His brown eyes were looking inquisitively at her from beneath dark bushy eyebrows and he seemed amused at how startled she was. “Hello, so sorry to startle you,” he said flashing an unrepentant grin. Nicole couldn’t control her natural urge to smile in return, “It’s ok,” she said as she began to gather up her things. The light was waning and she had completely lost track of time as usual.
“Oh don’t go because of me,” he said sitting forward with both hands on his thighs as though he was about to get up. “I’m not leaving because of you, I actually meant to leave an hour ago but I lost track of time” she responded as she put her sketchpad and pencils into their case and zipped it shut. Placing everything into her backpack she strung her arms through the straps and settled it on her back before finally giving the stranger a good once over.
He had the dark good looks that hinted at a Latino heritage but she couldn’t be sure and hadn’t heard anything in his speech that suggested he was Latino. He was casually but expensively dressed and it suddenly appeared odd that he had chosen to sit beside her when there were empty park benches elsewhere. Nicole turned and began to walk away.
She became conscious that he had fallen into step beside her and although it made her uncomfortable she didn’t know what to do. “To be honest, I’ve seen you a few times and I always wanted to say hi but somehow didn’t have the courage until today,” he said. “Nicole looked at him from the corner of her eye, “what do you mean you’ve seen me a few times?” she asked. “I was visiting someone across the street from where you live when I saw you for the first time,” he said, “I saw you come here that day and again earlier today”. ” I decided to come by just in case you were still here.”
Nicole did not respond and they walked along in silence for a bit then she asked “why? Why would you come looking for me?”. “I wanted to see if you were real or just a figment of my imagination,” he said laughing softly. “What?” Nicole asked in surprise. “Yes I know that sounds silly but it’s true,” he said, and when she looked at him this time his look was intent. She looked away quickly “well it was nice meeting you,” she said and increased her pace as she neared home. “Will you be going to the park tomorrow?” he asked. “Maybe”, she said evasively. “I’ll see you then, goodbye,” he said and crossed the street towards the expensive sports car she had noticed earlier. Nicole watched as he drove off down the street then turned and ran up the stairs thinking to herself that he hadn’t told her his name and hadn’t asked hers!
Marie was still not at home when she walked into the apartment. There was a stack of mail on the console table in the entryway and she quickly thumbed through them. Suddenly she saw it! The acceptance letter she’d been waiting for! She hurriedly stacked the mail in an orderly pile and strode to her room with the envelope clutched in her hand. Her heart was racing and she was forgetting to breathe!
T
She kicked her room door shut and dropped her backpack on the floor before walking over to sit in the window seat. Staring out the window, she breathed deeply and tried to calm herself. Suddenly she missed her parents, they would have been as excited as she was. Her mom would have made tea to calm everyone’s nerves before the envelope was opened at the kitchen table. She debated calling them but quickly changed her mind. No, she would open it and see what it said before she called them, she opened the envelope with shaking fingers and unfolded the letter.
To be continued..
