Readjusting his stacks of books Oliver frowned. This was probably a dumb idea she probably wouldn't show up.
He had spent most of the last night awake staring at the ceiling fan while Rufus snored loudly next to him.
As the time shifted closer and closer to two Oliver could feel his nerves begin to get the best of him. His productivity levels had gone from semi-there to nonexistent in the last four hours and he still had almost an hour before she would even be there. Max, the older gentleman who normally manned the front desk had already made his daily visit to Oliver's table bringing with him a warmed slice of banana-nut bread his wife had made that morning.
"Marg is wondering when you're coming to dinner again," Max told him from across the table.
"Well when am I invited over again? I miss having a meal that's not reheated noodles." Oliver had closed his computer and was devouring the bread. It was without a doubt one of his favorite things that Marg would make for him.
"How does next Monday work for you? The weekly rummy game got canceled."
Around a mouthful of bread Oliver smiled, "That should be fine. Do I need to give Marg a call to let her know I'll be there?"
Max waved him off as he pushed himself off the table, "I'll let her know you're coming. Are you bringing the girlfriend again this time?"
Oliver shook his head, "No, that ended a while ago."
"That's a shame."
"I guess it just wasn't meant to be," Oliver told him with a shrug not really too torn up about the breakup. "Well if I'm coming do you want me to bring anything this time?"
Waving him off again Max crept back to his place at the desk, "I'll let you know if anything comes up. You shouldn't worry about anything. Marg misses you and she'll be glad you're coming to visit again."
With that Max was back to his worn copy of War and Peace and Oliver was trying unsuccessfully to focus on his presentation.
At 1:55 Oliver gave up, he had read the same line four times as he tried to go through another novel that included zombies. Trying to draw out packing up as much as he could he first shut off his computer completely, something he never really did, and then started to put his books away by size. When he was finally completely packed up it was already 2:05 and he didn't see a sign of her anywhere. Checking his phone there were no new messages and she wasn't in the process of messaging him either.
Oliver pulled the strap of his bag over his head and dejectedly made his way towards the desk where Max still sat, quietly reading his book.
"Are you leaving already? We're nowhere near closing time. You still have four hours."
Oliver laughed, "Yeah, I was supposed to meet someone but I don't think they're coming. I'm not getting anything done anyways so I might as well go home and take a breather."
"That sounds like a good plan, you're working yourself too hard on that paper anyways. All you do is sit at that table and write. You need to have some fun, enjoy the town. You're only young once."
"I might take your advice, Max. Have a great day and don't give Marg too much grief!" With a wave Oliver turned around and started to leave the library.
As he pulled open the door he bumped right into the person coming in, causing him to drop his helmet and she dropped her bag.
"I'm so sorry, I should have been watching where I was going. I was in a hurry I'm late to meet a friend." She apologized profusely picking up her fallen stuff and when she looked up Clara's blue eyes met his brown.
"So we're friends?"
Clara's face reddened and she covered her mouth with her hand. "I'm so sorry I'm late."
"It's ok, we're friends and all now." Oliver said with a laugh taking his helmet from her hands and turning towards the front desk. "Hey Max, is it cool if I leave this here? I'll be back to pick it up when I come for my bike."
Max smiled with a twinkle in his eye letting Oliver know he saw the whole thing. "I'll keep it back here as long as you need me to."
"Thank you and lets keep the secret that I still have that death-contraption from Marg or I'll never hear the end of it."
Max laughed and nodded putting the helmet on the floor near his chair and returning to his seat. "Have a great afternoon you two."
Clara's face reddened even more, "Thank you."
Holding the door open wider Oliver gestured to her to go back out the doors and she complied.
"Are we not just hanging out here?"
Oliver shook his head, "No, Max would kill me for talking above a whisper in his library. I thought we'd walk to the coffee shop right down the street. They have the best blueberry muffins in the city."
Clara nodded and she fell into step beside him and he smiled already enjoying himself.
YOU ARE READING
Sincerely Yours
ChickLit"Oliver had watched the way she watched the world around her as they had walked to the café and he more than anything wanted a glimpse of what she saw." It all started with a single library card, a single book, a single note, a single girl, and a si...
