Free Phoenix Heart by Carolyn Nash Page A

in
the beginnings of the rush hour traffic, inching our way along the freeway,
still miles from the airport. I watched it all carefully until I was absolutely
certain my face was its normal color once again.
    We rode on in silence as the driver tried to maneuver the limo
from lane to lane, trying to find a faster way through traffic that was
crawling at no more than twenty-five.
    “So,” Dr. Richards said, “you should have a great time in
San Francisco. It’s a beautiful time of year to go.”
    Speak Melanie! Speak!
    “I’ve heard that,” I said cleverly.
    “Have you spent much time there?”
    “No, not really.”
    Big smile followed by long silence. He cleared his throat
and shifted around. “I came up during the summer for the Black and White Ball. Spectacular.
Have you ever been?”
    Oh, right, I fly up every
year.
    “No,” I said.
    “No, of course not,” he said. “I mean, not of course not
that you couldn’t go, just of course not that it’s so expensive. I forgot for a
minute you’re a student.”
    I just smiled.
    “So, what are your plans?” he asked.
    “The tour company has everything set. Sightseeing,
restaurants, a play or two.”
    He smiled. “Well, that sounds great. Too bad they didn’t let
you bring someone with you. It would have been that much more fun.”
    “Actually, they did. I mean, the contest was for... It’s
just that with such short notice... Yeah, I guess it would have been more fun.”
    “Oh,” he said.
    Oh. Oh, I see. It should have
been obvious. Of course you couldn’t find anyone to come with you. I should
have known that just looking at you.
    “Good,” he said. “See, from the airport I’m heading to San
Francisco myself, and as long as you’re not seeing anyone, perhaps you could
squeeze me in the itinerary. I need to clear up a few things about what
happened this morning, and then maybe I could take you to dinner to thank you
for this ride.”
    I’m sorry, what? Andrew Richards
just asked me out? Andrew Richards?
    “That… that’s not necessary,” I said. “It was no problem to
give you a ride.”
    “Of course it’s not necessary. I’d enjoy it.”
    I smiled. “Really, I do appreciate the offer, but the tour
company has practically every minute booked. Thanks, though.”
    Shut-up Melanie. Keep your
mouth shut and just nod your head!
           (but what if he did
have something to do with the bomb)
    “Now, there must be some evening free. Or, maybe a lunch?” He
was directing what must have been microwave radiation at me: the container was
staying cool, put the contents were melting down into a puddle.
    “Dr. Richards, really...”
    “Melanie, all my friends call me Andrew.”
    “Andrew, then. I really don’t think I’ll be able...”
    “You know, Melanie, in class and in the lab I got the
impression you didn’t much care for me. Is that what this is about?”
    And I got the impression you
didn’t even know my name.
    I could feel my skin warming up to a blush. “No! No, not at
all! What made you think that?”
    “Every time I was around, I never heard you say more than
two words.”
    “Well, I...”
    “I’d hear you talking to Chuck and the other students, and
then I’d come in and you’d clam up. Was it something I said?”
    “No! I mean, it was just, you know, a new situation and all.”
    He shifted around toward me and casually put his arm up on
the back of the seat so that his hand rested a scant inch from my shoulder. “Well,
I’m glad to know it was nothing that I did.” He gave me a slow smile and I
could feel his fingers dangling next to my skin and any second a tendril
of smoke was going to rise from the pink angora overlying that shoulder.
    “You know,” he said, “I started thinking about San Francisco
as a possible destination for this trip when I heard you were going.”
    Why is he doing this? And why am
I feeling like it’s feeding time in the lion cage and I’m a nice juicy steak?
    “San Francisco in October