The sudden sound of torrential rain pelting against the pavement jolted Delphine out of her reverie. Terrified she glanced around to locate the sound.
As she glanced to her right she noticed a speaker. There was one to her left too, just at the end of the bench. That's where the sound was coming from. She could see that the speakers were fed out through a window; they obviously were part of an art piece she didn't quite understand yet.
'Art is never comfortable' she thought as she packed away the rest of her sandwich and stood up from the museum bench. She walked along the museum corridor glancing occasionally at pieces of modern art that never quite made sense to her. A sheet that hung from a wall, a wooden shoe placed in the center of a room, until she saw something that caught her eye.
There were two teenage girls holding hands and whispering giddily to each other. Their eyes briefly wandered over the various pieces of art but quickly found their way back to each other. She found herself following them. She was mesmerized by how entranced with each other they were. She tailed them into a wide room and watched as they examined an installation in the corner.
It consisted of four massive poles that were melded together at the top. A rope hung from the pole with a piece of wood attached loosely. Beside the installation were pictures of various different kinds of people using the swing when it was mounted properly on a swing set.
'Stop staring' Delphine scolded herself.
The sounded of shocked gasps from other museum goers caused Delphine to turn back. She saw the smaller of the girls sitting on the swing moving her legs excitedly as her girlfriend laughed and took pictures.
Delphine found herself laughing too, a smile sneaking its way across her face.
The girl dismounted after a minute and took her girlfriend's hand in hers, smiling from ear to ear. Neither of them paid any attention to the murmuring crowds around them. They only saw each other.
She and Cosima had had love like that for a day.
There was a brief moment when it was perfect. When their love for each other was matched in smiles so big they blushed and hid their faces. A love embarrassingly mutual.
There was so much she was angry at herself for; her naivety, her blindness, her willingness to upset the lives of people she'd never met in the name of science. The fact that at one point she might not have considered Cosima to be a real person.
But the hardest part? Well that was knowing that Cosima would never beam at her like that again.
Never again would she text Delphine saying 'my bed smells like you and I wish you would come back.'
She wouldn't smile so hard after Delphine kissed her that her cheeks hurt.
She wouldn't stand on her tip toes to wrap her arms around Delphine's neck and whisper "I don't want you to go."
She might want her again. Hell, if we're writing fairy-tales she might even love her again. But never with such reckless abandon.
Never with such innocence.
She's also angry at something else, something out there. She's angry at the fact that she'd ruined the best thing to ever happen to her before she'd known what it all meant. She's angry at the fact that he made her do it.
Delphine sucked in air. It seethed in through her teeth. He was there in her memory. His skin, his touch. She'd never particularly liked it but now it made her want to rip her skin off. She'd gotten used to the flashbacks though and she tried to push them out of her mind. She had to stay strong for Cosima.
She had other things to focus on.