Exhibition Read Online Free PDF Page B

window at the sign on the platform, wondering if she’d know how to find her way home, then shook her head in amazement to see it was her usual stop.
    She glanced at Oliver, then the blond workman. Should she say something? Would either of them want to see her again?
    The doors slid open. With sudden clarity, she took a deep breath and walked out onto the platform, never looking back.
    She didn’t need them. If she saw them again, maybe they could have some fun, but right now she was tired and wanted to take a bath.
    Laughing at her own confidence, Ashley adjusted her purse on her shoulder and jogged with the rest of the mob of commuters up the stairs to the street level. What a rush! She’d never felt so free. So light. Years of heavy misery were lifted from her. It was as if she’d cast off the hair shirt her grandmother used to wear under her coarse dresses.
    Out of the corner of her eye she realized a man was staring at her, and she realized she wasn’t on that train with that mysterious anymore, that people could see her. She wished she’d asked his name—she wanted to define him, talk about him, at least to herself. The demon? No, impossible; he brought only pleasure. Happiness.
    She decided he was an angel. For the rest of her life, she’d call him the angel.
    Her angel.
    “Ashley!”
    She paused at the top of the stairs, the smile still on her lips, and turned around. Had he followed her?
    “What’s the matter with you? You walked right past me!” the man said.
    Confused, she stared at the man with light brown hair and hazel eyes. He was wearing a tight red T-shirt and fashionable jeans, but the face, she realized belatedly, was Shane’s.
    “Oh. Hello.” She glanced at her watch, hoping he didn’t expect her to act happy to see him. The idea of a long, hot bath had grown infinitely appealing. “I thought you’d gone back home.”
    “How could I? When you were here?” He put his hand on her arm, stopping her at the top of the stairs.
    She pulled her arm free and stepped out of the path of busy people heading home.
    So, here he was again, she thought, crossing her arms over her chest and staring at him.
    “What’s the matter with you? Are you ill?” he asked. “You’re flushed.”
    “What do you want, Shane?”
    His eyes widened. “What do you mean? Isn’t it obvious?” He gestured down at his body dressed in modern, mainstream clothing. “I’ve decided you were right. We can’t go back. We have to try to blend in a little bit if we’re going to survive here.” He shrugged. “At least on the surface.”
    “They wouldn’t take you back, would they?” she asked.
    His face darkened. But unlike the last time they’d been together, he made a visible effort to control his temper. “I wouldn’t be able to live there again anyway. Not now.” He moved closer. “Not without you.”
    Was he serious? The last time they’d seen each other he’d hit her. Called her a whore. She’d been devastated for months. And now he expected her to fall at his feet because she was so grateful he was willing to speak to her again?
    Anger boiled inside her.
    “Ashley?” he asked, uneasiness creeping into his eyes. “Are you sure you’re all right? You do look ill, you know.”
    “Just… overwhelmed to see you again,” she said through a false smile. Would he apologize, she wondered?
    He nodded, relaxing. “We can be together now,” he said. “I’ve decided it’s the only way.”
    “Oh, you have?” She batted her eyelashes at him.
    “I have. You can understand what a shock it was… before. When you surprised me in those clothes.” His smile was unpleasant. “I’d never seen you looking like that before. Naturally, I was overcome and lashed out.”
    Naturally. She put her hand on his chest, stroked his chest through the T-shirt until she could feel his nipples harden. “Overcome?” she asked softly.
    “Your body…” He cleared his throat. “I didn’t know you could look like