The Night Guard

By angellwings

Mia had never really been a big fan of museums. Normally the only history she really took stock in was her own family history. She loved tracing back her genealogy, but other than that she didn't know much about history. She couldn't tell you what number president Lincoln or either of the Roosevelt's were, She did know what night the Titanic sank and the date of the very first production of Peter Pan. She was a drama teacher so knowing her history had never really been a big requirement. Which led her to a question…

Why had she suddenly decided to visit this museum?

She still didn't know why. She had simply felt the urge to come in as she had been walking by. Maybe it was the commotion of the night hours or the fact that everyone else seemed to be enjoying themselves immensely. It didn't really matter though because here she was staring at a museum map with no clue what direction to go in. Her mouth twisted as she stared at the map. It was times like this that made her feel like a ditz. Out of the corner of her eye she noticed the Night Guard give her a strange look. She quickly glanced back down at her brochure as he made his way over to where she was standing. She felt his eyes on her and glanced up at him. She gave him a small awkward smile and then returned to her brochure. She realized he was still staring and glanced back up at him again with a questioning look.

"I'm sorry, I don't mean to stare it's just you look a lot like somebody who I know," he said.

Oh great, another one of those guys. Aren't there more creative ways to hit on a woman? She thought as she forced a smile and spoke up.

"I get that a lot."

"Do you?" He asked curiously.

"Yeah, I guess I just…have that kind of face," She said politely.

"Yeah, you're not by any chance related to Amelia Earhart are you?" He asked.

"No," She answered quickly. She had to hand to the guy…she was not expecting him to ask that. Maybe this line would be more creative than she thought.

"No?"

"I don't think so."

"Of course not."

"I don't-I mean I don't know. I mean maybe-I just-"

"I told you I just had to ask."

Mia chuckled as the Night Guard blushed and shook his head in embarrassment. He was kind of cute now that she really looked at him, "She was, uh, the woman who flew across the Pacific."

"Atlantic," He clarified.

"Atlantic, of course." She said as she mentally scolded herself. Now she really looked like a ditz.

"She was the first woman to fly across the Atlantic. She received the Flying Cross, the first woman to do that," He informed her.

"That's very cool," She said with a soft smile. Okay, so he was creative. She couldn't say that she had ever been compared to Amelia Earhart before.

"Actually, she was very cool," He said with an easy going smile. He had a nice smile. As a matter of fact he seemed like a genuinely nice guy which was hard to find in this city. They stood observing each other in silence for a few seconds before he spoke up again. "Hey, you know, what you should check out is the Hall of Miniatures."

This was her opportunity to either get rid of him or learn more about him. He didn't seem like a creeper, and she was relatively new to the city so it's not like she knew many people anyway. At the very least it couldn't hurt to make a friend, right? Besides, she didn't have the first clue on how to get around inside of this place.

"Could you take me there? I'm always getting lost," She asked.

He smiled a little brighter at her as soon as she asked, "Sure, yeah-it's, um, yeah…it's right this way."

She let him lead her toward the Hall of Miniatures and as they left the main hall he extended his hand out for her to shake.

"I'm Larry, by the way."

She smiled brightly and shook his hand in return, "Mia."

"It's nice to meet you, Mia," He said with a smirk.

"And you as well, Larry," She said with a grin.