| �Duh!� Kat added with a chuckle and snapped the lid closed. Annie decided to hang back and try to join Seth�s crowd again for a while, so Katrina crossed the room alone and slowly ascended the stairs. She was trying hard to look graceful and elegant, with her chin high and her shoulders back. She hoped somehow that a certain pair of eyes would be watching her. She reached the velvet curtains and drew them back to reveal a pair of etched glass French doors. She pushed down on the handles of the doors and luxuriated in the gust of moist, warm July night air that made her silk dress flutter. Finally, a warm place, she thought. Maybe I�ll just hang out here awhile. There weren�t many people on the balcony. There was a middle-aged couple sitting on a bench near the doors, and a few individuals or pairs scattered here and there. She didn�t recognize Lisa in the sparse group. It quickly became obvious that the balcony was where the smokers hung out. Her eyes continued to dart around, searching anxiously for Lisa. Why Lisa would be with the smokers, Katrina didn�t understand. They had both quit together almost three years ago. She furrowed her brow and again cursed herself for not wearing her glasses. Suddenly her eyes settled on a figure hunched over the balcony wall, lit cigarette in one hand and a cell phone in the other. She watched him as he took a deep drag off his smoke and exhaled languidly. He turned his head slowly as he chatted on his phone, and smiled as his eyes came to rest on the vision framed by the French doors. Katrina froze. There he was, and he was NO mirage. Why hadn�t she thought of it before? In California, you can�t light up in public buildings, so it made perfect sense to find him here in the makeshift smokers lounge. She realized she was staring at him and immediately dropped her eyes. She couldn�t look away for very long�he was just too beautiful. She glanced up quickly and he waved her toward him. She wanted to check behind and around her to see if he was motioning to someone else, but somehow she knew he wasn�t. He meant for her to come closer. Her mind was practically blank at the moment, and she felt herself go back on autopilot again. Her feet moved, apparently of their own accord, and brought her to rest alongside his lanky frame. She heard him quietly finish his conversation on his cell phone before he hung it up. �Yeah. She�s here right now. Gotta go.� He stubbed out the last of his cigarette and flicked it over the side of the balcony, then followed the butt with his eyes to see where it landed. |
| �From downtown�ooooh! Nothin� but hedge!� he said in a fake sportscaster voice. This made her giggle. �Nice shot,� she said. �Thanks, but you really shouldn�t encourage me. You should have seen the last one. Came this close to hitting some bald guy�s head,� he gestured with his long fingers, indicating a few inches. She giggled again. There were several moments of silence between the two, broken only by a faint beeping sound as he pushed some buttons on his phone before he jammed it into his pocket. �So�how did you�� she fumbled for the right words. She was more than flattered that he had tracked her down the way he had. And she wondered who had given him her pager number. �I think this is yours,� he said, cutting her off. He handed her the pager from his other pocket. Katrina looked confused. �I just punched in my own digits. I guess when I bumped into you inside, they got mixed up. I figured we�d better switch before you started getting some really insane messages from people you don�t even know!� She processed the information. Now I get it, she thought. �Oh�� she said, as her ego deflated. They switched pagers and he pocketed his. �But,� he began, �if it wouldn�t have happened that way, then I wouldn�t be getting the chance to talk to you now. I believe all things happen for a reason.� Katrina nodded slightly, still a little disappointed. She was nervous around him, and no longer sure of herself. She assumed he was just being polite as he made conversation. �Nice out tonight, isn�t it?� he asked. �Well, at least it�s warmer out here than it was inside.� She answered. Great, the conversation had turned to weather. Small talk, nothing more. The disappointment mounted. |
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