Part XI: A Step Too Far
In the next weeks Rachel visited the museum often. She felt like she needed to catch up for all the time she had abandoned this place. She stopped by every painting and every sculpture and was just happy to be back. Almost apologizing to all of the artefacts that she had been away for so long, she slendered through the halls with a smile on her face. Since the day she had met Christopher again, she felt much more at ease. She knew now, that she could handle the situation, although the thought that Gillian was dating Chris, still wasn't very pleasant.
Looking at a painting by Da Vinci, Rachel felt her stomach grumble. She looked at her watch, it was noon, 'Time for some lunch', she thought and headed downstairs towards the cafeteria.
Just as she was about to enter, Chris came out. They both stared at each other for a minute, obviously surprised to see one another. Finally they burst out in laughter because they must look like idiots, standing in the doorway like frozen.
"Hey. I didn't expect to see you here. What are you up too?", Chris finally said. He carried a bag with bagels and a cup of coffee.
"I'm visiting my museum again. I haven't been here for so long, It's amazing how much it has changed since my last visit. I need to catch up on some of the new exhibitions and after two hours of wandering around, I decided it's time for a break, so I ended up here," she pointed at the cafeteria which was pretty crowded by now. After all it was lunchtime and all the hungry visitors came in. "If I take a look at that line, though I guess I'm gonna be starved by the time I get some food."
"Well, I can offer you a bagel and am willing to share my coffee with you, if that would satisfy your hunger."
"Mmh, I guess it's definitely a start. A girl needs to eat, you know." Chris smiled at her and together they strolled to his office. After a few minutes they arrived, Rachel took the cup of coffee, so he had one hand free to unlock the door.
"Wow, this is so cool. I always wondered how it looked like backstage." She entered his office which was full of all different kinds of artefacts. Papyrus rolls were spread out on one table, jewellery on the next.
"Sorry, this place is a mess. I wasn't prepared for a visitor." Chris quickly cleaned up a chair, so Rachel could sit down. Carefully he folded the papyrus and put them away. Rachel looked around with big eyes. Usually she could only see the artefacts behind class-cases, but here they were directly in front of her. A necklace caught her attention.
"May I touch it?"
"Of course. Go ahead, it won't bite." While Chris was looking for some plates to put the bagels on, Rachel picked up the necklace and turned it in her hand.
"What does that symbol mean?"
"It's the eye-of-the-horus. A very powerful symbol. Usually the eye was painted on boats and other objects in need of divine protection. Jewelled copies of the eye were placed with the dead and painted on sarcophagi."
"Why is it called the eye-of-the-horus, though?"
"Well, during his battle with Set to avenge the murder of his father, Osiris, Horus' eye was plucked out and torn apart. After his victory, the eye was pieced together by Thoth who added a small bit of magic to make up for the 1/64th of a piece that was missing. You can find this symbol pretty often in our modern culture."
"That's true. I was always wondering what it meant. Thanks." Rachel still held the necklace in her hand. "Why didn't you display it in the exhibition?"
"I don't know. For some reason I thought it wouldn't look good behind a class-case." Chris held two plates in his hand and smiled at her. Why did she have to be so beautiful? It was hard for him to be in one room with this woman without being attracted to her. He knew it was wrong, but he couldn't help it. Chris had never met a woman like her before, he had never believed in love at first sight and now…
"Ok. Lets have some lunch. I'm starving!" Rachel took a plate and sat down on the chair. Chris took the other and sat next to her, although he didn't feel hungry anymore he took a bit out of his bagel.
"You know that you have the most fascinating job? This is so cool. I just love this place so much. To work here must be paradise. Would you hand me the coffee, please?"
"I love it too. It's my life. I always knew that I wanted to become an archaeologist. This job here is a dream come true for me." Chris turned around and took the cup of coffee and handed it to Rachel.
When Rachel took the cup, she noticed his injury. "Where did you get that scar from?"
"That's a long story." Chris looked at his hand.
"I don't mind hearing long stories…" Rachel sat back in her chair.
Chris told her all about how he picked up the necklace one day and couldn't let go of it anymore. He even told her about his visions with the statue and how he sometimes almost passed out. Actually he never thought he would tell anyone but now it seemed like a normal thing to do. Rachel listened closely, taking in every word.
"You know this is strange, because sometimes I feel like someone's choking me. Than I can hardly breath anymore and I feel sick. Sometimes this gets so bad, that I start to panic and I feel like I'm…"
"…suffocating." Chris said, finishing her sentence.
"Yes." Rachel stared at Christopher, holding one hand up to her throat. Suddenly he pulled at her chair, drawing her closer towards him. He stroked her hand and than her throat. Making his way up, he reached her cheek and let his hand slip around her neck. He slowly pulled her closer to his face and this time Rachel didn't dug away, she couldn't. The next moment she felt his lips on hers. Still shy at first, not daring to go further, Chris kissed her softly on the mouth. It was a harmless kiss, their lips barely touching. He drew back and looked at her. Without saying a word she took his face into her hands and pulled him in again. This time the kiss was more demanding, allowing the feelings they had suppressed all this time, they lost themselves in a passionate embrace.
They completely forgot their surroundings and at that moment Rachel knew that this was the man she was destined to be with. She got up from her chair and sat down on Chris' lap and started to unbutton his shirt while letting her hands slip over his bare chest. Following this offer Chris reached behind her back to unzip her dress.
Suddenly the door opened and Gillian came in. Quickly Chris and Rachel let go of each other, looking at her in shock.
"Oh my god." Gillian said, not believing the scenario in front of her. "This isn't true, tell me that this isn't happening." Rachel turned around and zipped up her dress again, while Chris tried to button up his shirt.
"Gillian, I…." Chris wanted to say something but couldn't, there was really no sense in denying what had just happened.
"I'm…. sorry. This is my fault, Gillian. I'm the one who made a move on her. I'm..." he carefully stepped closer towards her and reached for her hand.
Gillian angrily brushed him off. "Do not touch me. Don't ever touch me again." The next moment Gillian slapped Chris hard in the face. He automatically held his hand up to his cheek which began to burn. Looking into Gillian's eyes, he saw tears slowly streaming out. "I can't believe you guys did this to me. I loved you Chris! I gave you everything I had to give. And you Rachel, you are my best friend. How could you do this to me?"
"Gillian, I'm so sorry, I never meant to hurt you. It…it just happened." Rachel also walked towards her and tried to put her arms around Gillian to give her some comfort, but Gillian also brushed her off, swirled around and stormed out of the office.
Chris let out a sigh and dropped his head. "I should go after her." The next moment he left the office as well, leaving Rachel by herself.
Gillian had already reached the exit of the museum. She just headed down the stairs when Chris finally caught up to her. Out of breath he reached for her arm.
"Gillian, listen I…." Gillian turned around and looked first sharply at his hand on her arm and than at him. Chris quickly let go of her. "Gill, I'm sorry. I don't know why it happened, it just did."
"I don't ever want to see you again. Get out of my sight." Gillian said before running off across the street, but Chris didn't give up that easily. He followed her, his eyes focused on Gillian he didn't pay any attention to the traffic. Too late he heard the honking of the bus which came up the street, too late he turned around to see it coming straight at him, too late he was able to jump out of its way to run into the other direction. The bus caught him in the middle of his motion, hitting him hard. The brakes screamed out loud and the next minute the bus stopped, but it was too late. Chris was thrown a few meters into the air and landed hard on the asphalt.
"Oh, my god! CHRIS!" Gillian ran from the other side of the street towards Chris who was laying lifeless on the street. A small crowd started to gather around him, staring at him in shock. Gillian shoved the people aside, trying to get through to him. She kneeled down beside him, touching his cheek and softly shaking his body.
"Christopher, can you hear me? Chris?" He didn't respond. Blood streamed down his face, he had a deep wound at his head. His right arm looked like it was broken. Gillian leaned down to see if he was still breathing. She put her hand on his heart and felt a weak pulse.
"Can somebody call a doctor?" She screamed out to the crowd around her. Finally somebody picked out his cell-phone to dial 911.
In the meanwhile Rachel had also left the museum. At the sight in front of her she froze in shock. She wanted to go down the stairs but wasn't able to move. The next moment she heard the sirens of the ambulance. Than it all happened very fast. The crowd parted to let the doctors get through to Chris. They examined him briefly and put him on a stretcher. Two minutes later they climbed back into their car and headed downtown to the hospital.
Rachel followed them with her eyes until they disappeared around the corner. As she looked back on the street, she saw Gillian still sitting there, looking around helplessly. Her shirt was stained with Chris' blood. Finally Rachel got control over her feet again and ran quickly to Gillian.
"Oh, god Rachel. This is all my fault…", she covered her face with her dirty hands.
"No, no don't say that Gillian." Comforting Rachel closed her arms around Gillian who wasn't able to hold back her tears anymore.
In the meanwhile the police had also arrived. Two officers began to question the witnesses. It would take a while until Rachel and Gillian would be able to go to the hospital.
To be continued.
In the next weeks Rachel visited the museum often. She felt like she needed to catch up for all the time she had abandoned this place. She stopped by every painting and every sculpture and was just happy to be back. Almost apologizing to all of the artefacts that she had been away for so long, she slendered through the halls with a smile on her face. Since the day she had met Christopher again, she felt much more at ease. She knew now, that she could handle the situation, although the thought that Gillian was dating Chris, still wasn't very pleasant.
Looking at a painting by Da Vinci, Rachel felt her stomach grumble. She looked at her watch, it was noon, 'Time for some lunch', she thought and headed downstairs towards the cafeteria.
Just as she was about to enter, Chris came out. They both stared at each other for a minute, obviously surprised to see one another. Finally they burst out in laughter because they must look like idiots, standing in the doorway like frozen.
"Hey. I didn't expect to see you here. What are you up too?", Chris finally said. He carried a bag with bagels and a cup of coffee.
"I'm visiting my museum again. I haven't been here for so long, It's amazing how much it has changed since my last visit. I need to catch up on some of the new exhibitions and after two hours of wandering around, I decided it's time for a break, so I ended up here," she pointed at the cafeteria which was pretty crowded by now. After all it was lunchtime and all the hungry visitors came in. "If I take a look at that line, though I guess I'm gonna be starved by the time I get some food."
"Well, I can offer you a bagel and am willing to share my coffee with you, if that would satisfy your hunger."
"Mmh, I guess it's definitely a start. A girl needs to eat, you know." Chris smiled at her and together they strolled to his office. After a few minutes they arrived, Rachel took the cup of coffee, so he had one hand free to unlock the door.
"Wow, this is so cool. I always wondered how it looked like backstage." She entered his office which was full of all different kinds of artefacts. Papyrus rolls were spread out on one table, jewellery on the next.
"Sorry, this place is a mess. I wasn't prepared for a visitor." Chris quickly cleaned up a chair, so Rachel could sit down. Carefully he folded the papyrus and put them away. Rachel looked around with big eyes. Usually she could only see the artefacts behind class-cases, but here they were directly in front of her. A necklace caught her attention.
"May I touch it?"
"Of course. Go ahead, it won't bite." While Chris was looking for some plates to put the bagels on, Rachel picked up the necklace and turned it in her hand.
"What does that symbol mean?"
"It's the eye-of-the-horus. A very powerful symbol. Usually the eye was painted on boats and other objects in need of divine protection. Jewelled copies of the eye were placed with the dead and painted on sarcophagi."
"Why is it called the eye-of-the-horus, though?"
"Well, during his battle with Set to avenge the murder of his father, Osiris, Horus' eye was plucked out and torn apart. After his victory, the eye was pieced together by Thoth who added a small bit of magic to make up for the 1/64th of a piece that was missing. You can find this symbol pretty often in our modern culture."
"That's true. I was always wondering what it meant. Thanks." Rachel still held the necklace in her hand. "Why didn't you display it in the exhibition?"
"I don't know. For some reason I thought it wouldn't look good behind a class-case." Chris held two plates in his hand and smiled at her. Why did she have to be so beautiful? It was hard for him to be in one room with this woman without being attracted to her. He knew it was wrong, but he couldn't help it. Chris had never met a woman like her before, he had never believed in love at first sight and now…
"Ok. Lets have some lunch. I'm starving!" Rachel took a plate and sat down on the chair. Chris took the other and sat next to her, although he didn't feel hungry anymore he took a bit out of his bagel.
"You know that you have the most fascinating job? This is so cool. I just love this place so much. To work here must be paradise. Would you hand me the coffee, please?"
"I love it too. It's my life. I always knew that I wanted to become an archaeologist. This job here is a dream come true for me." Chris turned around and took the cup of coffee and handed it to Rachel.
When Rachel took the cup, she noticed his injury. "Where did you get that scar from?"
"That's a long story." Chris looked at his hand.
"I don't mind hearing long stories…" Rachel sat back in her chair.
Chris told her all about how he picked up the necklace one day and couldn't let go of it anymore. He even told her about his visions with the statue and how he sometimes almost passed out. Actually he never thought he would tell anyone but now it seemed like a normal thing to do. Rachel listened closely, taking in every word.
"You know this is strange, because sometimes I feel like someone's choking me. Than I can hardly breath anymore and I feel sick. Sometimes this gets so bad, that I start to panic and I feel like I'm…"
"…suffocating." Chris said, finishing her sentence.
"Yes." Rachel stared at Christopher, holding one hand up to her throat. Suddenly he pulled at her chair, drawing her closer towards him. He stroked her hand and than her throat. Making his way up, he reached her cheek and let his hand slip around her neck. He slowly pulled her closer to his face and this time Rachel didn't dug away, she couldn't. The next moment she felt his lips on hers. Still shy at first, not daring to go further, Chris kissed her softly on the mouth. It was a harmless kiss, their lips barely touching. He drew back and looked at her. Without saying a word she took his face into her hands and pulled him in again. This time the kiss was more demanding, allowing the feelings they had suppressed all this time, they lost themselves in a passionate embrace.
They completely forgot their surroundings and at that moment Rachel knew that this was the man she was destined to be with. She got up from her chair and sat down on Chris' lap and started to unbutton his shirt while letting her hands slip over his bare chest. Following this offer Chris reached behind her back to unzip her dress.
Suddenly the door opened and Gillian came in. Quickly Chris and Rachel let go of each other, looking at her in shock.
"Oh my god." Gillian said, not believing the scenario in front of her. "This isn't true, tell me that this isn't happening." Rachel turned around and zipped up her dress again, while Chris tried to button up his shirt.
"Gillian, I…." Chris wanted to say something but couldn't, there was really no sense in denying what had just happened.
"I'm…. sorry. This is my fault, Gillian. I'm the one who made a move on her. I'm..." he carefully stepped closer towards her and reached for her hand.
Gillian angrily brushed him off. "Do not touch me. Don't ever touch me again." The next moment Gillian slapped Chris hard in the face. He automatically held his hand up to his cheek which began to burn. Looking into Gillian's eyes, he saw tears slowly streaming out. "I can't believe you guys did this to me. I loved you Chris! I gave you everything I had to give. And you Rachel, you are my best friend. How could you do this to me?"
"Gillian, I'm so sorry, I never meant to hurt you. It…it just happened." Rachel also walked towards her and tried to put her arms around Gillian to give her some comfort, but Gillian also brushed her off, swirled around and stormed out of the office.
Chris let out a sigh and dropped his head. "I should go after her." The next moment he left the office as well, leaving Rachel by herself.
Gillian had already reached the exit of the museum. She just headed down the stairs when Chris finally caught up to her. Out of breath he reached for her arm.
"Gillian, listen I…." Gillian turned around and looked first sharply at his hand on her arm and than at him. Chris quickly let go of her. "Gill, I'm sorry. I don't know why it happened, it just did."
"I don't ever want to see you again. Get out of my sight." Gillian said before running off across the street, but Chris didn't give up that easily. He followed her, his eyes focused on Gillian he didn't pay any attention to the traffic. Too late he heard the honking of the bus which came up the street, too late he turned around to see it coming straight at him, too late he was able to jump out of its way to run into the other direction. The bus caught him in the middle of his motion, hitting him hard. The brakes screamed out loud and the next minute the bus stopped, but it was too late. Chris was thrown a few meters into the air and landed hard on the asphalt.
"Oh, my god! CHRIS!" Gillian ran from the other side of the street towards Chris who was laying lifeless on the street. A small crowd started to gather around him, staring at him in shock. Gillian shoved the people aside, trying to get through to him. She kneeled down beside him, touching his cheek and softly shaking his body.
"Christopher, can you hear me? Chris?" He didn't respond. Blood streamed down his face, he had a deep wound at his head. His right arm looked like it was broken. Gillian leaned down to see if he was still breathing. She put her hand on his heart and felt a weak pulse.
"Can somebody call a doctor?" She screamed out to the crowd around her. Finally somebody picked out his cell-phone to dial 911.
In the meanwhile Rachel had also left the museum. At the sight in front of her she froze in shock. She wanted to go down the stairs but wasn't able to move. The next moment she heard the sirens of the ambulance. Than it all happened very fast. The crowd parted to let the doctors get through to Chris. They examined him briefly and put him on a stretcher. Two minutes later they climbed back into their car and headed downtown to the hospital.
Rachel followed them with her eyes until they disappeared around the corner. As she looked back on the street, she saw Gillian still sitting there, looking around helplessly. Her shirt was stained with Chris' blood. Finally Rachel got control over her feet again and ran quickly to Gillian.
"Oh, god Rachel. This is all my fault…", she covered her face with her dirty hands.
"No, no don't say that Gillian." Comforting Rachel closed her arms around Gillian who wasn't able to hold back her tears anymore.
In the meanwhile the police had also arrived. Two officers began to question the witnesses. It would take a while until Rachel and Gillian would be able to go to the hospital.
To be continued.