There was a fresh, cool breeze flowing over his face, his limbs, consuming him with its light, pure waves of air. Jeremy didn’t think it was real because everything else around him was hot and sweaty and terrible. But he could feel it. And what he felt had to be real, right?
It confused him, how spontaneously this breeze had come upon him. Turned his head, focused his eyes…and that was it. Wonder, beauty, clarity. Just like that. Faster and better than anything he had ever felt before.
He was staring, he was sure of it. But how could he not?
She was beautiful of course. Her skin was pale, but warmly colored at the same time; her hair a gorgeous shade of light brown, in curls, half of it pinned up; her figure tall, lean but just the right amount. Jeremy had seen beautiful women before. None as beautiful as her, but still, it couldn’t be the only reason, the only thing filling him with such warmth.
Now she was speaking, and he couldn’t take his eyes off her. She was speaking to Sandy.
That made him blink. Sandy knew this girl? And now she was smiling. He was making her smile. Jeremy swallowed. A kind of liquid jealousy burned vaguely in his veins.
He had to talk to her, had to stand beside her. But how, and what would he say? What would she say, suddenly being spoken to by a stranger? She might not listen.
Wait, now she was moving. Smiling again, biting her lip, then turning so swiftly her hair flew behind her. Still she looked graceful.
Beautiful.
Jeremy swallowed. His feet felt less heavy now and his heart wasn’t pounding quite so hard, so he carefully stepped forward. “Excuse me” he muttered, not focused enough to steer clear of all the men in his path. They all gave him looks as he passed, but they were only hazy images in the background of his vision. There was Sandy, smiling a little as the girl edged further away and stopped at the end of the row, where the men were consulting each other. He couldn’t see them too well, either. He felt almost drunk.
“There you are,” called Sandy with a laugh, turning to meet him.
Jeremy couldn’t tell if he stumbled before he stopped, or just stopped. But suddenly he wasn’t moving. “Hey,” he said, his sight trailing past his friend’s face to the girl. Her back was turned. “Who’s the girl?” he asked. He wondered if he sounded strange.
“Oh, her? That’s Claire.” Sandy sounded nonchalant. He leaned against a machine. “Just one of the several women I’ve charmed in this town.”
Her head turned and her curls bounced slightly; he could see her face from the side now. Her lips pursed slightly, but she was placid. Then they moved as she said something. Of course he couldn’t hear.
A low chuckle came from beside him. He blinked once, finally letting his eyes stray from her face to Sandy’s.
“You back yet?” asked Sandy.
Instinctively, Jeremy’s gaze panned back to Claire. She was like some kind of magnet. He felt he could look at her forever and never grow tired. But she…well, she didn’t know he was there. He was just another boy in the crowd. He wanted that to change. And he had barely learned her name. “Um, no,” he muttered, remembering suddenly that Sandy had spoken.
“You wanna talk to her I reckon?” Sandy grinned, slapping his friend on the back. “Don’t get your hopes up, mate. She’s a hard one to get a word with. Practically a royal.”
“You said you know her,” said Jeremy, looking at Sandy.
“I drove her to her house when she got here, couple days ago.” Sandy reached into his pocket, searching for some spare piece of straw or dried-out cigarette to chew on. “You oughta see where she lives, that about says it all. I think her father owns this place now.”
Jeremy swallowed, turning his head again. Claire was turning hers too, slowly, elegantly, as she stepped to her left behind the men, who were clearly leaving the room. Then, suddenly, her green eyes moved past the machines and workers, toward Sandy and his frozen figure. When they touched his gaze, it felt like the longest second of his life.
The lightest frown crept to the corners of her mouth, like the dim outline of a curious question mark hanging in mid-air; wonder.
Then she was gone, looking away somewhere else. Stepping forward and leaving as quickly and suddenly as she had come.
Jeremy smiled.
