EMIT (THE EMIT SAGA) (2 page)

When Mom appeared,
I asked, “Can we eat over there?” I hadn’t seen the boy exit and I wanted to get a better look at him. If he was a model, maybe Mom knew who he was since she worked for a fashion magazine.

Noticing the long lines
, she said, “Let’s go and see how long the wait is at the Petrie Café.”

As we walked aw
ay, I turned and saw him exit the café and head in the opposite direction.

Inside the restaurant, a
s I ate my pasta, Mom talked about a photo shoot in Central Park.

“We’re d
oing it at Belvedere Castle and at the obelisk next week.”

M
y gaze drifted out the window to Cleopatra’s Needle, the obelisk directly behind the museum. The tall four-sided stone pillar with the pyramid-like shape on top always made me think of an arrow pointing to heaven. Whenever I had plans with friends to go to the museum, the obelisk was our meeting place. No one could miss it!

“I have to go to Madison Avenue and pick up your dad’s birthday present. I found a pair of fun cuf
flinks, but had to order them since they only had the display pair left.”

Cufflinks were Dad’s obsession and Mom always
tried to find something unique. At the store, I saw that there was an elephant on one side and a mouse on the other.

“What are you going to get him?” Mom asked, as we exited the store.

“I still have time, but probably a book.” Dad loved history books.

We began our trek back through the park
. The humidity had subsided and there was an intermittent breeze wafting through the air, which made it much more bearable.

As we
approached the Conservatory Water Pond, Mom ran into her friend, Bianca.

While Mom updated her on Nana’s accident,
I sat on a bench and pulled out my sketchpad and book. Looking around, I found myself engrossed with the adults and children casting their model boats. Tiny sails billowed in the breeze as the radio-powered boats zipped around the water. The adults were enjoying themselves as much as the youngsters.

I heard a scream behind me and
turned to see a woman picking up a crying child off the ground. The little girl had a bloody gash on her knee and the woman was comforting her. Directly behind them, I noticed a blonde-haired boy wandering under the trees and realized that it was the same guy from the museum.

As I watched him,
his actions really sparked my curiosity. What was he doing?

It looked like he was picking up
chestnuts, but some looked green, so I wasn’t positive. Whatever they were, he scrutinized each one by holding it up. Those he deemed acceptable were put in a shopping bag that lay on the ground nearby and those that didn’t pass muster, he tossed away. The vision of this gorgeous guy scouring for nuts made me laugh.

Suddenly, he turned and looked right at me. Flustered, I looked away and pretended to watch a little boy chasing bubbles. Did he hear me? That was impossible! I was so far away.
After a few minutes passed, I nonchalantly turned around to see what he was doing. At that moment, he looked my way and our eyes locked. He looked familiar. Who was he?

Nervously
, I grabbed my bag to get my book. I saw my street-vendor bought sunglasses at the bottom and put them on. I instantly felt somehow hidden. Emboldened, I peeked over my shoulder. He had resumed his foraging.

When he started walki
ng north, I looked over at Mom and she was still absorbed in her conversation, so I got up to follow him. Rationalizing that it was just keeping me entertained while I waited somehow made me feel better.

As he walked on the grass, I stayed on the parallel pathway. I
trailed at a safe distance and felt like a pathetic stalker.

H
e looked about my age. He was wearing tan chinos, a white polo shirt, and brown loafers. On his left wrist, he wore a silver watch. His clothes were professionally pressed because of the meticulous seams on his pants. It was obvious that he cared about his appearance and that made me feel extremely sloppy. I had thrown on a pink tank top and a white cotton skirt. Both garments could’ve used the swipe of an iron. My hair was in a high ponytail, but I could only imagine how it looked by now.

H
e began picking flowers off a bush and he put them in a small plastic bag. How weird! If I had the courage, I’d walk over and ask what he was doing. What if he didn’t speak English? I’d be standing there like an idiot pointing at a plastic bag.

Abruptly
he stopped, looked at his watch and glanced around like he was expecting someone. He plopped on the grass and reached for his cell. I walked a little further then nonchalantly turned around and returned to a bench facing him. That way, I wouldn’t have to turn around to look. He was lying sideways on the grass, leaning on his elbow, staring at his cell.

O
blivious to everything around me, I realized that Mom was next to me talking. “Sorry. What did you say?” I asked, glancing up at her.

“
I’m running over to Bianca’s to see their new pug. Do you want to come?” As I thought of an excuse, she interjected, “Or I can meet you at home.”

“
Uh. I’ll stay here and wait for you. I’m …really tired,” I stammered.

“Okay. I’ll be back soon.”

I continued watching him behind my sunglasses. He was lying on his back and hadn’t moved in a while. He might’ve fallen asleep. Feeling pretty pathetic, I removed my glasses and buried my head in my book. After ten pages, I couldn’t remember what I read, so I slammed the book shut in frustration. Looking up, I was shocked to find him standing in front of me.

“Oh!”
I gasped loudly and dropped the book.

“
I’m so sorry. Did I scare you?” he said. His eyes were an amazing color blue.

I shook my head and stuttered, “No… no. Not at all.”

He bent down, picked it up and handed it to me. “Here you go.” I heard an English accent.

“Thanks.” W
hile reaching for it, our hands touched and I felt a spark.

“I’ve been gone for a few months and was wondering if there were any good films out?
”

That’s what Dad called movies too.
What was the last movie I saw? Nothing was coming to mind. “I’m sorry. I can’t think of anything.”

“Don’t worry about it.” He smiled
and ran his fingers through his hair.

I
saw a man walk with a newspaper and quickly added, “You can check today’s paper.”

“Thanks, I’ll do that. Enjoy
the book,” he said as he left.

I’d definitely seen him before. Maybe he was an actor.

He sat down on the grass much further away than before.

I texted my cousin, Lily, and realized how dumb I was. Why hadn’t I used my iPhone to search for movies?
He had a phone too, so he could’ve done the same thing. Maybe he just wanted a recommendation instead of picking something blindly. Why didn’t I ask him about his plant collecting? Instead, I just stared at him like a fool.

I
saw Mom hurrying towards me.

“Let’s get going. I hope Amber hasn’t woken your dad.”

Amber was our six year-old, liver-colored, field spaniel. The moment I laid eyes on her at two months old and saw her beautiful chocolate coat, the color amber came to mind. Ergo, that’s how she got her name.

As we
headed home, I turned to look at him and he was sitting up looking in our direction. It seemed like he was looking right at me.

I noticed the trees behind him. “Mom, are those chestnut trees over there?” I asked pointing.

“Yes. Why?” she asked.

“
I think somebody was picking chestnuts, but some were green, so I wasn’t sure.”

“The green ones are called burrs and the nuts are inside. The red horse chestnuts are toxic.”

I wondered if I should tell him, but it looked like he knew what he was doing. I missed Mom’s comment and asked, “What did you say?”

“Don’t you remember that game called conkers?”

“Yeah, I do.” I remembered kids striking chestnuts until one broke and the strongest chestnut won. “It was a silly game.”

As we passed the Bethesda Fountain, Mom stopped to watch a juggler. Not at all interested, I looked around and saw him approaching. Oh my God! He must have been right behind us. Mom started walking and I had to follow. I began panicking. What did I look like from the back?

Mom was talking about the puppy, but I was having trouble paying attention. “Her name’s Desirée. She’s six months old, all black and weighs ten pounds. Amber will love her.”

“That’s nice,” I said tersely
, hoping she’d cease yapping. Her incessant talking wasn’t allowing me to think straight.

I wanted to stop and let him pass
, but I didn’t know how. Maybe he wasn’t there anymore and I was frantic for nothing. I tried in vain to look sideways. How could I find out?

A
s we passed Cherry Hill, it came to me. I rummaged through my bag and pulled out my lip-gloss. After applying it, I purposely dropped it when I put it back in my bag. The round container rolled down the path. Mom stopped when she heard my gasp of “uh-oh.” I retrieved it from the edge of a bush and at that point he passed us.

When
he exited the park at 69th Street, he went right on Central Park West. I watched him disappear into the crowd and thought about the boy with the blue eyes all the way home.

I needed to talk
to my cousin Lily. We told each other everything and had no secrets. Lily was spending the weekend with me and I wanted to tell her about the boy in the park.

At home, Amber greeted us at the door.

Dad called down, “Hi you two. I just walked her.”

I
went upstairs to see him and asked about Nana.

“It’s going to be a really tough time for her,” he said.

“Mom said you hired a nurse.”

Dad nodded and said, “Nana will
need a lot of help."

"I wish I could be there to help her."

"Well since you refused to stay with Aunt Lucy, what are you going to do this summer?”

“
Look for a job. Is your firm hiring?”

"
All the summer help has been hired, but I'll check tomorrow."

I went to my room and grabbed my laptop to check Facebook.

There was a private message from Daphne and Grace. They were my two closest friends in school, probably best friends, but nothing like Lily. They wanted to do something tonight and said to call Daphne’s cell.

I grabbed the house phone and called Daphne.
“Hi, I got your message and that sounds great. Lily will be here this weekend.” Everyone knew Lily.

“Oh, good. Where have you been? I’ve been trying to reach you all day.”

“I went to the MET with my mom. Did you call my cell?”

“Yeah. I texted you three times and never got an answer, so I called but it said your voicemail was full. I sent the Facebook
message and was about to call your house phone.”

“What?
That’s so weird!” I grabbed my cell from my bag and there were no texts. I called my voicemail and there were no messages. “Daphne, there are no texts or messages on my cell.”

“That’s really strange. Whatever.
What do you want to do tonight?” asked Daphne.

The boy in the park had mentioned movies. “How about a movie?”

We agreed on a new romantic comedy and made plans to meet in the theater lobby. I knew that Grace and Lily would be fine with the movie choice.

I sat on my bed and stared at my photo wall. One entire wall was covered with photos.
My walls used to be lavender, but last year, I painted three walls a sky blue color. My photo wall was left alone because I was too lazy to remove all the photos. The purple was barely visible except around the edges and it sort of looked like a frame. The bedding was a lavender, pale green and pale blue flowered fabric and the curtains were a pale green and pale blue stripe.

I went downstairs and sat in the living room to wait for Lily after she texted that she was nearby. Amber was snoring on the couch totally oblivious that I was sitting there with her. She was the biggest couch potato and only moved if she heard her leash or her food bowl.

Lily lived in Westchester. Our moms were sisters, so we saw a lot of each other and we spoke or texted daily. In the fall, we’d both be seniors in high school.

In looks and personality, we were complete opposites. Lily had blue eyes and blond hair like both our mothers, who are Swedish. I, on the other hand, had
very long, straight, dark brown hair and brown eyes. My dimples were the one feature that no one missed. Even with our differences, Lily and I called ourselves “Identical Cousins” and had a silly song we made up to go with the name.

Lily wa
s very practical and rational in her outlook and opinions. When it came to any high school drama, she always chose the path of least resistance. Her approach to life was to step back and discern the situation before reacting. As for me, I was much more emotional and tended to react immediately without thinking. However, when we were together, we melded our strengths and we balanced each other nicely.