This Animal Body by Meredith Walters

Author:Meredith Walters
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: SparkPress

PART 2

CHAPTER 18

Somehow, it didn’t occur to me that going to a conference alone meant I would be so . . . alone.

I’d obsessed about many things before arriving in Panama. I worried about what I would eat, what I would drink, how I would find my way around. Most urgently, I worried about whether or not to mention mental models in my presentation on the rat experiment. But I didn’t once worry that being at a conference by myself would feel like being shipwrecked. Like saltwater when you’re dying of thirst, there were people, people everywhere, but not a soul to greet.

I made a mental note—not my first—that my worries, though they always seemed infallible at the time, were spectacular failures when it came to predicting my actual struggles with any degree of accuracy at all.

There were too many people coming and going through the lobby. Most of them walked in groups of twos or threes—was I the only one who came without any colleagues or classmates? And those who did walk alone had intense expressions that didn’t invite introductions.

I turned to head back up the stairs.

“There are a lot of people here, no?” A small woman with light brown hair and large, hazel eyes stood next to me.

“There are. I wish I knew some of them.” I scanned face after unfamiliar face.

“You are here all alone?” She had a slight accent.

“I am.” Saying it aloud made it feel like a confession.

Her smile made the room feel twenty degrees warmer. “Me too! My name is Tamara.”

“I’m Frankie.”

“A pleasure to meet you.” She leaned in to touch her right cheek to mine and made a kissing sound. I pulled back, then instantly regretted it when I realized she was still leaning in, attempting a second kiss on my other cheek, which was no longer there. I forced myself forward, but she’d already straightened up, so I had to wait a second while she leaned back in.

I cringed at my awkwardness, but she only laughed. “Sorry, it’s not usual here, but my mother accustomed me to kiss on both cheeks. It was her way of honoring our Spanish roots. I’m personally not as keen to remember, but it is a nice custom, I think.” She nodded as if answering some unspoken question. “Frankie.” She rolled the r like it was a piece of food in her mouth. “Where are you from, Frankie?”

“California.” I remembered I was on a different continent and added, “The United States. What about you?”

“I am from here.” She pointed a slender finger to the floor. “Well, the city, no? Not the hotel. Have you been here before?”

“No, this is my first time in Panama.”

Her smile grew, warming another ten degrees. “Welcome! I hope you like it here. Where were you going when I interrupted you?”

“Oh. I was heading back to my room. I don’t really have a plan yet.”

“Perfect! Because I do. I’m going to buy you a chicha de guanábana, and then we will attend today’s most exciting session.

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