Fallen (8 page)

As it turned out, I didn’t need to search too hard to find him. Around
late afternoon
, I asked Sylvia, the hemp jeweler, to watch my spot and my bike while I went for a
muff
a
letta
, a
delicious
olive sandwich that
I’d eaten for lunch the day before
,
and
was
instantly addicted to on my first bite. I
’d
almost
reached
the deli shop when I felt my hair stand on end again
and
I
instinctively
looked behind me. He was quick
,
but I still saw him before he slipped inside a souvenir shop
that sat
behind a stand of masquerade masks and
M
ardi
Gras
beads. I hesitated
but
decided to confront him
.
I
walked briskly to where I’d
watched
him disappear.
As I entered
the shop, I
quickly
searched the colorful aisles
that were full
of voodoo dolls
in all shapes and sizes,
dried mixes
of Cajun and Creole spices,
and shirts printed with catchy phrases
.
Nevertheless
,
after a thorough search
,
I found that he was no longer there. Figuring he’d slipped by me, I chose to forget it, quell my frustration, and
go
pick up my sandwich.

When I reached The Square again, I went back to taking customer’s orders.
It wasn’t until the sun touched the cathedral’s rooftop and the last of the
tourists
began filtering away
did
he appear again.

Felix
pranced
up to me
just as I was considering packing up my chairs for the day and stated excitedly, “Tofu.” He reminded
me of a dog anticipating the taste of a bone
.

“What?” I spun in my seat to face him, keeping an eye on a twenty-something guy who was deciding whether to be my next customer.

“Tofu. Also known as soybean curd. Do you like it?” he asked, his eyebrows
rose
in expectation.

“I-I’ve ne
ver really
had it,” I replied, nervous
as to
where this conversation was headed after remembering his choice of breakfast foods.

It turned out, my concern was legitimate.

“Excellent! Get your chops ready
‘
cause I’m making my special dish tonight
…
Tofu
Turkey
Tacos!”

“Mmmm,” I said, trying not to show
my disgust
.

“Not to be confused with tofurky, which is tofu made to look like turkey. I use a mixture of tofu and turkey s
o you get a variety of proteins
and tastes!”

He beamed back at me.

“Wonderful…”

“We’re taking off now. See you back home!”

“Okay…”
I nodded
in
response, ignoring how the way he said “home” made a nervous jolt run through me. Instead, my mind raced through all the fast food places available from here to the house.

Felix gleefully
spun on his heels
but quickly
stopped
,
add
ing from
over his shoulder
, “Oh
yes
…Godzilla over there
…” He nodded
toward
Rufus.
“
He a
sked me to mention he’s making hamburge
rs
,
if you want any of those too
.
”
He rolled his eyes and shrugged
,
as if he couldn’t understand why.

I heard his
car’s
engine
thunder
to life a few minutes later,
just as t
he twenty-something guy ha
d
moved
back
into
the crowd.
I sat patiently watching the
last of the
bustling tourists pass by
, in no hurry whatsoever
to rush home and smell tofu and turkey sizzling in the same pan.

By the time the
din in The Square had quieted and the last of the tourists disappeared down a side street
, I began to feel it
.

The h
air rose
up on the back of my neck
– just as it had the day before
, just as it had at lunch today
.
I drew in
a
frustrated breath
and scanned the crowd
, looking for
the reason
.

Slowly, the
sensation
grew
more
intense
causing
goos
e bumps
to rise
on my arms, peaking when my eyes landed on him.

The
one
dressed in the yellow and black leather rider suit
was on his bike again watching
me
. A
security guard approached
him
,
b
ut before they could interact
,
the guy
took off
down the street
with
dirt and exhaust kicking up behind him.

He was back a few minutes later
and
the hair on my neck
began to
steadily
ris
e
again
, growing higher
with each step
he took
as he
arrogantly
strolled
toward
me
.
He removed his helmet
,
and I could see he had dark brown hair that hung to his shoulders and the type of chiseled good looks I’d seen only on GQ models.
He had striking clear blue eyes which bore
into
me as he stopped just behind my customer chair.

His stare especially unnerved me. It was unavoidable
and
contradict
ed
his cheerful demeanor. While his
jovial
expression told me to relax, his feverishly concentrated eyes sent a silent alarm through me.

“Ello,” he said
with an
Australian
accent
. T
he goose
bumps rose higher. His broad smile told me that
he had no idea how his presence made me react. “Will ya take one mo’ customer today?”

I assessed him for a m
oment longer than I would others
because of the affect his presence had on me
and his oddly intent gaze
.
D
espite my best
efforts, I
couldn’t rationally find anything wrong with him.
It was easy to
believe
that he was just another tourist with a quirky manner.

Besides, there were still a few straggling
v
endors left in case something did happen.

“Come on…” he said with a beguiling tone. “I promise
not to be a problem customer
.”

I
gave in, lifting
a shoulder in a half shrug. “
Sure
.”

He eagerly took a seat in the chair opposite me, throwing his green canvas bag
down with amazing precision
right next to mine.

Later, I wished I would have paid more attention to its position.

“My name’s Sharar.
”

“I figured.”

His eyes widened in surprise
at my response
.

I
glanced
toward
the necklace lying against his chest. I could see the name clearly now and pointed to it.

“That’s good. You’re good.
I j
ust returned from
Taipei
. Ever been there?
Taipe
i
?” He kept talking without waiting for an answer. “Bloody hot down thea.
Got used to it though.
”

“I guess that would explain why you’re not affected by the heat here,”
I said when he paused.
He gawked back at me in surprise.
“Your jacket…and leather…
neither is conducive to today’s temperature
,
yet you’re not even breaking a sweat.”

Sharar’s face lit up and he tossed his head back to release a long, loud laugh. “You’re observant.
More than I gave you credit for.
”

I
didn’t respond immediately
because
m
y mind had caught his words clearly and I was a little taken
a
back
by them
. T
hat was a statement someone made when they’d
known you
long enough to make
that kind of
conclusion.
If what he said was true, he’d met me less than a minute ago and already he’d judged me to be observa
nt. Unless I had met him before…
which was a possibility considering how many
people
I’d met on the road.