Chapter Eight-Six Feet from the Ledge
Since it was only going to get warmer as the morning hours went on, I decided to show him the trail that runs alongside the lake for now. We stepped down onto the trail around Lady Bird Lake and walked for quite a while amongst the continuous flow of people passing by on foot and mountain bikes. Not one person looked at Heath differently than they did me. I found this very strange but I was so at ease in his presence, it didn’t seem to matter.
Our conversation was ongoing in some parts and in others we just walked in a rather comfortable silence. Occasionally, our arms would touch and my heart would stop just at the warmth emanating from his skin. He asked a lot of questions about me, like what my family was like, and did I like growing up with a big brother. He told me he grew up with mostly girls. He then moved onto questioning me about my most recent years, asking about my years at college and my job at the café. Throughout our walk, I pointed out many details about Austin, attempting to be a decent tour guide. It was mostly things we could see from the lakeside trail and then things that would pop into my head, but he would only nod and continue asking me things about myself. I thought this was supposed to be a tour.
“When I was growing up, Austin was very different. It has become a pretty big place now with lots of diverse people,” I mentioned, trying again to redirect the subject away from me. He nodded again and started another question.
“How old were you when you started painting, Georgia?”
“I was about 12 or 13, in middle school, when I realized how much I enjoyed it. Then people started to tell me I was actually pretty good at it. One painting I did in 8th grade was even entered in the school district art competition. I won second place.” I had forgotten about that for years until now. I let out a small laugh.
He also wanted to know how long Vanessa and I had been together.
“It’s been just over two years,” I said trying to refocus because I was feeling a little guilty being here with him, especially when I remembered how it felt to touch him. “She and I get along really well. She is the positive and upbeat one in our relationship and always keeps me on my toes. She is my best friend and my soul mate.”
I didn’t realize I was smiling when he remarked, “You get a very peaceful look on your face when you talk about her.”
We had continued walking in silence for a few minutes when suddenly he stopped and lightly touched my arm with his fingertips. I thought I was going to pass out. “Georgia, what is your biggest dream, with regards to your art, I mean? Because I know you want it to be your life, just like any other artist.” I didn’t have an answer for that question. That was more difficult than the rest.
“I haven’t even thought about the big picture, so to speak.” I laughed nervously, still trying to recover from my near fainting spell. “I don’t even have one great work yet that would put me over the top, you know? I only have nine completed works that I can think of because it usually takes me a while to do one. I tend to get easily frustrated with them.” I voiced my immediate hope though, “So I don’t know really, but I guess a good start would be getting to exhibit in this show.” I looked up at him after I said this.
“That would only be the beginning,” he said with a little wink. “You really are very good. I shouldn’t have to tell you that though,” he said as he kicked some dirt from the trail onto the grass. It was a similar action that someone might do when they were nervous. Why would he be nervous?
“Are you hungry? I found this great place yesterday just on that road over there. Can I buy you some lunch to thank you for being such an excellent tour guide this morning?” I haven’t been on many tours in my life but I would imagine that most of the guides don’t spend the majority of their tours answering questions about themselves. Plus, he seemed to only look past the sights I showed him and he didn’t comment on any of the interesting facts I was proud enough to remember. He wasn’t a very good tourist, I thought.
“You don’t have to buy me lunch, but we can go wherever you like.” I am pretty hungry though. In between my mom calling to add a nice twist to my anxieties, and trying to deduce my mirage of seeing you three times now, uh, yeah, I kind of forgot to eat breakfast this morning. That part I kept to myself.
“Great! It’s just over on that road, down that way a bit. I think it’s called Shady something-,” he laughed. “Okay, so maybe not the best of names but I enjoyed it a lot.” He sounded so excited that I agreed to have lunch with him. My imagination was getting much better.
I looked up and hadn’t even realized how far we had walked. We were at Zilker Park now and he was pointing towards Barton Springs Road. “Oh yeah, Shady Grove …it’s one of my brother’s favorite places to eat when he comes back to Austin. I like it, too. Sure, we can go there.” It was still kind of early for lunch, but it should be open by the time we walk over there. We had walked for a couple of hours. How did time go by so quickly?
“If you came here yesterday, we can go somewhere else around here, if you want,” I suggested as we walked into the sunlit patio entrance.
“I really enjoyed the food and the atmosphere was brilliant. Very lively…so if you don’t mind?”
“Sure.” I didn’t see how anyone could ever say no to him. There were a few people already sitting outside in the shade, working on some iced teas and Frito pies. I wonder if anyone will recognize him here. Surely our waiter or the other people dining here will. The people on the trail this morning didn’t have enough time just in passing us, I reasoned to myself.
We were sat near a big oak tree that gave us some lovely shade. The sun was much higher now and the heat was starting to sink in. Our waiter was named Jeff and he welcomed us in a normal manner and walked away with our drink order. He never looked at Heath strangely. Maybe he doesn’t recognize him.
“What did you have here yesterday?” I asked as I looked around to see if anyone was noticing him. He had removed his cap and didn’t have sunglasses on so it shouldn’t be too difficult.
“I had a hippie sandwich, I think that’s what they called it…and it was really good but those Frito pie things look interesting. I might try one of those this time…with another one of those sandwiches. I’m hungry after all that walking!” He looked up from the menu and winked at me. “What about you?” I can’t help myself from staring. His dark eyes just burrow into mine whenever we make eye contact, like he is just as taken with me as I am with him.
“Um, that sandwich sounds good. I will just have that, thanks,” I answered still in a daze. The waiter came back for our order and still nothing unusual about the way he observed my lunch companion. I looked around as he departed and noticed the place was much fuller now. I noticed a couple of diners look over at us, mainly at Heath, for a little longer than they should have maybe. There! Someone is going to recognize him now for sure! Nothing…they all just went back to their own conversations. I started to feel a little frustrated even though I wasn’t sure what to expect if someone did recognize him. I could tell my face was giving my thoughts away.
“You seem to be a bit tense all of sudden, Georgia,” he said with concern. “We don’t have to eat here if there is somewhere else you want to go.” So eager to make sure I was happy.
“It’s not that. This place is fine. I was just wondering about something,” I said this as our eyes met again, but then I quickly looked away. I won’t be able to ask him one word or care what the answer is, if I get lost in those eyes again.
“You can ask me anything. It seems only fair after the interrogation I put you through this morning,” he joked. Would he answer any question I asked though? I can at least try, for my sanity’s sake.
“You said you came here yesterday. Did anyone look at you…strangely…when you were here?” I still kept my eyes on the table when I asked this.
“No,” he responded. “Should people be looking at me strangely, Georgia?” Just then our lunch arrived but suddenly, I wasn’t hungry anymore.
“Well, it’s just that…how do I say this? Well, it’s just that you are Heath Ledger.” That was all that I could manage to spit out, as I realized he had never told me his last name.
“Yes, well, I know that and you know that, but does it really matter if anyone else figures that out?” he asked convincingly as he started to eat his food. I thought about that for a minute. It did matter because I was counting on some overly inquisitive bystander to notice that a supposedly deceased actor was sitting across from me. However, he doesn’t seem to be worried about my sanity at all.
“That doesn’t seem very fair to me though.” I can’t believe I said that out loud! He looked at me sadly and put his sandwich down.
“Are you unhappy being here with me, Georgia?” he sounded disappointed.
“No,” I said quietly.
“I’ve had a really good time with you today. You have been kind enough to walk with me and let me buy you lunch in appreciation,” he said sincerely. “I know I asked you a lot of questions, simply because I wanted to get to know you better. But I don’t want to upset you. That is not what I came here for.” Those last few words struck me very hard. He has come here for something.
After a long pause in which he kept his eyes on mine, I attempted to apologize, “No, I’m so sorry, Heath. You are right. It doesn’t matter what anyone else thinks.” I was ruining everything, even though his tone before didn’t imply anger. He has only been nice to me and I have been rude to him on two occasions now. I started to eat my sandwich and he met my gaze with a smile. “It’s getting pretty hot out here now,” I said with hopes of forgetting the last few minutes ever happened.
“The heat doesn’t bother me much. It was quite hot back home in Australia.”
“I have never been there but I’ve heard it’s beautiful. My brother went there on his honeymoon a few years back.” Christopher could only say good things about Australia when he got back.
“He said the beaches were the most beautiful he had ever seen and the people were all so friendly. He promised to take me and my mom there one day.”
“You should hold him to that promise. There are so many wonderful places to see there. I miss it a lot,” he said in a proud, yet sad way. He went on to enlighten me with stories about where he grew up, his very close-knit family and all the great friends he truly admired and missed. Some of the stories made me laugh harder than I have in ages. He was a really good storyteller and seemed to get loads of pleasure at how amused I was by them. After a long break, in which I was letting my sore abdominal muscles rest, we finished our lunches and paid the bill. Heath broke the comfortable silence.
He leaned into the table and said in a much quieter voice, “Hey, do you have any plans this afternoon?”
I looked at my watch out of habit. Another couple of hours had passed. Unbelievable. “I really need to clean my apartment and probably should check my messages. I’m sure Vanessa has called today.” Oh shit! “I better get home and call her! I was supposed to have lunch with her today!”
“It’s a long walk from here. Let me call a taxi for you.” He went inside and had the hostess call a cab for me. Even though I was stressing about what Vanessa might be thinking, I couldn’t keep my eyes from following him into the restaurant and hoping to God that he was going to come back.
He did. “They shouldn’t be too long.”
“Thanks.” I started to wonder if this was going to be the end of our time together. If it was, it made me incredibly sad. But as we walked over to the parking lot to wait, I heard my name.
“Georgia?”
“Mm, hmm?” I answered softly, still in thought.
“Could I come back to your apartment with you and see some more of your paintings? That is if you would want to share them with me,” he added the last part with a slight grin. There was that charm again. Is he asking to come back to my place? I’m sure it’s not in the usual sense but he actually wants to spend more time with me.
“Um, sure. That would be fine. I only have a few more lying around though,” I joked to hide my shock. “My mom and Vanessa have the rest at their houses.”
The cab arrived shortly after and we both climbed in the back. Neither one of us said a word for the few minutes it took to get back over to my street.
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