His sleep? What on earth did that mean? Kerr hadn\'t mentioned to her that Sebastian had hibernated in the way vampires sometimes did - she didn\'t even know such a thing occurred - and she hadn\'t been about to provoke Kerr with more questions about the Ancient she\'d only met in passing. She had no time to ponder it as he bowed to her while excusing himself, remaining a little longer to let her know he would be hanging around in hope of a tour she no longer wished to give.
Once he left her office she closed the door behind him, though softly, letting the latch click into place and keeping her hand pressed against the door as though she had ESP and could feel him go. She didn\'t hear his footsteps leave, however, and frowned at the door for a long moment before flinging it open once again, only to find the space empty. Feeling idiotic, she shut it almost as quickly, this time the door banged a little as it shut and she moved quickly back to her desk.
She sat upon her chair but didn\'t look at her paperwork, nor attempted to make any calls on the phone. The fingertips of her right hand were pressed against her lips, the memory of his sudden move tingling upon them. She was still angry at him for acting on the impulse of her flirting, but angrier still at herself for sending him the signals he\'d accused her of doing. Perhaps that was why she\'d reacted as she had; hearing his knowledge about her desire for him had been confronting in a brutally honest way. Still, he\'d read her mind, and she had an inkling he was not the only vampire who\'d done so. Another reason why she\'d been disappointed to find he was such a creature.
After half an hour and still staring at nothing and going over her thoughts, she decided to call it a night. She wouldn\'t be able to focus properly on any calls, and the paperwork seemed unimportant to her right now. Picking up the pile of a dozen papers, she dropped them into her IN basket to deal with tomorrow (or she could just give them to Corinne) and toed on her shoes. She thought about Sebastian and the fact he would be lurking around somewhere near his portrait (and she knew almost every inch of the museum well, and there were only a few portraits scattered around the place - it wasn\'t an art gallery, after all - but she couldn\'t think as to where he would have a portrait of himself other than perhaps in the Greek or Roman Empire section, where there were quite a few paintings of notable figures). She could easily avoid him by crossing the museum in sections that featured no portraits or paintings at all (which were a lot of sections, thankfully).
Without thinking too hard about it, she picked up her handbag and left the office, locking it up behind herself. As she walked, listening to her footsteps echoing up the large hallway, she recognised Ernie - the museum\'s oldest security guard, an octogenarian - and they smiled and bid each other good night.
"Oh, did you find a gentleman near a portrait, anywhere?" she asked, in spite of accusing Sebastian of not being such, nor telling herself that she didn\'t wish to know where he was.
"Yes, Miss Jenna," he said immediately, "in the Roman section."
She thought his gaze shifted slightly, into something of curious interest. She thanked him and departed quickly before he could question her about anything awkward.
Her feet obviously disagreed with her mind because they took her directly to the Roman section. It wasn\'t as expansive as her section, though there was a bit of crossover into hers. Standing beside a broken column that was part of a grand architectural display, she stared at the man seated upon the bench in front of a painting that she would never have guessed was him. She doubted the truth of it, in fact, once she saw it. Surely the artist had been imagining his subject matter?
Sebastian was so still that she doubted he was even aware of her presence, but he proved her wrong when he spoke to her, causing her to jump.
