‘How do you know that?’ Abbey said as she walked down the steps towards him. She didn’t like the idea that anyone knew what she might be thinking or feeling, that those things might be obvious in any way made her feel exposed.
‘I just notice things like that,’ he said quietly, before taking a deep breath. ‘I thought maybe I could walk you home, it’s almost dark.’ He shuffled uncomfortably.
‘What about your dog?’ Abbey looked back up at the museum and saw Shane coming outside hurriedly, she saw his eyes searching until they met hers and brightened a little, before his gaze shifted a little and he saw Parker standing next to her. Shane’s disappointment was evident as his lopsided sneer turned into a scowl.
‘She will get over it, we have an understanding.’ He smiled and followed Abbey, she turned to see Shane walk in the other direction as Parker remained oblivious to his presence.
For the next few weeks Abbey and Parker worked in silence. His enthusiasm for the task was unrelenting, every day he would be there early, ready and raring to go, working through lunch and at the end of the day he would wait for her outside and walk her home. He never bothered her with silly questions or idle small talk, for most of the time Parker was lost in his own world. At work he would often pull out his little black pocket book. Sometimes she would watch him and smile as he struggled to get the words on to the page fast enough in his excitement.
‘So, why here? There are plenty of other museums that have big archives like this one, bigger even,’ she finally broke the silence one day during what was supposed to be the lunch hour. She had taken to bringing her sandwiches into the dusty old store room, feeling guilty that he would be sitting in there alone if she went to the cafeteria.
‘When I was a boy my parents brought me to this museum. I spent a lot of time in this place. I loved all the reconstructions of the Roman occupation and the artefacts and relics that were found in the local area, but they don’t make you think like the animals do. I would sit and stare at the dioramas and feel completely lost in them. There used to be a bench opposite the African desert display where a lion had sunk its teeth into a buffalo. I would just imagine I was either the hunter or the prey, how it would feel to be one or the other, if it was even possible to understand being both.’ He swallowed and closed his eyes, a thought he couldn’t shake. He took a deep breath before starting again, a forced smile on his face. ‘This is where it all started for me, this is where I decided what I wanted to do with my life, it was a bit of a eureka moment, so this place has always held a special place in my heart.’ He spoke with a wistful tone to his voice. She could almost see his memories and his pleasure in revisiting them, then something else, fleeting sadness, a less pleasant memory, perhaps.
‘I always wanted to be a vet, but I dropped out of uni and here I am.’ She took a bite of her sandwich, unwilling to continue talking in case she said something she regretted.
His simplicity was magnetic to her, it had been years since anyone had fascinated her so much, he was almost like a child in his animated way of moving and speaking and yet, just like at that moment, occasionally she would see a melancholy about him, something she couldn’t identify but something so precious that she just wanted to tell him it would all be OK. A lie, for sure, but she knew he needed comfort from something, she just didn’t know what. He put her at ease and she trusted him, despite not knowing him for long. He was nothing like anyone she had ever met, although it had been a long time since she had met anyone new.
‘What is it?’ he asked, she realised she had been staring at him, she blushed and looked away.
‘I’m sorry, I’m not used to working with people, I’m usually up here alone, and I didn’t mean to stare.’
He didn’t say anything, just smiled, a consoling smile. He didn’t push the issue but it was too late, she felt her cheeks burning red.
The rest of the day passed without any conversation, without any incident, and Parker walked out at five o’clock exactly. She wondered if she offended him with her question, if his past was somewhere he didn’t want to revisit. She really wasn’t used to dealing with people, or, in particular, men. When she finally came to leave, Parker was there, leaning against the street lamp, brows furrowed, concentrating on the notebook in his hands. When he looked up and saw her, the tension left his face, melted away and was replaced with the most genuine smile. She felt special for a moment. It had been a long time since she felt that way. If she had to put a number on it she would say it had been five years. It was five years since she had left college, five years since she had to restart her life all over again.
The Fresher
Then
The radio hummed softly, barely audible but just loud enough to quash any fear Abbey might have of being alone.
The street light shone through the window and lit up the room making it impossible to relax. Abbey wasn’t much of a sleeper anyway, which was a shame because she had no social life.
She looked across the room at her roommate Dani’s bed, it was empty and made; the curse of the pretty girl. Dani’s bed was a deep purple and gold with saris draped from the ceiling. Even Danielle’s vibrant posters were framed and hung in a precise manner, not like the dogeared gig posters that hung on Abbey’s side of the room.
Dani swung open the door and flopped on the bed, a grin plastered across her face as she kicked off her heels.
‘I’ve met the man I’m going to marry.’
Abbey sat up. When Abbey had first laid eyes on Danielle she had subconsciously tugged at her sweater, making sure it covered as much of her as possible. It was at that point that Abbey realised her role for the rest of the academic year – the weird one who bunked with the hot girl. What made things even worse was that Dani was just about the nicest person Abbey had ever met, probably because she had no insecurities and no reason to feel threatened by anyone really. They became good friends in no time.
‘His name’s Christian, he’s just such a babe, I just met him over at Bar 42.’
‘Christian Taylor?’ Abbey knew who he was, of course she did, every girl on campus knew who he was.
‘Mhm, he gave me his number, we’re going out this week sometime,’ Danielle squealed.
Christian was the boy at uni, THE boy, the one they all wanted, the trophy, the prize. He was the reason to wear a short skirt and the incentive to wear your hair up all pretty. He got in free to all the cool bars, the waitresses would slide him free drinks and the managers would turn a blind eye, knowing that where he went, the rest followed. Abbey was almost certain that Danielle had positioned herself in such a way that Christian could not help but notice her, she made sure they accidentally bumped into each other. Dani had just climbed up a few rungs on the social-status ladder.
When Abbey awoke the next morning Danielle was in the shower. Abbey looked at the clock, she was late. She jumped out of bed and threw yesterday’s clothes on, still in a pile at her bedside. Abbey was scrambling around the room that she shared with Danielle frantically searching for her left army boot.
‘Hello.’ Abbey spun around to see Christian in the doorway. She froze, and her heart was thumping. She had never seen a man quite as handsome as him before, he was twenty years old and his dark blond curls fell to his shoulders like a frame for his perfect face, he invoked a feeling of sexuality in Abbey that she hadn’t felt before – pure desire. Her mouth watered just looking at him. His friend Jamie hovered behind him nervously, well aware that he paled in comparison, obviously torn between jealousy and hero worship.
‘Hi,’ Abbey finally managed to utter. ‘Dani’s in the shower.’
‘And you must be Abbey.’ He leaned forward and shook her hand, beaming a smile that made her knees weak. Even the people she considered her closest