Mary looked back at Thomas. ‘Is it only me or does this smell delicious?’ She nodded at the caldron before leaning over slightly to get a better noseful.
‘I was just about to say exactly that.’
Right then, catching both of them off guard, the witch, who in truth was a human statue performer, turned her head to look at Mary and Thomas before lifting her wooden spoon from the caldron.
‘Would you like to taste it?’ Her voice sounded exactly like what most people would expect a witch to sound like – gritty and squeaky.
‘Jesus!’ Mary jumped back, eyes wide, almost dropping her Champagne flute.
‘Whoa! What the hell?’ Thomas didn’t drop his glass either, but he did spill most of his Champagne onto the floor.
Everyone else who was in the room started applauding and laughing. A museum employee, who was standing on the corner armed with a wheeled bucket and a mop quickly made his way towards them. The museum clearly was expecting a lot of drink spillage by that witch.
‘Sorry,’ the witch apologized before going back to her initial position, ready to prank someone else.
‘And now I understand why this is in the “scary” room,’Mary said, her left hand resting on her chest. ‘Instead of in the “witches” one.’
‘Exactly,’ the witch whispered through the corner of her mouth.
‘I think I can actually taste my heart,’ Thomas said, pointing to his throat. ‘Because it’s beating right here.’ He finished what was left of his Champagne in one gulp.
Mary did the same.
They paused by the door to room five, the final exhibition room, and smiled at each other.
‘That was brilliantly done,’ Thomas admitted. ‘No one will be expecting that. I guess that that’s why this room is so busy.’
‘Yep,’ Mary agreed. ‘People are just hanging around, waiting for the next fool to be pranked.’
‘And the smell of food is the perfect bait,’ Thomas added. ‘It draws people to the witch because it’s simply impossible to ignore it.’
‘True,’ Mary agreed. ‘And to be honest, it really did make me feel a little hungry.’
‘Really?’ Thomas, once again, looked around for one of the waiters. ‘They have canapés and a whole bunch of finger food going around. Do you want to go get some?’
Mary shook her head. ‘Nah, I’ll be OK.’
Thomas hesitated for a split second, debating his next move. He chose to roll the dice. ‘Do you know what? I could do with some real food. How about we go get some dinner somewhere?’ He checked his watch. ‘It’s still early, everywhere will be open.’
It was Mary’s turn to hesitate for a second. Back at her apartment, she had decided not to eat anything before getting to the museum. She didn’t want to feel or look bloated, but the witch’s caldron fake smell had totally woken up her stomach, and it was hungry, so why not? She was really enjoying Thomas’ company.
Mary half nodded, half wiggled her head from left to right. ‘I guess I could do with some food as well. Nothing heavy, though.’
‘Yeah, that’s perfectly fine. There are hundreds of healthy food places around town. Quite a few around this area. Any preference? Or any type of food that you’re not into?’
Mary shook her head. ‘Not really. I’m pretty muck OK with anything.’
‘Cool.’ The smile that half parted Thomas’ lips was somewhat intriguing, as if he had just thought of a place that would truly surprise Mary. ‘So, since you’re not from San Francisco, shall I pick?’
‘Yeah, that’s fine by…’ Mary paused as her expression went from smiling to dead serious in record time.
Hold on just a second here,the voice inside Mary’s head interrupted her thought.How the hell does he know that you’re not from San Francisco? You never told him that. And you don’t really have an accent that can place you somewhere else.
Right then, Mary could feel her palms starting to clam up from pure anxiety.
This date just went from ‘great’ to ‘suspicious’ in a nanosecond. We’ve got to get out of here. And I mean right now.
‘Umm…’ Mary pulled her shawl tighter around her shoulders. ‘Do you know what?’ She took a step back. ‘I just remembered something really important. I’m so sorry but I need to go.’