Picture Perfect excerpt
The director's blue and gold silk scarf, draped loosely across one shoulder and knotted on the opposite side, fluttered with her departure. It looked exactly like one he'd bought off a street vendor in front of the Prado in Madrid, a wearable Picasso. He'd taken it back to Vanessa, who looked at him with cheapskate pinched behind her teeth. He'd never seen her wear it--but then he didn't see much of Vanessa at all after that. While she'd been perfectly happy to see him every day for a month, she'd been equally happy dating someone else the month he spent in Southeast Asia. "Out of sight, out of mind" didn't work as a philosophy of love for Connor.
A moped rider shouted at him, wondering loudly if he were going to cross the street or hesitate through another light. Connor nodded at the impatient young rider as he stepped off the curb and hurried to the opposite side. A café, preferably small, perhaps with someone speaking English. He'd been struggling along for over a week now, Turkish phrasebook in hand, trying to make himself understood. He'd enjoy a little eavesdropping over a croissant. Traveling alone could get pretty lonely at times. Patrick, or another writer, would be welcome company about now.
He thought of the Americans he'd just seen, herded into one of the major tourist sites of Istanbul to have history spoon-fed to them. One person would be enough company. He couldn't abide all those people.
* * * *
People made her job interesting, Natasha Plakouris reminded herself as she held Agatha Button-Finch's elbow and aided her toward the Haghia Sophia. Tasha had guided seven other groups through Istanbul this summer and the fascinating scenery hadn't changed, but each group was different and had a character of its own. Each personality, each individual's interpretation of what he saw, what she heard, added to the total experience.
Some, like dear Mrs. Button-Finch, knew more about history than Tasha could ever hope to learn. Agatha had lived through a lot of it.
Tasha held her pace to that of the elderly British woman when she really wanted--needed--to be at the front of the group greeting their museum docent. But Istanbul was their last city on the Highlights of the Aegean Tour, and after more than eight days and as many cities, she'd come to appreciate the adaptability of her fellow Americans. They had bulldozed right ahead, introduced themselves to the guides at Ephesus and Rhodes, and would no doubt take charge here, too.
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