My eyelids fluttered open in response to the gentle tap on my shoulder. The weak light and the window's surrounding darkness greeted me. I stood up, moaning since laying on the floor had made my back hurt.
Nice one, Jaidyn. Falling asleep instead of focusing on gathering information.
"Is your back sore?"
Thankfully, I was able to control my scream just in time when I heard a voice next to me. When I turned my attention to the right, Traian was standing there with a grin on his face.
He was dressed in black pants and a white polo shirt with the three buttons unfastened and the cuffs pulled up at the elbows. His wrist bore an expensive gold watch. His breathtaking blue eyes captivate me. In the faint light around us, his eyes shine. He was crouching in front of me looking to be a model.
He gave me a wink and added, "You may snap a photo, angel, it lasts.
I spat, "I don't want a photo," and turned to face the books I was reading. Damn.
I turned to face him again and saw him glancing down at the books on the floor. He picked one.
"Why are you reading about animals?"
Picking books that tackle all animals and not just wolves was a good idea after all.
I explained, "I need to since a colleague asked me if I could tutor students when I come back, and it seems like they are in the physiological makeup of animals, so... well... I don't have anything useful to do in my house so I decided to start studying certain fundamentals”
I instantly seized the book from him when he nodded. I started returning it to its proper location. He assisted me by positioning other books on the opposite side.
He remarked, "You truly take your profession seriously.
"You know I am a teacher?"
"Claire told me. Chemistry, right?"
I grinned, "Correct"
He had already picked up my bag and was reaching out to me with his palms open when I put the last book back where it belonged. I turned my head to look at his outstretched hand and then back at him. I placed my hand on him and he intertwined our hands as we walked toward the entrance.
On our way, we saw the librarian—Mrs. Olga gave us a little bow as we passed by. It was only then I noticed that there are no people around anymore.
"Take care of your way home, '' Mrs. Olga softly said.
Mrs. Olga hushedly murmured, "Take care on your way home.”
Traian said indifferently, "Thank you, Olga," and I gave her a kind grin.
She nodded, and I said, gazing back at the library, as we made our way to his car that was parked outside.
"I believe we should assist her in sorting books," I murmured.
"Mrs. Olga will not have any books to put back as the people who visit there already put them back and if you're thinking about cleaning, Lara can do that when she came back,"
I noticed how his tone changed from mentioning Lara's name. Speaking of which, I didn't see her today. I didn't run across her again after what happened in the diner.
"I didn't see her there"
"Mrs. Olga informed me that she take leave for three days"
He opened the car door for me and I entered. Shortly after, we drove away. But as we continued to move ahead, the surroundings and the road we were taking were not leading to my cabin or his house. I kind of remember directions easily.
"Where are we going? This is not the way to my cabin unless this is a shortcut" I glance at him expectantly.
He calmly answered, keeping his eyes on the road, "We're going on a date."
"Date? Flings don't date"
“I still want to refer to this as our date night.”
I laughed at him, "Your hopeless"
"I know" he glanced at me, “What have you been up to all day?”
"Me? Hmmm...read?" I chuckled because even it was funny to my ears. "Read and read"
"Really?"
"Yeah. Well, I also visited a diner where I received a complimentary lunch."
He frowned and questioned, "Free meal?"
"Well, based on their explanation, they were offering outsiders a free lunch for their first meal in the restaurant yesterday, and the staff made a call that another outsider, who is me, came. So I received a free meal."
“That seems interesting to me”
"It is, it is really" I nodded, "However, I simply think it's peculiar that there wasn't any sort of promotional poster or anything of the like."
“Because that doesn't happen often,” he said, "sometimes they don't do it."
"That's a good point, nonetheless they have good food" now it's my turn to ask, "How about you? I heard you had a meeting today"
He let out a sigh, "Yes. I plan to get back to you as soon as possible earlier but the meeting went on longer than I expected. My subordinates were arguing about accepting a contract from another company. And I studied the conditions the whole afternoon and made a decision so they can stop calling me for a while"
"So, what's your judgment then?"
"It's a no. That company still has a debt to pay and I don't see any potential for their project. The conditions are also a bit suspicious so I turned it down"
"Did your board approve?"
His face lit up with amusement as he grinned, "Yes. My words are the laws of my company. And I gave forth arguments which they weren't able to defend."
I said in jest, "You're cocky”
"I can be sometimes"
"You should deny it," I said while laughing at him.
"I'd rather not"
Within the car, our laughter echoed. At that point, it seemed completely normal and as though we had been doing it for years. He made me feel incredibly at ease. And a tiny part of my mind wants this to go on forever.