sorry. I know I can do better.”
She blinked a couple times before sitting up. Colin pushed the button to bring the sofa into a full sitting position. “I studied so much and watched all these moves. Can I—”
Candace placed two fingers on his lips. “A kiss isn’t something you can analyze. It is something you feel.” She moved her hand to over his heart. “Close your eyes and try to clear your brain.”
He closed his eyes, but his mind was racing. What did I do wrong? What should I do now? Try again? Move to a different city?
“Breathe in through your nose and out through pursed lips.” Her fingers rubbed gently across his forehead. “Concentrate on breathing.”
Like that was possible with her fingers running across his brow and him knowing he had just delivered the worst kiss in the history of mankind.
Her fingers then trailed down his cheek and along his jaw. One traced his lower lip. “Keep breathing. In. Out.”
She was so close her breath brushed his cheek. Her fingers ran back over his brow and into his hair. In, out. In, out. Concentrating on his breathing, he let the sensation her fingers were causing wash over him. Then something brushed his lips. A millisecond had passed before he realized Candace was kissing him. Without thinking, he responded, learning and apologizing for his earlier ineptitude at the same time.
She pulled back and placed her forehead against his. “Next time, don’t think about it so much.”
Next time? She would let him kiss her again. Again!
He tilted his head and captured her lips and just let himself just feel. He ended the kiss surprised to discover that breathless wasn’t only a Hollywood invention.
“I should take you home.” He offered Candace his hand and led her back down the spiral staircase.
The elevator definitely needed a slow mode. He didn’t kiss her at her door, afraid he might not stop. It wasn’t until he was back in the elevator that he thought of another good reason not to kiss her at the door—the hallway cameras. Maybe it was a good thing the elevator had descended so fast. He wasn’t tempted to kiss her in there, where other cameras could spy on them.
Hand-holding hadn’t been diminished in his estimation. But kissing—well, not his first try—but the others? Now he understood why there were so many songs about it. For the first time in years, Colin fell asleep without counting to one hundred in binary code. 534 days.