Diana had felt, for a few days now, like she wasn't alone when she was going to work. It was a distinctly uncomfortable feeling at first, she felt like she was being watched from the moment she stepped out of the door of her apartment building, and the feeling didn't go away until after her first class of the day. The feeling returned during fencing and stayed with her until she had reached the apartment, unless she went to the police station… then it went away and didn't come back.
At first, Diana thought her instincts and training were playing tricks on her because she was in a new place, but the more she tried to dismiss it, the more certain she was that SOMEONE was watching her. So rather than try and dismiss the feeling, Diana just took it for granted that someone really was following her, and watching her, and she tried to discover who it was.
Monday and Tuesday of that week she didn't get anything. It seemed as though all the cars in the area decided to break down on one of those two days and everyone was either walking or taking the bus to their respective places of employment.
In fact, it wasn't until Thursday that Diana noticed anything out of the ordinary. It was on the bus to the college. A man, dressed simply in a pair of jeans a t-shirt and a pea-coat, reading the newspaper. The first thing she noticed was that he was wearing sunglasses at six thirty in the morning, when the sun wasn't really bright enough for anyone to need or want to put them on. The next thing she noticed, watching him out of the corner of her eye, was that while he had the newspaper opened, he didn't actually appear to be reading it. He did not turn the page, or his head, for the length of the bus ride, which was considerable.
Friday she looked for him while she walked to the bus. Every so often she looked back a little, just to see if he was there. For the first two blocks she didn't see him, but at the third, when she stopped at a bagel shoppe to get a cup of coffee she spotted him, on the other side of the street, about twenty paces behind her.
The rest of the way to class and at fencing in the afternoon she didn't even bother to look for him. She could almost feel it when he was there. Every so often she'd spot him, but after a few days she stopped actively looking for him. She didn't know why he was following her, who he was, or what he wanted, but he hadn't done anything awful yet and now that she knew what he looked like and that he really was there, his presence didn't make her feel uncomfortable anymore.
It was at around this time that she told Connor about her benign stalker.
FOLLOWING YOU?
YES.
HOW DO YOU KNOW?
HE HAS BEEN BEHIND ME EVERYWHERE I GO FOR NEARLY TWO WEEKS NOW. I DO NOT THINK HE KNOWS THAT I KNOW HE IS THERE.
DOESN'T SOUND LIKE IT.
DO YOU THINK HE IS DANGEROUS?
I DO NOT KNOW. HE IS NOT FOLLOWING ME.
FUNNY. HE SEEMS ALRIGHT, THERE IS JUST THE ODDITY OF HIM FOLLOWING ME.
ARE YOU SURE HE IS FOLLOWING YOU?
YES. TO SCHOOL EVERY MORNING, AND I HAVE SEEN HIM ON THE STREET OUTSIDE DURING MY FIRST CLASS. THEN I DO NOT SEE HIM UNTIL FENCING THAT AFTERNOON. I HAVE SEEN HIM OUTSIDE THE GYM ACROSS THE BASKETBALL COURT HANGING AROUND BY THE FENCE.
ARE YOU GOING TO CONFRONT HIM ABOUT IT?
NO.
SO HE DOESN'T BOTHER YOU?
NOT REALLY. AT FIRST YES. I MEAN, SOMEONE WAS FOLLOWING ME. BUT IT SEEMS OKAY NOW. ALMOST A COMFORT REALLY.
A COMFORTING STALKER.
SHUTUP.
SORRY. DID NOT MEAN TO PATRONIZE.
IT IS ALRIGHT.
YOU SEEMED STRESSED. ARE YOU ALRIGHT?
YES. IT IS JUST… CHRISTMAS IS SOON.
YES?
I DO NOT LIKE CHRISTMAS.
WHY? WHAT IS SO BAD ABOUT CHRIST BEING BORN?
PEOPLE ARE WITH THEIR FAMILIES AT CHRISTMAS TIME.
AND?
I DO NOT HAVE ONE.
OH. REALLY?
YES.
WELL…. IF IT MAKES YOU FEEL ANY BETTER, CHRISTMAS IS NOT MUCH HERE.
WHAT DO YOU MEAN?
WE ARE ALL MEN, AND WE ARE MEN WHO CANNOT REALLY COOK AT ALL.
HA.
TRY LIVING ON BEER AND PIZZA, AND WE'LL SEE HOW FUNNY YOU STILL THINK IT IS.
I AM A FABULOUS COOK.
IS THERE ANYTHING YOU CANNOT DO?
WELL NOW THAT YOU MENTION IT… NO.
NO?
WELL… I CANT HAVE RELATIONSHIPS.
WHY NOT?
I DON'T KNOW. I'M JUST BAD AT THEM.
WHAT HAPPENED TO THE LAST ONE YOU HAD?
I CANT REMEMBER.
LIAR.
REALLY. I HAVE SOME FRIENDS. AND MY BOSS IS WHAT I WOULD CONSIDER A GOOD FRIEND. BUT NOTHING ELSE REALLY.
THAT SEEMS SAD.
SOMETIMES IT IS. BUT I AM EXTREMELY SELF SUFFICIENT.
THANK YOU.
FOR WHAT?
YOU HAVE NEVER TOLD ME ANYTHING THIS BIG BEFORE.
Diana seemed to suddenly realize at that moment that Connor may have become one of the best friends that she'd ever had. And they only knew each other through taps on a wall. This was a depressing enough thought to make most women cry, but Diana wasn't really the crying type. So she said goodnight to Connor and stayed awake for awhile, reading until her eyes hurt and then looking out the window a bit at the moon and stars.
She was still thinking about Connor the next morning during her first class, and every so often she'd catch a glimpse of her mysterious follower, wandering around on the sidewalk underneath the window.
She actually thought she might miss his presence if he went away, especially in the afternoons. She was conscious of someone watching her and only her while she was fencing, and it improved her performance drastically. It was almost like she had an invisible supporter following her about and acting as a cheering section in the back of her mind. She forgot for a moment that he wasn't a friend and that she knew nothing about this mysterious stranger.
Wait… mysterious… invisible… friend…. Invisible friend…. Oh my God!
And she was suddenly so excited that she immediately leapt out of the shower and dressed so fast that other girls in the locker room began to stare, wondering what was the matter with her. She raced out with only one sweater on and a scarf, her wet hair flying in the wind and her jeans clinging to her still damp legs.
AS soon as the man noticed that she was coming directly at him he froze. He suddenly looked small, like he was hoping if he was still enough she wouldn't see him anymore. She stopped right in front of him, smiling like a moron with her breath coming out in fast puffs and her cheeks red with the cold.
"Connor," she said matter-of-factly, and he looked shocked. He took off his sun glasses and his eyes blinked to adjust to the light.
"Hello Diana," he said sheepishly. She brought her head close to the fence, so the metal touched her cheeks and forehead.
"You have been stalking me." She said happily.
"Yes." He still looked at his feet.
"This is illegal," she grinned, enjoying his obvious discomfort.
"Yes," he said, nodding fast.
"Why…" she began in the same accusatory tone, "haven't you given me a kiss yet." She grinned, surprised at her own boldness.
He looked up, shocked, and then grinned just as wide and silly as she was grinning. He leaned in toward the fence and kissed her gently, flinching a bit when his own forehead and cheeks touched the cold metal. When it was over, he looked shocked again for a moment, as though he couldn't believe he'd actually done it, and then spun around giddily like a little kid, before realizing she was still there and pretending as though he hadn't.
"You're freezing," he said. He walked around the fence to her and took off his coat and wrapped it around her, ignoring her own protests. "No, no.. I've lived here much longer than you and my hair isn't wet. Let's go get some coffee before it freezes and breaks off."
"He has," she thought, listening to him speak, "a magnificent accent." He ordered coffee for the both of them, and then looked at her for a minute without speaking.
"What?" she asked, suddenly nervous. Did she look like a drowned rat with her hair wet or something?
"Nothing," he said. "It's just that I've never seen you up close before."
"Oh. Do I get to stare intensely as well?"
"I suppose so. If you want to."
So they did. Diana studied his face, and was pleased to see that it was clean shaven. He had wonderful eyes that carried so much emotion that Diana was surprised she'd ever managed to really talk to him and feel like she knew him through a wall. He had a rugged boyish charm to his expression that made her suddenly giggly, and she nearly toppled over in her seat after a moment she was laughing so hard.
"What's he matter with ye woman?"
But she was laughing too hard to answer.
"I'm… gasp… sorry" she said through her giggles. "Just the look on your face," and she was off again. "Oh," she said, suddenly annoyed with herself. "I can't let you just sit there with a t-shirt this whole time while I have your coat."
"It's fine really. I'm alright," he said.
"No no," she took off the coat for a moment. "Here's what we'll do." She took off her sweater, missing Connor's mildly hungry look when her shirt was lifted up to her ribs, and her muscles flexed with her raised arms. "We'll trade," she said, handing Connor the red sweater.
"Alright," said Connor. He swept the sweater over his head and fiddled with the turtle-neck until it was neat below his chin. He made a face and posed. "Do I still look manly?"
Diana started giggling again, and this time Connor was laughing with her, almost spilling their coffee in their silliness.
They stayed in the coffee shop until Diana's hair was dry, and then they wandered around Boston. Connor showed her around, and Diana felt like a kid the whole time. They walked, stopped somewhere to get a warm drink and sit down, and then they got up and walked again. It wasn't until they stopped suddenly that Diana realized that they were standing in front of their apartment building. It had been dark for hours, she realized suddenly.
"This is me," said Connor playfully.
"Yeah, me too."
"C'mere" he said, taking her hand. She complied. "Would it be alright, d'ye think. If I kissed ye again before we go inside?"
She didn't say anything, but she nodded after a moment, and Connor put his hand in her hair and one on her waist and kissed her softly. Diana felt pins and needles of warmth all over, and smiled, feeling her own sweater under her hands, and Connor's chest beneath it.
He held her hand all the way up the stairs, and didn't let it go until they were in front of their doors. He gave her another quick kiss and disappeared into his apartment, and she followed suit.
