Midnight

Chapter One

Amarah crossed the sidewalk and entered the old library.  She grabbed an apron from the utulity closet and made her way behind the check out counter. "Welcome back. How was your lunch?" Mr. Briggs, the old owner of the library asked. "Relaxing sir. I finished the novel you suggested. Very impelling!" She answered.

The book was a cliche romance. The girl fell for the boy and they battled the world. *Yawn* But, Amarah wouldn't tell Mr. Briggs how she really felt about the book. She read anything he suggested because she felt she owed it to him.

When Amarah first moved to South Port she didn't have a job or a place to stay. She applied as an assistant at the library but, it still wasn't enough funds for a place to stay. Mr. Briggs eventually caught on when he caught her sleeping on of the sofas in the reading corner. He then showed her the studio loft above the library and proposed that she can stay there rent free. All that he asked was that she step up a little above an assistant and learned how to maintain the records, databases, and paperwork for the library. Briggs was getting old and it was becoming hard for him to keep up with it.  Amarah agreed and began living in the loft, thankful that Briggs never asked why she didn't have a place of her own. 

Now, months later, Amarah looked up to Mr. Briggs. He felt like a father figure to her. She stuck to her end of the deal and learned everything about the library inside and out. She was finally beginning to feel the comfort that she was so desperately trying to find.

The bell above the entrance door jingled. A man walked in and headed to the nonfiction section. Amarah never tended to show men any intrested. However men were always intrested in her. Mr Briggs always elbowed her and gestured to a staring man no matter how many times she told him she wasn't intrested in dating. "Nobody wants to be alone." He would say to her. Amarah would laugh and say, "Well I suppose I'm the one exception."

The man who entered the library found the book he was looking for and walked towards the counter. As he approached Amarah she caught a faint smell of earthy woods. It caught her a little off gaurd and made her think of a reacurring dream she had. She peeked at his face. He had dark hair and brown eyes rimmed with flecks of green.

Amarah must have been staring because Mr. Briggs elbowed her then chucked. But, this time he wasn't gesturing towards someone. Instead he handed her a book. Amarah begin to ask what the book was for but then she realized the man she was staring at was waiting on the other side of the counter. Her cheeks flushed with embarrassment.

"Will this be all for you?." She asked.  The man gave her a warm smile.  "Yes ma'am." He answered. His smile was very friendly and inviting. Amarah couldn't deny, this boy was handsome. She had to remind herself that she's better off keeping to herself. So, she quietly rang up his book. She was almost done with the transaction when Briggs spoke up. "I haven't seen you in here before young man. Are you new to town or new to reading?" Amarah almost smacked her forhead.

The man chuckled. "New to town sir. I plan to restore the old sterling manor." Briggs gasped. "I lived here over 40 years and never saw a soul step foot in there. I bet you have a lot of work ahead of you son." Briggs said. Amarah finally noticed the book she just sold. "A dummies guide to carpentry." She bit her lip to hide her laugh. Then she caught a glimps of the man. He saw her expression of the book and winked. This only made her want to laugh harder.

"You must be a descendant of the Sterling family in order to have intrest in that manor." Briggs continued. By the way he kept conversating, Amarah suspected that this was one of his silly attempts at setting her up. "You're correct sir. I'm Cristian Sterling. My great grandfather was the last man to own that house." The man, Cristian, replied.  "Ah Gerald Sterling. A fine man. He did great things for this community." Briggs said. Then his face lit up like a light bulb. "I'd love to get pictures of the inside of that house before you renovate for our historic archives!" Amarah knew where this was heading.

"Well you're more than welcome to come by sir." Cristian said. "I'll be there all day." Briggs turned to Amarah. She already knew what he was about to say. "Amarah I don't quitr know how to work these new cameras now a days. Could you be a doll and take the pictures for me?" He asked. Amarah wanted to smack her forehead again.

Clever old man. She didn't see a way out of this one. She could say shes busy but Briggs would know that is a lie. There was no way out of this set up. So she sighed and agreed.  Briggs clapped in excitment then turned his attention back to Cristian. "She is a quiet one! You may not even rememeber she is there." He told Cristian with a chuckle. Amarahs cheeks flushed with embarassment again, even though it's true. Cristian smiled at her. "I don't think ill forget sir." He told Briggs. That only excited Mr. Briggs more. However it made Amarah nervous. She didn't want to flirt around or be wooed. For her relationships are too dangerous....