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Fortune Favors The Brave
Chapter III: Aversion
If at all possible Teresa avoided attracting attention. She hated anything that drew eyes toward her so limping into a town on torn feet wasn't high on her list. Still it needed to be done and it was better sooner rather than later. A few heads turned to look at her but when she offered them smiles they turned away, unworried. Most probably thought she had stepped on a sharp stone. Not everyone in a small town such as this had shoes anyway and most of the children didn't bother with them. In her faulty Portuguese she procured a room to stay for the night and had just finished cleaning and bandaging her feet when she saw him.
He was taller than her with dark curls and an almost embarrassed smile when one of the local young women approached him. Teresa rolled her eyes but couldn't stop a faint grin from crossing her face. There was one everywhere; a woman who always needed the attention of the opposite sex. She turned her attention away to check the bandages on her feet one last time. "Você precisa de ajuda?" The sudden question startled her. The translation, once her brain caught up, startled her even more.
"Não, obrigado," she declined politely, looking up to see the dark haired man.
"Você fala Inglês?" Teresa almost laughed at the comment. Did she speak English? A lot better than she spoke Portuguese. He was luck he'd stuck with mostly common sentences so far and spoken at a normal pace instead of the ninety mile an hour one everyone seemed to enjoy.
"Melhor do que Português," she replied and he grinned, a smile that lit up his eyes. Even Teresa who spent more of her time running than admiring members of the opposite sex had to admit he was handsome.
"I'm Bruce Banner," he said, offering his hand.
"Teresa Hunter," she replied, shaking his hand. She didn't see any reason to give him a fake one. Besides it would probably only trip her up later.
"Nice to meet you," he said. "Why don't we sit down before we continue though. I'd hate for you to kill your feet any further than you already have." Teresa rolled her eyes at that.
"I'm not sure that's possible," she said but allowed him to lead her to a chair, all the while ignoring the glare of the young woman who had approached Banner earlier. Banner laughed and sat down across from her.
"Do you want me to look at your feet? I am a doctor," Banner said. "I could help."
"No thank you," Teresa said, trying not to flush. Normally men didn't pay much attention to her so this much concerned attention on her made her feel embarrassed. Besides that Dr. Banner was handsome. "But thanks for the offer."
"At least let me help," he said. The offer surprised her even more than his initial attention to her and his offer to take a look at her injuries.
"Okay," she said after a moment, sure now that she was blushing slightly. He took the bandages from her and began patching up her feet.
"Honestly I'm glad you speak English," he told her as he worked. "It's been a while since I've spoken Portuguese and I'm a little rusty."
"You're still probably better than me," Teresa said with an embarrassed laugh. "I can do French just fine and English perfectly but any other language and I have problems." Banner laughed, flashing another brilliant smile at her before rebandaging her feet.
"I can do Portuguese and Spanish along with English but not French," he replied. "So where are you from anyway?"
The question was innocent enough but Teresa had to force herself not to stiffen up. "Tampa, Florida actually," she said with a suddenly forced smile. "Go figure." Banner smiled at her, the same open smile he'd given her before.
"I would have pegged you for a native. That's why I started with the Portuguese." Teresa laughed, her smile becoming less forced.
"My mother was Portuguese," she explained. "That's where I got the looks from." Banner nodded and then looked toward the building with a sigh.
"I guess I'd better dust off my questionable Portuguese if I want to get a room for the night."
"Probably," Teresa said, watching him head over to the owner of the building. Very casually, eyes still fixed on Banner's back as he spoke to the woman, she drew the backpack he'd left on the ground over to her, waiting until he had entered the hostel before opening it to search inside.