I noticed the handsome man and his friend were gone. Honestly, I never expected to see either one of them again.
* * *
The following day, around the same time as the previous day, I was barely able to control my gasp of surprise when the handsome, blond-haired man approached my desk.
“Excuse me, you probably don't remember me, but I was here yesterday with a friend…”
“I do remember you.” How could I forget a hot guy like you? “Is there something I can help you with?”
“No, not really. I just want to apologize for the disturbance we caused yesterday. I’m embarrassed to say we acted like immature teenagers, instead of adults.”
His eyes caught and held mine. I noticed they were a bluish-gray and rimmed by long thick lashes. “You weren’t that loud and didn’t disturb anyone.” Except me.
“That makes me feel a great deal better.”
“I’m glad.” Nervously, I nearly asked him once more if I could help him with something, but caught myself.
He gave me a dazzling smile before saying goodbye. I watched him leave, now more curious about him than ever. He seemed pleasant enough. In fact, everything about him seemed pleasant. He had clean-cut, good looks and was well dressed in a navy-blue, pinstriped suit that fit him perfectly, emphasizing his wide shoulders. I noticed he wasn’t wearing a wedding band, but that didn’t necessarily mean he wasn’t married. I realized some men never wore their rings because they didn’t like to wear jewelry, and of course there were those who wanted to hide the fact that they were married. My curiosity had to be temporarily shelved when a man, looking for a particular book on dogs, asked for my help.
* * *
The next day Mr. Handsome returned, and like the day before, without his black friend. Truly, I hadn't expected him to return after his apology. There didn’t seem any reason for him to do so. He purposely caught my attention and waved. I couldn't miss his brilliant smile. It seemed to light the immediate area around him. This time he brought a laptop with him and used it for forty-five minutes before he waved goodbye and left. I returned the wave.
There was no way to deny it, but Mr. Handsome had begun to intrigue me. Who was he and why did he keep coming back? It got to the point where he was all I thought about. Sitting and observing people come and go all day, I've learned that they usually come to the library with a purpose in mind. More than anything, I wanted to know what his purpose was. It was a mystery begging to be solved. Though he returned every day for nearly an entire week, he left me no clues. Instead, all I got was his dazzling smile and a wave. His unexplainable behavior simply caused my imagination to run wild.
It wasn't until Friday that he finally spoke to me. He walked over to my desk and stood patiently waiting on the side until I finished helping a woman order a book from another library. I could feel the heat of his beautiful eyes studying me intently. It unnerved me, making me feel self-conscious. But under that feeling, a special kind of warmth radiated through my entire body.
“Hello, again,” he said. “You know, I feel like we’re old friends and yet I don’t even know your name. “Mine is Ryan Templeton. And you are?” He extended his hand.
“I’m Sarah—Sarah Williams.” I shook his hand, which was warm and inviting.
“Sarah. That’s a nice name.” He smiled. “Would you like to have coffee with me sometime, Sarah Williams?”
“I…I don’t usually go out for coffee with strangers.”
“But we’re no longer strangers. We’ve just introduced ourselves.”
I gave a short chuckle. “What would you have done had I not told you my name?”
“Found it out some other way. So what do you say, Sarah?”
“Hard work should be rewarded,” I said, nodding. “Okay.”
“When do you get a lunch break around here?”
“Usually, whenever I’d like to take one. Pick a time, Ryan.”
“How’s about…um…right now?”
I looked at my watch. It was eleven forty-five, so I agreed.
“Since it’s such a beautiful day,” he added, “we can have it in the park across the street.”
“Just give me five minutes to find someone to cover the desk. I’ll meet you out front.”
At first I was flattered that Ryan wanted to have lunch with me, but it made no sense to a realist like me. He was such a handsome man. What did he want with a mousy-looking nobody like me? And he was white. Unless…I couldn't help hearing a faint, tiny voice in the back of my head telling me to beware. Yet, despite that, I grabbed my things and went to meet him.
We spent a wonderful hour in the park. Ryan bought us both hot dogs, chips and sodas. I discovered he was an accountant for a large corporation housed in a building complex close by. And best of all, he wasn’t married. The man he’d been with in the library that first day worked with him. His name was Bill and he was a practical joker who liked to make bets on everything when he wasn’t daring someone to do something outrageous.
“Bill sounds like a real character,” I said between bites.
“Oh, he is. Drives his wife crazy.”
“I’ll bet.” I’d heard about men like Bill who ended up destroying their lives and those of their families because of gambling. In fact, I knew a few.
“All I know about you is that you’re a librarian. Tell me who Sarah Williams really is.”
I always hated this moment. There was nothing more to tell. My real life didn’t start until I became a librarian. Everything up to that point I wanted to forget, so I made up a fantasy life for myself. I’ve told this lie so many times that I’ve begun to believe it myself.
