Part Two: Butterflies

Rachel stood there for a minute with a surprised look on her face. What had just happened? This guy came out of nowhere, he bumped into her, he tried to apologize but wasn't able to bring out one straight sentence and than he disappeared as quickly as he had shown up…

Very strange!!!

Still, there was something about him that wouldn't let her go. His eyes – they looked so familiar. Had she seen them before? Chris said he worked here, maybe she saw him on one of her visits to the museum?

She came here often. The museum was such a wonderful place. So peaceful. There could be a crowd of visitors in here, yet Rachel still felt as if she was alone. Here she was drawn into another world - into extinct cultures and long passed lives. She could wander around and completely forget her surroundings and the world on the outside. Here she was at ease. This was her place of harmony and peace. Two things that were hard to find in a city like New York. Especially in Manhattan. The streets were always full of people that were rushing from one place to another. It seemed like everyone was in a hurry. This place was restless and life went by so quickly. Although she enjoyed living here, she wished she could get away from here, sometimes. Than she'd go sailing far away. And she would discover places where no man had been before…

Just like those two Egyptian's in this drawing she looked at when this guy bumped into her.

Christopher. She just couldn't get him out of her mind. Those eyes…, this voice…

Secretly she wished he would come back. She still stood there in front of the doors with an anxious look on her face.

'Oh no, Rachel', she thought, 'don't even get started with this...' She paced up and down the hallway.

'He was cute and all but by the way he was acting he could have been a psycho. So forget about him!' Rachel never had been the kind of woman who would fall head over heels for a man.

'He was only a stranger who accidentally bumped into me and on top of that he couldn't even bring out one straight sentence, so why on earth should I even be interested in seeing him again? I don't know anything about him… well…. maybe except that he is working here and that his name is Christopher and that he is really, really cute and that his got a this dimple in his left cheek and oh man ….what a butt and maybe he will come back and ask me out for dinner and maybe he turns out to be the man of my dreams…' Rachel quickly shook her head. She needed to get out of her. Fast. This was getting too ridiculous.

She turned around to head for the exit when the doors behind her were pushed open again. She quickly swirled around on her heels. Could it be him coming back for her?

No, it was only a security guard.

"Mam" he greeted and smiled friendly while he was heading across the hallway.

"Excuse me!" Rachel shouted after him. He stopped and turned around.

"Yes, mam."

"Ahm…" suddenly a million thoughts were running through Rachel's head. 'Ask him if he knows this cute guy named Christopher who works here and if he has a girlfriend and if not if he is gay and if still not if he can give you his phone-number so you can call him because he is the most fascinating man you have ever met and you want him to take you out for dinner and spend a romantic evening with him and you want to…'

"Ahm…what kind of exhibition is prepared here and when will it open?" - 'You chicken!!'

"Unfortunately I'm not allowed to tell you too much about it, mam, but it is Egyptian and it will be very significant. We plan to open by next June."

"That late?" Rachel's world broke down. How could she ever see Christopher again?

"Yes, mam. The artefacts have just arrived from Egypt and they just started to determine there exact age and that all. But until than I am sure you will enjoy our other exhibitions. Actually there is a very interesting one on the 2nd floor: Ancient Near East Galleries: Shining New Light on an Assyrian Palace…… and than there is….."

The security guard went on about all the different exhibitions in the museum. Rachel wasn't listening anymore. She was too upset at the moment.

'I will never see him again', she thought.

After promoting all of the exhibitions in the museum, the guard had finally come to an end.

"Thank you, Sir"

"You are very welcome. Enjoy the rest of your visit and come back soon." He turned around and was gone.

'You bet I will. In fact I will never leave this place again…'

Gosh, this was getting very pathetic.

After another thirty minutes of debating with herself whether to stay or to go, she decided to call it a day and leave.

'I'll just pretend this never happened. Like it was another day in the museum. I was happy before I met him and I will be if I never see him again. It's that simple.'

Finally she headed for the exit.

'I bet he's a good kisser… AHHHH, you've got to stop this Rachel!!!!' She walked faster.

'Just get out of here and everything will be fine. I'll go home, take a hot bath – or maybe better a cold shower – and waste no more thoughts on this guy. There!'

When she stepped outside the sun had already set. The temperature had cooled down and it was chilly. She took in a deep breath, put the sweater on she had stuffed into her bag, walked down the stairs and headed towards the bus-station.

Time to go home.

To be continued…