Life and How To Live It || Adam L. & Celia
Celia hadn’t been in Alexandria very long, in fact, she hadn’t even started her new job yet, but she’d gotten an email about a conference being held at the Smithsonian in Washington DC and now that she was so close to everything the city had to offer without having to live in DC it was exciting really. It definitely had a wide variety of options as far as museums went and while she hadn’t ventured out to see many of them yet, the email about Adam Lindstrom presenting his findings was enough to lure her across the borders to hear him speak. It had been a while since she’d been to a good conference in the first place, but not only that, Professor Lindstrom had done some notable work outside the country that Celia—as a history buff—could appreciate. She wasn’t super familiar with everything he’d accomplished, but his name had circulated around her recertification classes enough that she was curious. Back home she’d had a group of friends she found in college that sometimes attended these sorts of things in Atlanta with her, but now that she was in a strange city, Celia found herself alone at the conference and if that wasn’t scary enough the conference hall at the museum was enormous and plenty of people seemed to already have picked a seat. And thought Celia was dressed pretty business casual (her favorite LBD with a colorful cardigan) she still felt like she was sorely underdressed, despite the fact that there were people dressed more casually than she was. It didn’t matter the occasion, Celia always felt like she was underwhelming.
Once she had found a seat that was directly next to someone, Celia sat quietly through the presentations, interested in the facts, and clapping at the right times. And when Professor Lindstrom was introduced, she couldn’t help the feeling that she knew him from somewhere. She didn’t think she’d seen his face attached to any of his work, mostly because she hadn’t specifically sought out any of his work, but he was definitely a long younger than she expected and she was bothered by the fact that she couldn’t place his face. Afterwards at the cocktail party, Celia found herself easily mingling with people she could consider better than herself, though she held her own easily. Making casual conversation about the recent findings and theories presented from historians that she’d been admiring since she started college. It was really strange if she thought about how much these people were doing for the history community and then there was just little ol’ Celia. Teaching a European History class, though sometimes she could close her eyes and imagine herself teaching in great detail about the Industrial Revolution at Georgetown, or even Columbia. As long as it was a prestigious university where Celia could get tenure and assure herself that her job was safe. Somewhere nice, she hoped. Maybe she’d go back and get her PhD and do that. Maybe eventually.
When Celia literally bumped into Professor Lindstrom, she almost didn’t recognize him, having talked to so many people between the span of when she saw him on stage to now, and her brow furrowed as she realized that she recognized him from somewhere. “Don’t I know you from somewhere?” She asked, hoping he’d tell her where they might have seen each other before. Though if he was a smartass and answered with yes she had seen him because he just presented findings, then she might ring his neck because that was definitely not what she was talking about. “Sorry, I just can’t shake this feeling that I’ve like seen you around somewhere.” Twisting her hands nervously, she squinted her eyes a little trying to remember where she’d see him. After a moment she extended her hand, almost as an afterthought, and introduced herself. “I’m Celia de Fiore, by the way. I’m kind of familiar with your work, and your findings were really fascinating by the way.”