Teach Me

Chapter 2

As soon as the elevator doors opened, you stepped out onto the third floor and inhaled deeply, taking a moment to fill your lungs with the crisp air. It was rare when you had the chance to actually explore the Smithsonian's Natural History Museum, even though you'd been working there for the past three months, so you wanted to savor the moment. Understandably, you were always stuck behind your desk on the first floor or constantly flitting from office to office, dropping off and picking up documents and statements from your coworkers. You never got to see much beyond the East Wing of the building unless you were arriving to work or leaving from it, and you were pretty sure you were going to lose your goddamn mind if you had to memorize another detail of the front door without seeing something new.

That's why when Christianna, your office mate, asked if you wouldn't mind taking the bi-annual expenditure report you both made up to the Directors' meeting on the third floor, you jumped at the chance. Literally. You jumped out of your chair, snatched the report out of her hands and all but ran out of the office, hearing the sound of her laughing fading behind you as you headed towards the elevator. You and Christianna had grown pretty close in the last three months you'd been here, starting only a week apart from each other in the Accounting Department. She knew you'd been eager to explore all that DC had to offer, including all 19 of the Smithsonian's Museums. She also knew you'd been just as eager to avoid seeing Chad from Finance stop by to chat with you for what would be the fourth time that day.

You only had fifteen minutes to spare before the Directors meeting ended and you could pass off the report, so you had to hurry. You really didn't want to miss it.

Walking briskly, you made your way through the wide corridors of the museum, hugging the report closely to your chest so you could move quicker. It was surprisingly empty on the third floor, and there was no noise except the rhythmic clacking of your 3-inch suede booties against the marble floor. As you moved closer to the end of the hallway, your excitement grew as the view of the wide room before you started to open up. Reaching the end, you peeked out of the doorway to make sure both sides were clear before darting across the walkway, catching yourself on the railing with one hand and leaning your body against one of the tall pillars. Giddy already, you looked down over the railing and gasped, a wide smile forming across your face.

You saw tons of people mulling about on the first floor of the Rotunda, surrounding the information desks and the huge Elephant statue off-center. Teams of kids and tourists were being led this way and that for tours of the exhibits. All the excited chatter happening below drifted right up to your ears, along with some loud laughter and screams you matched with two toddlers playing hide and seek around one of the pillars with their dads. You absolutely loved people watching, and this was the perfect time for it. Friday's around noon were always one of the busiest, and it was so fun watching all the excitement unfold down on the first floor. Plus, it was beautiful. You were always interested in architecture, and though you didn't know much about it, the layout of the room reminded you of old roman structures you'd seen in your high school history books. The autumn sun shined brightly through the rounded windows near the peak of the building, spilling beautifully out onto the floor below like a golden curtain.

You were so caught up in everything, you didn't notice that you were practically gaping around in awe. Unfortunately, this also meant you didn't notice the tall figure that had managed to creep up and stand right next to you.

"First time here?"

"FUCK!" you yelped, jerking as your arms shoot to your chest to ease your pounding heart, the report falling to the floor in the process. You close your eyes and drop your head to take a few quick deep breaths to calm down, and hear what sounds like muffled laughter next to you. You mentally remind yourself to check your face to prevent from glaring at the sneaky motherfucker that just scared the shit out of you.