“So, you keep saying,” she venomously half-sang.
“You know, I’m not all bad.” I heard Demien whisper in my ear.
I quickly whipped my head up from my glass and glanced into the mirror behind the bar, but I didn’t see him anywhere. I swung around to look behind me, still no Demien. I felt a deep sting of disappointment. Where did his voice come from?
“What are you looking for,” Myra asked.
“I thought I heard someone behind me. I guess not.” I shrugged my shoulders. Great, now I am hearing things.
Brad came up to us and refilled our drinks. “Girls, are you having fun?” He smiled.
“Sure, Brad, always fun at the bar,” I replied sarcastically and a little flirty.
“I think so, sure, when I’m making money,” he chuckled, wiggling his eyebrows at us.
I had a sense of someone watching me. I felt an invisible blanket carefully placed around me, in a figure of speech type of way. It was warm and comfortable; outside of the blanket would be cold and bleak. I found it strange, but inviting. I shook my head and reminded myself that I was a perfectly sane person. I needed to get out of the bar. It was making me crazy. “Myra,” I yelled over the blaring music.
“What?”
“Do you want to get out of here? We could go shopping or something.”
Myra’s eyes lit up. “Shopping is my favorite pastime.” She jumped off the bar stool onto her six-inch, sparkling stilettos and waived to Brad. “See you tomorrow night, Brad.”
“Have fun shopping, gals.”
As we walked through the door, Demien caught my eyes. He was sitting in the far corner of the building. I couldn’t believe that I had missed him before. My heart fluttered for a moment until I was yanked outside the door by Myra. I would have mentioned it to her, but I didn’t want to be pulled back into the bar. I just keep it my little secret.
Fourteen
The early evening air was warm with a cool breeze. I would have been perfectly happy walking to the shopping center, but I didn’t think Myra’s shoes would cooperate. It was quite a distance, but I was always up for a good walk. Myra, however, was not - ever.
The shopping center had only been completed a month earlier. Now Chadwick had four restaurants. Since the town was off Route 66, Thomas Randell, the local real estate investor, decided we needed more tourist attractions so he built the shopping center.
Before the town was a tourist attraction because of the museums, which were well worth the thirty dollars per museum fee. I don’t say that about many attractions. A beautiful, empowering walkway through a rainforest connected both museums. The brothers showcased the beauty of the universe throughout. Although they did have very opposite views, they were very close and worked well together. Or so it appeared.
Matthew’s museum, The Almighty Creator, housed religious artifacts. It concentrated on the rise of Christianity and a few different religions in general, kind of like a timeline. Well, actually, that’s exactly what it was. The museum began with a ceiling to floor painting of God, speaking the Ten Commandments. Walking through the large, ornate, red velvet draped entrance; the visitors were greeted by a painting of God molding the first atom in his hands. Then he added more atoms until there was an explosion of the universe. As visitors walked through the museum, they witnessed God creating the world and everything in it. Bible verses were placed about the museum. The section on fallen angels and the dark days of religious persecution was a section, I’d prefer to avoid. It was too scary for me.
The museum proved that God does exist through His creations and everyday miracles. The Virgin Mary, holding baby Jesus, stood in the middle of the museum. Visitors were able to leave messages about their proof of God. They had the option to write about answered prayers, everyday miracles or any other experiences they wanted to share. The museum made a believer out of nonbelievers. I think the biggest attribute was the very well thought out recreation of God creating science and using it as his tool throughout the universe.
On the exit wall, a statement was made about science. It said, “Science to God is like a vehicle to man.”
Michael’s museum, Science of the Universe, was strictly science-based. The first room was completely black, walking visitors through a tunnel that connected the dark room to the next. The next room was a beautiful recreation of the explosion of the beginnings of the universe. It was motion activated, so every step revealed a more spectacular piece of the explosion. The end of the walkway was our Milky Way Galaxy. The overhead speakers described every phase visitors walked through.
At the end of the universe, a door lit up to escort the touring group through evolution. Visitors were shown the way through the beginning of earth’s plant life, dinosaurs, a few different rooms showcasing changes to earth and weather patterns of the past and future, and finally, mankind made an appearance from caveman to today’s cities.
I drove us the two blocks over to the shopping center. “Let’s eat. I’m starving.”
“How ‘bout burgers?” Myra suggested.
“I was hoping for a really good salad. I was thinking Brothers. They have burgers and a salad bar.”
“Oh, yeah, I always forget about that place. That’s cool.”
As we entered Brothers, we were met by the sound of rushing waterfalls and a fiber optic volcano in the middle of an eruption.
The host led us to our booth, which was covered by a flowery grass skirt.
“I like this,” Myra commented. “Look at this cute tiki lamp.” She pointed to the wall our booth held up.
“Yeah, it’s cute.” I picked up the menu.
“Hello, ladies. My name is Noah, and I’ll be your
