Chapter Two

To make up for being gone for so long.

Warning: Still a work in progress and still fiction. A big, giant bag of fiction.

When my own eyes met those with a shocking blue gaze, I knew it was him. I could feel the pace of my heart quicken and I swallowed hard. I was sitting across from Anderson Cooper. The Anderson Cooper. What the hell was I going to do now? I couldn’t very well leave, now that I was sitting across from him, but I couldn’t walk back in the dark either.
I decided I would catch a cab back to the hotel; probably a smart idea, seeing as I wasn’t really sure how to get back. I got myself something cool to drink, my mouth inexplicably dry, and picked up my book so I would at least appear as though I were reading. I didn’t want it to be blaringly obvious that I was staring him the entire time. Despite my best efforts, it was entirely obvious that I wasn’t reading at all. Anderson raised his head and looked straight at me, his face showing he knew he was being watched. I blushed before quickly turning to face my book, away from those piercing blue eyes.
I kept my gaze on the pages in front of me, not moving, barely breathing, hoping he wouldn’t notice me as I shrunk into my chair as I heard the footsteps approaching. I refused to look up as they grew nearer and stopped what seemed only inches from me. I could see only a pair of black boots and faded jeans when I heard someone speak to me.
“Do you have a problem?”
It was a genuine question, I couldn’t detect any sarcasm or anger in the voice. I raised my head, confused. Blue eyes stared back at mine.
“What?”
“Do you have a problem? You’ve been sitting, reading that book for the last twenty minutes and you haven’t turned the page once. Either you can’t read or you’re staring at me. I suspect that it’s the latter.”
I blinked and realized that I hadn’t turned the page. I’d been looking at the same sentence for the last twenty minutes, unable to concentrate and too busy staring. I lowered my eyes, embarrassed that I’d been caught.
“So, why were you staring at me then?”
“I was hoping to use my mind powers to draw you over here to talk to me. It worked,” I laughed at myself. “But really, it’s much less interesting than the idea of mind powers. I came here on my summer vacation from university. I chose New York partially because of that building over there,” as I pointed towards the CNN building. “I’ve admired you specifically, Mr. Cooper, for a while, both as a journalist and a person. I’m taking journalism in school and you’ve become sort of like my ideal reporter and given me something to aim for. Not to mention, you’re really not that hard on the eyes.”
A smile crept slowly along his face while he paused to think.
“I figured you weren’t from around here. You smell like tourist. And please, call me Anderson. Mr. Cooper sounds so old.”
“Alright… Anderson,” acknowledging the invitation of familiarity.
“So where are you from? And what really takes you so far from home?”