Page 5 of The Lost and the Found

I was only a small distance away when I heard heavy footsteps coming after me. Suddenly on alert, I tightened my hand around my backpack and turned around. My eyes widened in shock when I caught sight of the man for the third time today, and he was walking toward me. I slowed a bit, so sure he was going to run past me, but instead he stopped right in front of me.

He was much taller than I had anticipated. I barely reach his shoulders. And he was so much bigger than I thought he was from a distance. I felt like a dwarf standing next to him. He was also that much more breathtaking than I was prepared for. I could literally feel the air leaving my chest just from being too close to him.

But the feeling that I had seen him before was back, too. Or at the very least, that he reminded me of someone.

Someone I had forgotten, maybe?

“You left this behind,” he said, his voice deep, smooth, and sure. It sent goosebumps over my skin.

I was held captive by the sound of his voice, so I wasn’t sure what he had said until moments later, when his words finally registered. I looked down to his outstretched hand, and to my mortification, he was holding out my crappy phone.

I grabbed it from him quickly, careful to avoid touching him, and mumbled a thank you, before briskly walking away.

“Wait,” he called out.

I didn’t. I couldn’t think of any other reason he needed to prolong this encounter. He caught up to me easily, though, walking along aside me.

I didn’t speak. Couldn’t find the right words. I was never really outgoing, even as a child, and this proved it right here, when I couldn’t figure out what to say to the strange, beautiful man. But I always thought I was social enough. At least, enough to get me by.

That wasn’t the case now. Was I so socially inept that I let a stranger walk alongside me in a tense silence? I stopped suddenly and looked up at him.

“Is there anything else?” I didn’t mean for the question come out harshly, but that was what happened.

If he was offended, he didn’t show it. If anything, he seemed a little amused. It was hard to tell with him. He was one of those people who hid their feelings well. Another thing I envied about him.

I was told my face was an open book. I couldn’t seem to hide my emotions very well. Considering I mostly felt contempt, apprehension, and distrust, it was hard for me to make friends.

“I would like to know your name.”

“Why?” I asked, trying to guess his motive. Men that looked like him didn’t go for girls that looked like me. And I wasn’t saying that because I had a habit of putting myself down. I knew what I looked like. And though I wasn’t ugly by any means, I was the unconventional kind of beautiful that held only fleeting interest upon first impression. I was not the kind of beautiful that held men captive. Especially men like him.

What was his angle?

“Could it just be that I find you interesting?”

“Oh.”

“Is that a problem?”

I didn’t know why I felt disappointed. He found me interesting. Was it because of my features or my attitude? Either way, I didn’t much care to be a rich man’s temporary amusement, no matter how hard my heart had beat from the sight of him.

“I have to get to class,” I said after a pause. I walked away before he could say another word. I knew he wouldn’t follow me. I didn’t have to turn around to confirm that.

* * *

Classes dragged on after that.I couldn’t wait until my last class of the day let out. When the professor finally dismissed us, I grabbed my bag and walked out of the classroom, happy to be done with this part of my day.

It wasn’t that I didn’t like school. Quite the opposite, actually. I was always a better student than I was anything else, and normally, I enjoyed school. I loved going to class, and actually having a plan.

But not today. Not when my mind was working a million miles an hour and I couldn’t focus on a single thing.

I was completely thrown since my encounter with the strange man. I wasn’t sure what it was about him that knocked me completely out of my rhythm. I needed to refocus my attention on things that mattered in my life, and that needed to not include the beautiful man who found me to be interesting.

I walked to the bus stop and pulled at the sleeves of my thin sweater, trying to keep myself warm.Winter in Chicago was not kind, but I had been lucky this season because we didn’t get that much snow. Only a few below-freezing nights, made worse by the wind.

I was relieved when I could see the bus coming. And when it finally got to the stop, I could almost kiss the driver for not being late. I scanned my bus passed and walked to a window seat near the front, placing my bag on the seat next to me. It was relatively empty, but I didn’t need anyone sitting down next to me, striking up a conversation I didn’t want to have.

I stared out the window just as the bus took off, taking in the black Mercedes parked across the street. It was sleek and nice, the windows tinted in a shade of black I was sure was illegal.

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