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Chatting with Lucy was refreshing. She hadn’t known me from the get-go, and even though she knew now, she was interested in learning about who Jake Stanley really was—not what you could read on IMDB or some thread on Reddit. The conversation was more organic than any I’d had in recent years.
We launched into a verbal ping pong match with her asking a question, then me reciting it back.
Lucy:How old are you?
Me:30, how old are you?
Lucy:28. Siblings?
Me:No. Just the one sister for you?
Lucy:Yeah. Favorite color?
Me:Red. What’s yours?
Lucy:Aqua. What would you be doing if you weren’t acting?
Me:Architect. What if you weren’t a photographer?
Lucy:I’d run an animal sanctuary.
And the questions continued. Honestly, I couldn’t remember when I had as much fun justtalkingwith someone.
Lucy began to relax. Suddenly she had slowed down with her food consumption.
“Oof, I’m full,” she declared sedately.
“Did you get enough to eat?” By no means did I mean it sarcastically, but she threw an almond at me.
“Be nice. Yes, I kind of eat a lot…but you picked up on that too.” Her mouth quirked into an amused little smile where she was unashamed of her appetite, nor did it appear that she had any inclination about changing it.
It was the first time there was a lull between us. Lucy yawned and I was unable to stop one escaping me as well.
“I should probably get going. This was nice, thank you.”
I stood, ready to walk her out. “Thank you for joining me. Can I walk you back?”
“That’s sweet, but I’m good.” Lucy gathered her bag under her arm. “Thanks again and I’m sure I’ll see ya around,” she called over her shoulder.
Once she had left, I plopped down in my chair. I couldn’t shake the feeling that she left a bit abruptly. Maybe she was just extremely tired.
Maybe I was tired and making something out of nothing.
I pushed the thought aside, tossed back a handful of almonds and went to my room for the night.
Chapter 10
Lucy
Portland
I should’ve eatenmore between the time I got off at five and the time I met Jake at nine.
Four hours might have seemed like a lot of time, but after my shift, I ended up wandering around the convention floor. It didn’t matter that I wasn’t familiar with everything, it proved to be quite fun.
What I found entertaining were the mashup outfits and the gender bender costumes. There was a zombie Snow White, a Belle with those cinnamon buns over her ears, and I even saw two sets of female Mario and Luigi’s.
Occasionally, there were small clusters of people dressed up, some in group costumes, some as individuals. Con-goers would stop and politely ask permission to take photos either of them or with them.
