Chapter 2 A Convenient Misunderstanding

Get it together Robby. She's talking to you. Speak or you'll embarrass yourself further. Nevermind, it's already been too long since she spoke, and now you look like an utter idiot. Why don't you just turn around and run like the coward your father always said you were and go fetch Jeff so he can flirt with her, himself.

'Are you okay?'

She's speaking to you-again! Her voice is as beautiful as she is-ugh. She hasn't even gotten angry yet and you still won't answer her. What kind of moron are you? How weak you must seem to her and everyone around you.

'Don't worry, Jeff told me about you.'

Well that made all his thoughts disappear and he looked at her curiously.

'You know, that you're mute!'

What?!

'Can you sign? I know some Asl, if you want to talk.'

He knew he was gaping at her. He would kill Jeff! Why in the world did he tell her he was mute! Then again, he thought to himself, this might actually be a blessing. She would talk to him, and he, well, he wouldn't have to speak to her. He shook his head no, about the sign language and motioned that she could come inside.

Once inside she struck out her hand and gave him another beautiful, kind smile. One of those smiles that he always dreamed she might give him, but had never had the courage to obtain.

'I'm Belle, by the way, Jeff said your name is Robby?'

He shook his head, as he took her hand and hoped that she couldn't feel how sweaty they were. The debilitating fear he normally experienced when having to interact with new people was slowly calming to more manageable levels. She wouldn't expect him to speak to her, was the mantra he kept telling himself over and over again, while also trying to pay attention to whatever she was saying, as he didn't want to miss it for the world. This might be the last time she ever spoke to him and he wanted to remember everything.

'I have a notebook, can you use that?'

He had no idea why she was so keen to speak to him, but he wasn't going to allow this opportunity to be wasted, so he nodded.

'Oh good!'

Her bubbliness echoed along ornate walls and her smile was infectious, he found one reflected on his own face.

'You see, I am about to graduate with my English degree and I am doing a creative writing piece on an art curator. I tried to ask Jeff some questions last week when I came to that art gala over the weekend, but he said you did the more technical things around here.' Oh yeah, the gala where he had very conveniently sequestered himself in the storage, writing his notes on the status of the pieces and let Jeff and the staff hired for the event to do any of the conversing that needed to happen. He had earned it, he figured, after hanging every one of the local artist's pieces and having emailed and arranged the entire event.

Robby nodded and shrugged modestly. At least Jeff was giving him the credit, though he didn't know why he had to talk about him at all. Jeff knew enough about the job to have gotten away with it, and either he was being incredibly nice, or incredibly stupid, to have allowed an opportunity he could have taken himself.

She had handed him the notebook, one of those fancy ones that looked like a classic book cover on the outside that you got at a bookstore, and her pen. It had been tucked behind her ear, just like it had been two years ago, and he smiled at the memory and then reddened at his own thoughts.

'Thank you for doing this. And I'm sorry for arriving so early. I have a class in a couple of hours, and then work later, so I was trying to squeeze this in while I had time.'

She smiled and he smiled-he didn't think he had smiled this much in years.

What would you like to know? He scrawled, his nerves increasing as he looked about him to see if she was looking over his shoulders. The constant worry that she would find some fault in what he had written or how he had written and berate him for it made his breathing hard, and he had to remember to regulate his breaths to not let the feelings overwhelm him. She seemed to sense his stress and look at something else while he scratched out his first sentence.

'Oh, whatever you think would be relevant. For instance, perhaps you could tell me the process of getting an exhibit like that.' She said pointing at the entrance of the exhibit rooms and the big poster that advertised farming still life displayed inside. 'And what is your role in all of it?'

He thought for a moment and started writing again-this time she busied herself with something while he did so, so he wouldn't get overwhelmed. He had no idea how she could sense his need for this, and couldn't understand her kindness to him, but he tried to articulate things well, so that she would feel like his notes were worth her time speaking to him.

I get in touch with well known art museums and add our building to the list of circulation. Once the contact is made and confirmed, I'm given a date, and I start planning our other events around the exhibit coming. I then get in touch with our director and they start doing public relations with it.

When the time comes, the pieces come in crates-would you like to see?'

He motioned that he was done, and she read it quickly.

'Yes, thank you so much, as long as it's not any trouble, of course!'

He smiled and shook his head and motioned for her to follow him. They crossed the lobby and down a couple of rudimentary steps that went to the storage closet. From floor to ceiling were pieces they kept that belonged to the humanities building that they could put out between artist spotlights upstairs, there were also some of the pieces that the children had done that were put aside to be displayed at the end of the school year as a treat for finishing the classes Mary Margret did. There were also display furniture that they kept to have when the exhibit needed it, as well as foam, and other packing supplies to keep things from breaking while they had them.

By the far wall held two giant wooden crates labeled with the title of the exhibit that was on display at the moment.

'This is so cool! So these are the crates, huh?'

He started scribbling again.

I look over each piece when it gets here and note the condition it's in. If it's too bad, it gets sent back to be fixed before the exhibit moves on to the next place on the itinerary. I type my notes up later and it's kept on file, so each place knows the condition of the pieces before it gets there. I then take and arrange the exhibit to be the most eye-catching. Takes a little math and a decent eye, but it's not hard.'

He waited for her to read the note.

'Do you enjoy it?'

That was a trickier question. One wrong answer and she would have a plethora of other questions. And while he wouldn't mind talking-well, talking was not exactly the word for what they were doing-to her for a long time, it wasn't good to make anything personal.

I like handling valuable art pieces and knowing that people liked the exhibit.

That seemed tame enough.

She smiled and was about to say something when there was an unwelcome visitor.

'Hey Gramps, the school will be here in about five minutes, you may want to…Oh…'

Jeff walked in and Robby had the sudden urge to bang his head against a wall. Belle was standing very near him, leaning over to read the paper, only jumping away a little when Jeff had walked in. There wasn't much room in that storage room, so their close proximity made him suddenly very warm. Then the boy had called him Gramps-as if he needed more attention to the difference in age between the two of them and himself-if he had to guess, he would say that Belle was even younger than Jeff.

Jeff's mouth was hanging open for a good minute before he finally seemed to compose himself.

'So you got a word out of Robby, huh? Belle, isn't it?'

'Yes, and, we figured things out.' She said as she took hold of Robby's arm, causing him to stiffen at the touch-not having anyone do so-he wasn't sure how long it had been. She raised up the arm holding the notebook as a declaration to Jeff, and Robby looked pleadingly over at him as he tried to explain how things were with his eyes. Jeff looked at the notebook and looked at Belle and it thankfully seemed to dawn on him.

'So Robby is…'

'Using the notebook to communicate-how do you two normally converse?' Was her sudden thought and Robby started feeling his body seize up again.

'Oh he can be pretty expressive when he wants to be.' Jeff smirked and gave laughing eyes at Robby's embarrassment. 'Anyway-you two were…'

'Oh, Robby's giving me a tour for that paper I was telling you about.'

'Ahhh.' He nodded his head. 'Well by all means, I won't interrupt your, um, conversation. But Robby, that school group will be here soon, you might want to wrap the interview up because I will bring them this way in a little bit.'

Jeff gave another smirk, and Robby knew he would have a fun conversation when this was all over.

Belle looked over at him, her eyes full of curiosity, and her nose wrinkled with her next words.

'I don't want to disturb you further. Do you think I could come back one day and discuss the events you do and maybe, I don't know, I would love to hear about the history of this place. '

He didn't need paper to communicate his ability to do those things. He racked his brain for a good day and time. She told him what days she worked-as if he didn't already know the library's hours, and they decided on a Saturday in the early morning hours when fewer people would stop by, as their operating hours had them closing at 4pm.

He was going to see her again-she wanted to speak to him again. After two long years, Belle French knew that Robby Gold existed. She just also happened to believe an outright lie about him. Well, after their Saturday meeting, he would go back to seeing her only when a new exhibit came, and that was all. No need to pile on more anxiety than he had already.

'So what was that, you know, with Belle-and a notebook?' He and Jeff leaned over their lunches and the dreaded conversation had begun.

'Well, someone in this room may have mentioned that I was mute! And you know how I am-I couldn't correct her, so it was easier to just nod my head and go along with things.' He was pinching the bridge of his nose at the situation he was in.

'I said that sarcastically! She asked about you, and how you darted away the first time she saw you and I said, "Oh yeah, the guy is mute", but I did so very, very sarcastically. How was I to know she would take me seriously?!'

'She's coming back Saturday, Jeff-what am I going to do?'

'I don't know-maybe tell her the truth?' He looked at him as though the answer was blatantly obvious.

Oh yeah, he was definitely going to have a headache, along with his now rolling stomach and shaking hands at the thought of trying to not only talk to Belle, but also to admit that he had led her to believe a lie. Jeff took a look at his pitiful state and threw his hands up in the air and left Robby to despise himself alone.