" Marco watches her approach, confused at first but then the confusion is replaced by something entirely.
He could tell from across the room that she was lovely, but when she is near enough to look him in the eyes the loveliness-the shape of her face, the contrast of her hair against her skin-evolves into something more.
She is radiant. For a moment, while they look at each other, he cannot remember what he is meant to be doing, or why she is handing him a piece of paper with the number twenty-three written on it in his own handwriting.
"This way, please," he manages to say as he takes her number and holds the door open for her. She bobs the slightest of curtseys in acknowledgment and the lobby is abuzz with whispers before the door has fully closed behind them. "

― Erin Morgenstern , The Night Circus