Chapter Three: We Met at the Met

Kit called me a block later, as if she had some sixth sense that my date was over.

"So? How was it?"

"How do you know I'm not still with him?"

"Are you?"

"Well, no, but I could be." The light changed and I stopped at the corner, standing too close to the curb, which is a habit I've had trouble breaking since I moved to New York. In Cincinnati it was never a problem. But the crazy drivers in this city make getting too close to an intersection life threatening. "Wait, did he call you?"

"Nope."

"You're clairvoyant?"

"Potentially."

"Pretty sure I'd know this by now."

She laughed. "How about I tell you where you are?"

The light changed and I crossed the street. "I don't even know where I am."

It was partly true. I'd never been great at directions, and I still had no sense of the points on the compass in New York, despite it being on a grid that was supposed to be easy to learn. It was embarrassing how many times I took out my phone to figure out if I should turn left or right, particularly when I was in Manhattan. I didn't like looking like a tourist in the city I lived in.

"You're about to hit Central Park West."

I checked the street sign ahead of me. She was right. "How did you know that?"

"We have Find My Friends on our iPhones, remember?"

"Oh, right." Kit had insisted I install it when I moved to New York because she was worried I'd get lost. "But that's kind of creepy that you're checking on me."

"Well..."

"What?"

"I might have an alert set up that tells me every time you're on the move."

This stopped me in my tracks. A man slammed into to me then cursed me out as he hurried away. "What?"

"You'd just moved to the city! I was worried about you."

"And the reason you never turned it off is?"

"I got used to the reminders of where you were. It was out of love, I promise."

Was it that big a deal? It wasn't as if I didn't tell Kit everything that was going on in my life anyway. "Okay, but turn it off now, all right?"

"I will. Hey, you know what? You're so close to the Met. You should go."

"We were supposed to go together."

"I know, but I'm tied up with John today and it's like fate or something that you're right there after talking about it so much."

I gazed into Central Park, thinking about the Met sitting across the lawn from where I was standing. At least, I thought that's where it was. I'd check the minute we got off the phone. "It's nice out. I was going to hang in the park."

"So do that after. Go to the museum, already. You won't regret it."

"Why do you care so much?"

"I want you to finally start exploring this place."

Now I got it. "You're worried I'm going to move back to Ohio."

"Well, yeah. Obvi."

"Love you, Kit."

"Love you, too."

I put my phone away with a smile after checking that yes, in fact, I could go straight through the park and get to the Met. I resolved to make it without checking my phone for directions as set out, taking in the park, the cool of the trees, the people buzzing along the paths, pushing carriages, riding scooters, or jogging on the internal road. As I walked past the Jackie O. reservoir, I watched the sunlight glint off the water, and listened to the happy shouts of the children running around the fresh green grass. Kit was right to worry I might leave. My apartment was small, everything was expensive, and I often felt anonymous and overwhelmed.

But right at that moment, I only saw the positives, and it felt like a place I'd be happy to stay forever.

It didn't take long to get to the Met. I stared at the building for a moment, taking in the triple porticos and the wide sandstone stairs. I felt the same prick of excitement I got whenever I was about to enter somewhere new. I liked my routine, but there was something about the unknown that always got me excited.

"Pretty nice, right?"

I started, then turned toward the familiar voice. "Jack? What are you doing here?"

"Going to the Met?"

I tried to steady my heart. I was happy to see him, but the conversation with Kit had unsettled me. Was Jack following me? Exactly how many people did I have on my tail? "Odd coincidence."

"Is it?" He shrugged and his complete nonchalance reassured me. Jack wasn't following me. He wasn't crazy like Kit. "We were close by, and it's one of my favorite places. I try to get here three or four times a year. You?"

"It's my first time, actually."

"How is that possible?"

"I only moved to New York a year ago, and it took me a while to settle into my job. It's been on my list forever, but somehow I never make it here. Until today."

I watched a large family make their way up the stairs, the mother anxious, the father holding one little girl on either side of him. They were wearing bright floral dresses that matched their mother's, and when they got to the top of the stairs, one of them stopped and executed a perfect pirouette.

"Well, that settles it then," Jack said. "I'll be your tour guide."

"You don't have to do that."

"Trust me, you want this tour."

I was amused by his earnestness. "Okay, you convinced me. Lead the way."

We walked up the steps and I resisted the urge to execute my own (bad) pirouette at the top. Kit was right. The Met had been on my top ten list of places to visit when I came to New York. I was glad she'd pushed me to go.

We went inside and stepped up to the ticket window. While we were able to get in for free as New York residents, Jack insisted on paying for our tickets. He'd gone to the ATM after we separated and now had enough cash.

"We should pay for the arts," he said. "They're important."

"I agree. But you don't have to buy my ticket."

"It's the least I can do after this morning. Besides, I need to build back my good will."

"Good Will Humping," I blurted.

"A Few Hard Men," Jack replied without missing a beat.

"Buffy the Vampire Layer."

Jack took our tickets and a museum map from the woman behind the counter who was now giving us a funny look. "Impressive."

"I've had a lot of practice."

He chuckled as we walked away from the ticket window. "It shows. So ... We're in one of my favorite places and I get to show it to you for the first time." He rolled up the map and tapped me on the arm excitedly. "I mean, look at this place. Isn't it great?"

We were in the main hall, a vast expanse of white marble and soaring pillars. Light flowed in from the glass rosettes in the coffered ceiling and the arched windows below them. Families with excited children and older couples wearing serious walking shoes were milling around us, the children's pitter-patter echoing off the walls. It was a happy space.

"It's beautiful."

"Right? Designed in 1902 by Richard Morris Hunt in the Neoclassical style—"

I burst out laughing.

"You don't appreciate my tour guide knowledge?"

"Wait. You actually were a tour guide? I thought that was just a figure of speech."

He clasped his hands behind his back. "Well, yeah, I guided a few summers when I was a teenager. My mom worked here for a while and kind of insisted I do it. College applications, blah blah blah. But to be honest, I ended up loving it."

"That's adorkable."

He didn't look so sure. "My ex thought it was lame."

And there she was. His ex. I wanted to ask a million questions—who she was, how long they'd dated, when had they broken up and why?—but I squashed it. Not the time.

"Well, it's good she's your ex, then."

Jack nodded, but some of his enthusiasm had seeped away.

"Where should we go?" I asked. "What are your favorite spaces? Tour guide me."

"You sure?"

"One hundred percent."

"Okay, we definitely need to see the Temple. And the armor is cool."

"Those sound great. But I have one request. Can we see the bed where Claudia slept? You know, From The M—"

"Oh, you're one of those!"

"What?"

"A Mixed-Up Files Girl."

He was right. From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler was one of my favorite books. I loved Claudia and Miles's story, two siblings who ran away from home and ended up hiding in the Met.

"Is that a bad thing?"

"Depends. How well do you take disappointment?"

I scrunched up my face. "I can't see the bed?"

"Dismantled I'm afraid."

"The chapel where she prayed?"

"Closed in 2001."

"You seem to know a lot about it."

He lifted his left shoulder. "Girls used to come in all the time with their favorite passages marked and it was my job to tell them that the museum was a lot different than when the book was written."

"Ten-year-old girls came into the Met alone?"

"Well, they were usually with their parents. Sometimes an older sister."

"Ah. And you were how old? Seventeen, eighteen?"

"Where are you going with this?"

I tapped him on the chest with my index finger. "I bet the big sisters found you pretty irresistible."

Jack smiled impishly. "Seventeen-year-old me is feeling judged."

"How different was he from fifteen-year-old you?"

"He of the bad first date? Well, the seventeen-year-old version probably should be judged. He made some stupid decisions. And before you ask, no, I don't want to talk about them."

He said it lightly, and I got it. No way I wanted to tell Jack the stupidest things I'd done at seventeen. Not even the tenth stupidest thing, which had been Gerry Bush, the lead in the school play who had a way of memorizing swoony speeches from Shakespeare and using them when you were weakened by a few hits from his flask.

"You said something about a temple?"

"The Temple of Dendur!"

"That sounds like something from the Lord of the Rings."

"Is that bad?"

"Not necessarily."

Jack clicked his map against his palm. "I see ... Likes books, just not those kinds of books."

"I've read them."

"And they're awesome?"

"If you're into reading 800-page books."

"With all three volumes it's about 1,200 pages, but—"

"I rest my case."

"Are we in court?"

I laughed. "We're in the Met."

He shook his head, a smile on his lips. "You want to see that Temple or what?"

I crooked my arm out. "Lead the way."

He put his hand through the space I'd made, forming a link. It felt good to have that point of connection.

"Stick close to me," Jack said. "There's monsters ahead."

***

Ooh, monsters! Katie here! What do you think so far? If you're enjoying CHLOE BAKER'S LOST DATE, please consider leaving a comment below or voting for my story. Thanks so much for reading!

Read on to see what happens next!