Chapter Nineteen
A side from three-day weekends, the other perk to Vickie’s new schedule was getting to sleep in a little. Although she had never been much for lounging around, she did allow herself an extra thirty minutes of sleep. Just having some extra time around her apartment felt nice.
But by nine, she was completely ready for work, the cats had eaten, and she’d straightened the apartment. And she still had another hour before she had to be at work. This would take some getting used to.
Twenty minutes later, she emerged from the Metro and stepped out onto the National Mall. There was no point sitting around her apartment with nothing to do. Instead, she made her way to one of the park benches scattered along the walking path and pulled out her phone.
“Hello,” Kristy’s sleepy voice answered on the fourth ring.
“Oh. Sorry. Did I wake you?”
“Umm. Kind of. But that’s okay. . .I had a lot to do today anyway.”
“I figured since this you were off today you’d have some wedding stuff going on.” Kristy’s days off were Sunday and Monday.
“I do, actually. Mom and I are going to Memphis to look for a wedding dress.”
“Ooh. That sounds fun. I hate it that I can’t be there.”
Kristy laughed. “Believe me, so do I.” The years they’d lived as roommates, Kristy had relied on Vickie to serve as her fashion advisor. Even though they were now separated by miles, it wasn’t unusual for Kristy to text her pictures of outfit possibilities to get Vickie’s opinion.
“Are you going to send pictures?”
“Of course. So keep your phone handy today.”
Vickie watched a couple walk by, hand in hand. She couldn’t stop the pang of jealousy from hitting her. They looked so happy. “I will.”
“So, I think we have some unfinished business.” Kristy sounded more awake now.
“What do you mean?”
“Your little birthday promise went unfulfilled.” Kristy paused. “I know the guy ended up asking you to dinner, but seeing how it wasn’t even a date, I think we need to get back to the original plan.” Vickie had finally filled Kristy in on the situation, including her decision to assist Thatcher with his project.
Vickie groaned. “I was really hoping we could let that drop. Don’t you think it was humiliation enough that I misinterpreted his invitation?”
“Nope. I think we’ll just chalk that one up to a failure to communicate.” Kristy giggled. “Besides. I’ve been to DC. I know it is a city filled with cute men who fit your criteria.”
“Right. If it’s a city filled with men who fit my criteria, can you tell me why I’ve lived here for five years and not met any of them?”
Kristy was silent. “Maybe the timing wasn’t right then.” She sighed. “Vick, are you sure you don’t want to sign up for online dating? At least that way, you know the guys are actually looking for someone to date.”
“Umm. . . or someone to kill.” Vickie rose from the bench and began walking toward Survey Lodge. She’d have a few extra minutes to check her e-mail before heading to the Washington Monument. “I don’t want to go that route yet. Maybe there’ll be a cute guy on one of my programs today.”
“I’m thinking maybe you should look elsewhere for a date. Not only did the last guy you met on a ranger program turn out to be a dud, but chances are, they’ll be tourists only in town for a day or two.” She paused. “Hey, how about Dawn? Didn’t you say she was dating a new guy? Maybe he has a friend.”
Vickie thought about her options. Even though she hadn’t actually gone through with asking Thatcher out the other day, her face flamed at the thought of what would’ve happened if she had. Maybe asking Dawn to set her up was the best idea. It was certainly better than online dating, which, despite her protests, was starting to look more and more attractive. “That’s a good plan. I’ll talk to her this week and see what she thinks. I’m not sure if she’s met his friends yet or not. But I do know that he plays on a softball team on weekends.”
“Great. Okay, I’ve got to go get ready. My wedding dress isn’t going to buy itself.”
“Talk to you soon. And I’ll have my phone ready to see pictures.”
They said their goodbyes as Vickie stepped inside the lodge to get ready for her day.
∞∞∞
“If you’ll step into the elevator, we’ll ride back to the entrance of the monument.” The next evening, Vickie stood outside the elevator doors at the top of the Washington Monument. She ushered the visitors inside the elevator and once the allotted number of people were inside, she stepped in. “As we travel the five hundred feet to the bottom, we’re going to slow down to see a few of the memorial stones on the interior walls of the monument.” She pressed the button to begin the journey to the bottom.
“If everyone will face outward, keep your eyes on the elevator windows.” The elevator slowed down and the lights dimmed so the passengers would better be able to view the stones. “There are 195 memorial stones embedded into the interior wall of the Washington Monument,” she explained as the visitors oohed and ahhed at the views. “The stones came from all fifty states, many major cities, civic organizations and foreign countries. The only stipulation was that each stone had to be fashioned from a material native to the place it represents.” She paused. “For example, the stone from Arizona is made from petrified wood.”
“Cool,” said a teenage boy who stood near Vickie. “Why are some of the stones different sizes?” he asked.
“It was up to each entity to decide what their stone would look like.”
The elevator sped up for a few seconds, then slowed again so the passengers could view a new set of stones. “The memorial stone from New York is the largest in overall mass, but Baltimore has the tallest stone,” she said. “And if you’ll notice, most of the dates on the stones you see now that we’re toward the bottom are in the 1850s. Construction on the monument was stopped in 1858, and the monument remained unfinished for the next eighteen years. In fact, if you look at the monument from the outside, the top and bottom sections have a visible difference in color. So it is very easy to see where they stopped working in 1858.”
“Do you ever take visitors down the stairs?” A woman in the center of the elevator asked.
“Not anymore. But there are 896 steps from the bottom of the monument to the upper level. We stopped doing walk-down tours several years ago because of safety reasons.”
They reached the bottom of the monument and the doors opened. “Thanks for visiting the Washington Monument. Have a wonderful evening.” Vickie said as the passengers filed into the small room that led to the exit. She was thankful that was her last tour of the night but had a sinking feeling in her stomach. It was time to see Thatcher for the first time since their disastrous dinner.
“Good night,” she called, passing by the security guards who were working the security screening checkpoint at the monument’s entrance.
“Night, Vickie,” one of them responded.
She stepped out into the warm night air. It would be fall before long, so she knew she should enjoy the warmth while she could. She hoisted her backpack and walked around the base of the monument. Even though it was after eight, there were still throngs of people milling around. Many people thought it was best to visit the National Mall after the sun went down because the monuments were illuminated. She had to admit, it was a pretty awesome sight.
Vickie spotted Thatcher as soon as she turned the corner. He was perched on one of the stone benches, facing away from the monument, toward the Lincoln Memorial, so she wasn’t in his line of sight. He must’ve come straight from school, because he actually had on khaki pants and a blue dress shirt. She didn’t think classes had begun yet but figured faculty meetings were probably in full swing.
She made her way over to where he was waiting, trying to quell the apprehension in her stomach. What if this had been a terrible idea?
As if he felt her presence, he turned in her direction and his face lit up with recognition. “Vickie.” He stood up from the bench. “Thanks for meeting me.”