The Bookish Love Affair #10 (Free Short Story)

Daniela entered LX Factory a few minutes before the beginning of the talk and went to the room where the event was going to take place. Upon entering the room, she recognized some of the authors from the photos on the back covers of their books and felt tiny. Some of the most respected Portuguese writers were there. She was still in shock at having been invited to an event with so many illustrious personalities. A blonde woman in her forties seemed to be in charge: she was showing the speakers their seats and giving instructions to the team that was going to serve the coffee break. Very tall and slim, the woman was dressed very elegantly, in a flowing white shirt, tight black pants, and a pair of stiletto heels. At some point she noticed Daniela and addressed her.

“Hello. Do you need some help?”

“Hello. My name is Daniela Prazeres and I was invited to participate in the talk.”

The woman looked her up and down and let out a loud laugh, as if Daniela was making fun of her.

“You look very young. How old are you?”

“I’m 26.”

 “You look younger. You could pass for a high school student,” said the woman, continuing to laugh.

 Coming from the back of the room, an older lady approached them.

“Hi Daniela. I’m Maria. I’m the one who sent you the e-mails to settle the details of your participation. Professor Semedo invited her,” said Maria turning to the tall blonde, “Daniela wrote a very interesting article about Jane Austen in X Magazine.”

 The blonde looked again at Daniela, still appraising her.

“I loved that article! I had no idea that the author was so young. Are you a literature teacher?”

“No, I’m finishing my master’s degree in Literature at the Faculty of Arts and Humanities.”

 “I’m Lara Figueiredo.”

Daniela let out an exclamation. Lara was a well-known literary critic and she had read many of her book reviews. She had no idea Lara was such a young and beautiful woman because her articles never came with a photo.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

 “Semedo has a good nose for new talent,” said the blonde, winking at her, “but he doesn’t know how to dodge cars,” she added, laughing, as she walked away to greet another writer who was arriving.

 “How bad was the accident?” Daniela asked Maria.

 “A few bruises and a broken leg. He was run over when he was crossing the crosswalk in Entrecampos.”

 “I’m very sorry. I’d really like to meet him.”

“You will. He should be here soon. A broken leg isn’t going to stop him from coming to the talk, as he said himself. Come, let me introduce you to the other speakers.”

 After the introductions were made, Maria walked away and Daniela noticed that people were starting to arrive to attend the event. She started to head for her seat, but then she saw Florinda and Augusto at the door, arm in arm. Daniela smiled at them and walked over to them. Florinda’s hair was loose and she looked much younger. She was wearing a burgundy knit dress with a black overcoat over it. She looked very beautiful and elegant. Augusto was wearing one of his usual gray suits, adorned by a flowered tie.

 “Good afternoon!”

“Good afternoon! I’m so glad you came,” said Daniela, embracing them. “You both look very elegant. I really like your tie, Augusto.”

Augusto stroked his tie, with a broad smile on his lips.

 “It was a gift from Florinda,” he said, casting a glance at Florinda, with affection.

“Let’s begin the session,” announced Maria.

“Good luck!” said Florinda, giving Daniela a motherly kiss on the cheek.

People began to take their seats. Florinda and Augusto started heading to the audience’s seats, but Florinda turned back and whispered to Daniela:

“At the end of the talk, he’s taking me to dinner at my favorite restaurant.”

“I am very happy for you. You make a lovely couple.”

Florinda smiled, embarrassed, and went to her seat. Daniela went to her seat as well. The writers and critics began to sit down. Daniela noticed that the seat to the right of hers was still empty. On the card in front of the empty chair it read Pedro Semedo. Would Professor Semedo show up?

Lara sat at the opposite end and was chatting with some writers sitting next to her. Daniela saw her look at the room’s entrance door and smile. She was a very beautiful woman, Daniela thought, with a little envy. Lara stood up and began the session, causing all eyes to focus on her.

Someone sat next to Daniela. She looked down and saw a plastered leg and realized that it was that professor. She raised her eyes and was in shock. He was trying to find a place to put the crutch and hadn’t looked at her yet. Daniela felt her heart race. It was the young man from the train. Had he found out who she was and invited her on purpose? But the invitation had been made before he even knew her name. He finally put his crutch away and turned to her to greet her. She saw the surprise in his eyes and realized that he had no idea that she was the same Daniela from the train.

Pedro was speechless. Next to him was the girl from the train with whom he had been exchanging messages for months. Seen up close she was even more beautiful, with her long red hair and porcelain skin. Pedro looked at the card with her name and understood everything.

“Our organizer, Pedro Semedo, will make an introduction to today’s talk,” Said Lara, pointing to Pedro.

Pedro smiled at Daniela and then turned to the audience. Daniela couldn’t even concentrate on what he was saying. She was in shock. She looked at the audience and saw Florinda also in shock and Augusto laughing. Pedro spoke for a few minutes and Daniela was finally able to concentrate on his speech. He was a well-spoken man and obviously a lover of books and literature. When he finished, Lara started talking again. Pedro turned to Daniela, who continued to stare straight ahead, avoiding to look at him.

He leaned toward her.

“Sorry I didn’t show up on Saturday. Something unexpected happened when I was taking the subway to meet you,” he whispered, pointing to his leg, “and I had no way of contacting you.”

Daniela smiled, but continued to stare straight ahead.

“After the talk, would you like to have dinner with me? There’s a nice restaurant just around the corner.”

Daniela took a deep breath and didn’t answer right away. He was not to blame for what had happened to him, and she was tempted to accept the invitation, but felt insecure.

 “We could talk about our passion,” Pedro whispered, seeing that she didn’t answer. Daniela swallowed hard. “Our passion about books, I mean,” he concluded with a smile.

Lara kept talking, attracting the attention of the whole audience. Daniela looked around the audience, looking for Florinda and Augusto. They were holding hands and you could tell they were very happy. Daniela turned to Pedro and looked into his eyes. He smiled, delighted with her beauty. Daniela looked into those hazel eyes and felt a serenity invade her.

“I’d be happy to have dinner with you,” she whispered.

THE END

---

If you enjoyed reading my short story, you should check out my book Anxious Girl, an uplifting, feel-good novel about a young woman dealing with anxiety.