The Museum
The Museum
I entered the museum, following the crowded line of people towards the area where police officers and ticket takers stood side by side. Of course, the line had to be too fucking long. By the time I’d gotten to the front of the line, twenty minutes had passed. Well, it was my own fault for coming on a Saturday.
I pulled out my phone and showed my ticket to the employee, and they allowed me to pass. I wandered around the front of the museum like an idiot. My friend was supposed to meet me here, but they haven’t yet. While typing an angry text to send to them, my attention slipped away from where I was going, and I fucking bumped into a broad shoulder enclosed by leather.
“Ow!” I winced.
“Are you alright, Ms.?” a light voice said.
I stepped back, examining who I had hit with my stupidity. His leather jacket hugged close to his white shirt underneath. Black jeans with holes wrapped around his legs, and black boots on his feet. Pink plump lips and dark-grey eyes. His jawline wasn’t square, but it did have a tiny sharpness to it.
Fucking hell.
“I'm fine,” I stated, removing myself from a daze. “Thank you.” Embarrassed, I excused myself, then jaunted around him and whoever he was with.
“Wait.” His hand grabbed mine, a spark of electricity running through my hand up my arm. What was that? He asked, “What’s your name, Ms.?”
I didn’t turn. Why did he care what my name was?
“It was nice to meet you, sir.” I plucked my hand out of his, then stormed away.
~
My friend Harris arrived a few minutes after my interaction with Mr. Beautiful, and we ventured around the museum for the last hour. Currently, we were sitting in one of the restaurants, devouring some tasty pasta.
“Do you know who that guy is over there?” Harris asked. “He keeps looking at us.”
I spun in my seat, searching for where they were looking. The man I walked away from earlier sat in a booth with a few other guys. Harris was right; the guy was staring at me. But once he saw me, he looked back down at the food in front of him.
I refocused on Harris. “No, I don’t know him. I just bumped into him when I got here.”
They started to smirk. “Why don’t you go talk to him?”
“Did you miss the part about me bumping into him?”
They scoffed, “So?”
“So? I can’t talk to him! That was embarrassing.”
“What are you? Twelve?”
My eyes rolled.
“He probably doesn’t care. Especially with the way he was looking at you just now,” Harris said. “He probably wants... you know.” Their smirk grew into a grin.
My eyes widened. “Are you crazy? Why would you think that?”
I haven’t been with a man since I broke up with my ex two years ago. He was a mistake I dealt with when I was younger. I never wanted to experience heartbreak like that again.
Harris said, “Who knows? I could be right.” I squinted my eyes at them, but it wouldn’t help. They looked behind me, their grins widening. “He’s coming,” they sang.
“What?” I swiveled around, and they were right. The gorgeous man was standing behind me, so I stood quickly, brushing crumbs off my mouth. “Hi,” I whispered.
“Hi.” His silky voice made my knees buckle. “I never got your name, Ms.”
My head tilted. “Why do you want to know?”
He scratched the back of his neck, a small red blush forming on his cheeks. Why was it cute? “To ask you on a date, I need to know your name.”
My eyes couldn’t stop blinking. Ask me on a date. But he didn’t even know me. We haven’t even really met.
“Um, I’m sorry. Why do you want to go on a date with me? With all respect, I did bump into you.”
He nodded. “I know. But I want to take a beautiful woman like you out.” His smile and the simple compliment did some weird things to my belly. Weird things I’d thought I’d never feel again.
My friend squealed. I rolled my eyes, and the man in front of me chuckled a bit. I answered, “Thank you, sir, but are you sure?”
“Why are you asking?” Harris whispered, but not very quietly.
Through one end of my mouth, I whispered back, “Shut up.”
The man said, “I’m sure, Ms. You’re very beautiful, and I want to get to know you.”
Harris faked a cough. “You should say yes.” Another fake cough.
Sometimes, I hated my friend. Lucky for them, I was a little intrigued.
I let out a louder than necessary sigh. “Okay, sure.” Giving my best smile, I then said, “What’s your name, sir?”
He held a hand for me to shake. “I’m Aiyden. It’s nice to meet you, Ms.”
I grabbed his hand, giving it a squeeze. “Anastasia.”
~
That night, Aiyden and I met for dinner at a nearby restaurant. After our awkward interaction back in the museum, we exchanged phone numbers. Back-and-forth conversations led us to decide on a Thai restaurant. One of my favorite types of foods.
Upon entering the location, the smell of curry and fried rice filled my nose. In the corner, Aiyden sat on a bench. He looked up from his phone and smiled once his eyes landed on me. He pushed up and strutted toward me. “Hey.” His dimples shone.
“Hi.” I was holding a jacket in my arms, but I clenched it closer to my stomach. Subconsciously, I might have done that for protection. There wasn't any way to know what would come of this night, but at least I had this barrier. “How are you?”
As we arrived at the hostess stand, Aiyden answered, “I’m doing alright. How about you?” His hand rested on my lower back, guiding me.
“I’m okay.” If freaking out meant "okay," then so be it.
We were seated at the top of the restaurant within the next few minutes. Scaling the menu, I found what I wanted, putting it back down on the table. “Do you know what you’re getting?” I asked, trying to start a conversation with a stranger.
Aiyden placed his menu down, and his cute dimples haven’t left yet. “Yeah. I hope it’s good.”
“What are you choosing?”
He pointed to his choice on the menu and said, “Tom Yum Goong.”
“Good choice,” I replied.
Aiyden rested an arm on the table, and he perched his chin on his hand. He stared at me intently. “Have you had it before?”
A blush crept up under my skin. His eyes captivated me. “Yeah, I have. I’ve had a lot of meals from here.”
“So that’s why you argued with me to come here earlier?” He snickered, raising a brow.
Blush deepening, eyes widening, I retorted, “I did not argue with you.”
“Uh huh.”
“I didn’t! I was just really set on where I wanted to go.”
He chuckled. It did strange things to me. He said, “I hope you have good taste. What are you getting?”
“Pad Thai.”
The rest of the night was similar to this moment. We bantered, learned about each other, ate delicious food, and repeat. My nerves dove down as the night went on. The more he opened up to me, the more I opened up to him about some things. Not too much, as it was only one date, but enough that he didn’t think I was boring.
We exited the establishment, and Aiyden asked, “How did you arrive here?”
We stopped walking and stood by the street. The chill breeze drew goosebumps. Gas soiled the air. Lights twinkled in all directions. Oh, how it was to live in a city. I turned to him and said, “I took a cab.”
“I can drive you home, if you’d like.”
Though dark coloured, his eyes sparkled. He was serious.
“Are you sure? I can take another cab,” I said. We could see the air leaving our mouths as we spoke due to the cold weather.
Aiyden replied, “I’m sure.”
I blew out a puff of air. “Okay.”
He directed me to his car, and I directed him on the way to my apartment building. Once there, we both got out and scaled the stairs to my place. I leaned against the door, taking all of him in. His leather jacket conveyed that he was a bad boy, but he really wasn’t. He was a sweet guy.
“I had fun tonight,” he said.
“I did too.”
He stepped closer to me. “Can I… Can I kiss you?”
My mouth parted, but I bit my lip to hide it. “Yes.” My pulse pounded in my ear drums.
He closed the distance between us. One of his arms wrapped around my waist, and his other hand cupped my cheek. Our eyes closed as our lips touched. Just as quickly as our lips were put together, they were quick to come apart.
Short and simple.
“Good night, Anastasia,” he rasped.
“Good night, Aiyden.”
I unlocked the door to my apartment and closed it behind me. I slumped against it, releasing shaky breath after shaky breath. That may have been the best kiss I’d had. Despite how short it was.
~4 Years Later~
Aiyden and I got married after being in a four-year-long relationship. Who knew a chance encounter at a museum would bring two people together in the best way? I sure didn’t expect this. I bet he didn’t either, but it was amazing, nonetheless. All of this happiness was because of a museum.
The End
Thank you for reading!
If you liked this short story, tell me in the comments. Also, let me know what you didn’t like! I’m always looking for feedback :) If you want to request a story or have a prompt idea, email me at ngjeffersonwrites@gmail.com. Bye!
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