Ticket to Verona

four

~Aria

"have a lovely day!" I wish the mother as she walks out of the double doors with her daughter.

Once they were out of the door, I turned back to my book. One of the best things about working in a library is the fact that I can read all day, and not get yelled at because, A- It's a library, so you have to be quiet, and B- This place is literally a palace of books.

The couple that own this place are lovely, Mr and Mrs Campbell are from Britain, like me, but they moved over here in their retirement years after their children left home and now they own this beautiful library, which I help them maintain.

There are bookshelves reaching the ceiling, and I have to use one of those big ladders with the wheels to put away some books, you know, like in Beauty and the Beast?

The pay isn't that much, but I don't mind, it's only me after all, I live in a one-bedroom flat, only a 10 minute walk from work so I don't have to pay for a bus or anything. Rent, bills and groceries are all I pay, oh and a library membership, though I get a discount.

My parents died when I was 15. When they passed, I moved over here to live with a family friend as I didn't have any other relatives in England. Both of my parents were only children and orphans, so I had literally, no-one. Well, except my older brother. He's four years older than me, but I haven't seen him since I was 14. 3 months after his 18th birthday, he left. I don't know where he went, but it was only 6 months before our parents passed away. Within 9 months, I had lost all of my family.

My mother went to University in America, and that's where she met her best friend, my Aunt Ophelia. I went to live with Aunt Ophelia and her husband, my Uncle Ricky after everything that happened. They couldn't have children so I was the closest thing to a daughter to them. They've helped me through high school, college, university, everything and I am so grateful. I only see them around 2 or 3 times a year because they moved to Florida so I don't see them as often.

~~~

After a while I looked up at the clock and saw it was nearly 3pm. My shift usually finishes at 4, but Mr and Mrs Campbell are having a date so I agreed to work extra and close down at 8.

I put down the book I was reading and decided to start re-shelving books. There are some volunteers once in a while, but I like to do it myself, then I feel like I'm actually earning something and I know it has been done exactly the way I like it to be done.

I shelved the children and romance section before I decided to take a break and go back to my book. It was now 5:30. Only 2 and a half hours left.

I went back to reading. 15 minutes had passed when I heard a small jingle sound, indicating that someone had entered the library.

"Hello, how can I help-" I stopped speaking as I looked up. There were two men in front of me. Two very intimidating men. Two very scary men.

Both were at least 6 foot, the one on the right had a nose piercing, lip piercing and sleeve tattoos on both arms. He looked very strong, like he could squish me with his fingers, like a grape. He was frowning. The man on the left looked slightly friendlier, but still scary as heck. He had one sleeve tattoo, but a ton of ear piercings. He was smiling.

"Hi! I'm Enzo! Do you have any books on guns?"

"I- erm-um" I just stuttered, because, well, I'm not sure but I've never been asked that question.

The scary man then hit Enzo in the back of the head.

"I'm sorry, my friend over here isn't good with normal social conversations. Could you point us in the direction of the non-fiction and manuals?" The scary man asked me.

I slowly nodded, not exactly sure what to say and just pointed to my left, where the manuals were.

Both men nodded and smiled at me. Enzo waved and then ran off, the other man, whose name I still don't know, stayed by the desk for a little.

"I didn't get a chance to introduce myself earlier. I'm Killian."

"I'm Aria, pleased to meet you." I smiled, extending my hand.

He shook it gently before speaking again. "Well, I should go and check what Enzo is doing, I may see you around, bye Aria, it was lovely meeting you."

With that, he walked off, leaving me alone at the front desk. That small interaction made me think of Leo. He looked similar to them, they were wearing suits, Leo wore a suit. They had tattoos, Leo had tattoos. Leo was still more attractive though

I haven't seen him in over a month. I wonder if he still remembers me? I doubt it, I mean he looked really rich and important and I'm just, me. I still think about him though. All the time. I hope I get a chance to see him again, and ask him if he has seen my necklace, I lost it around that time.

I looked up, the sound of voices snapping me out of my daydream. Enzo and Killian were standing in front of me. Enzo was holding at least 4 large books, while Killian was holding one.

"Can we check out please?" Enzo asked with a grin.

I nodded, scanning all the books and getting a bag for Enzo that he desperately needed.

Once I was done, I waved them both goodbye and went back to my book, thinking of one specific person- Leo.

~~~

~3rd Person

"Enzo! Why the fuck did we have to go in there?" Killian boomed as soon as they exited the library.

"Because, I wanted to see if she was actually there." He answered, a smug look on his face.

"Who?"

"Our future Donna." Enzo grinned. "Leo met this girl, Aria, at the airport when we were coming back from New York a few months ago. They hit it off and I think he fell in love!"

"Leo and love don't work in the same sentence."

"trust me, we're going to send him there in a few days, tell him to return all these books and I bet you $20 that they will go out on a date."

Killian sighed, shaking his friend's hand. "Fine. But I still don't believe it."
~~~

Author's Note:

<3