Stories of Our Life [Volume 1]

5: Books, Rain, And You

The rain was pouring hard over New York City.

Tina groaned as she ran down the sidewalk, hoping the find a place to stay until the rain stopped. She tugged her coat over her head as she ran, almost slipping. She started throwing curses at herself mentally.

"Damn rain," she muttered to herself.

She really should've brought that umbrella along with her. Queenie had been insisting her to do so before going out for her daily after lunch walk. She told her sister that it wouldn't rain, considering the sky was clear at the time. But it seemed like Mother Nature wasn't in her favor when it started to rain just an hour ago. And now, she's here.

"Really should've listened to Queenie," she mumbled. She sometimes hates it when Queenie is right. She continued her run. The rain only got stronger and heavier on every step she took.

Getting sick of it, Tina entered the nearest building she could find. She closed the door behind her and leaned against it, panting. After catching her breath, she looked around. She saw bookshelves and tables everywhere, and some computers on the side. Tina sighed when she realized where she was.

She was at that library downtown.

Tina suddenly shivered. She was freezing! She wrapped her arms around herself as she pushed herself from the door and walked around the library.

The place seemed to be empty because of the rain. She found herself wandering down an aisle of bookshelves. She looked at the spines of the books as she passed. The Lord of The Rings, The Golden Compass, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, and more.

"I must be in the fantasy section," she whispered. She suddenly wondered where the mystery section might be.

As she wandered down, she bumped into someone. She stumbled back a few steps.

Tina rubbed her arm as she gasped, "Excuse me!" the same time as the person she bumped into cried out, "Sorry, so sorry!"

Tina looked up and saw a man. He was as tall as her, has ginger hair (really messy ginger hair, at that), has hazel eyes and his face was covered with freckles. Tina noted there was a library cart beside him. He must be the librarian, she thought. He gave her a worried look. He approached her slowly.

"A-are you alright, miss?" he asked. He had a British accent.

Tina nodded. "I'm fine." She noticed that the place where she bumped into the man had darkened and was wet. "Oh my...I got you wet!" she gasped, pointing at the wet spot on the librarian's shirt.

The man looked at it and just shook his head with a lopsided smile. Tina felt her face heat up at the sight of his rather cute smile. "It's fine, really." He observed her. He looked at her from top to bottom.

"But you...you're dripping wet!" Tina blushed.

"Oh...uh, I forgot to bring an umbrella when I went out for a walk..." she explained, embarrassed.

The man smiled. "Well then...let's get you dry, shall we?" He took her by the arm and the library cart with one hand and pulled her to one of the tables in the reading room. He made her sit down on one of the chairs. Then, he left, only to return with a blue overcoat on one hand and a cup on the other. He pushed the warm cup into her hands.

"Here, drink this. That will help you feel better," he told her softly. Tina nodded and took a small sip. Hot chocolate exploded in her mouth. She smiled.

"Hot cocoa?" she asked him.

He nodded. "That was mine but-"

"Oh!" she gasped, eyes widening. She placed the cup on the table, gently pushing it back to him. "I'm sorry..."