Librarian, Taylor Swift turned the sign from open to closed and then turned off the lights.
She wished she could say it had been a busy day but in the age of technology it seemed like people really didn't need or want books anymore.
Pushing her bright, blond bangs from her face she turned the key in the small, gold lock and then headed out.
The warmth of the Miami night enveloped her immediately and she was thankful for her choice of a thin, lemon cotton shirt and white cotton pants her cream ballet pumps protecting her feet with the endless wandering she found herself doing these days.
She didn't want to say her life was boring but it was definitely dull.
23 years old, working in an almost abandoned library, dating her high school sweetheart...
Michael...
She shook her head at the thought of him.
Once they had been so happy, so in love with so many plans and now they were all but dead. Living in a house together but neither of them really living at all
She couldn't remember the last time they had made love or gone out dancing or just to eat, the laughter had given way to a painful silence, the death of their relationship hanging between them like a neon light that neither one of them would accept that they could see
Pulling her long hair from the bun she had refrained it in, Taylor ran her fingers through it. Freeing the curls she sighed as she tightened her grip on her brown leather purse and then headed in the opposite direction to home
She couldn't remember when she began this nightly avoidance but for a long time now she took the long way home. Stopping at stores she had no intention of shopping in, sitting in cafes when she wasn't hungry, bars when she didn't want to drink. Anything to put off the inevitable
Going home to her boyfriend but feeling as though she was living alone
Dropping down onto a seat on the decking area of a cafe she ordered a coffee she had no intention of drinking and then pulled out a dog ear book and began to read
"A cook book hu? Riveting I'm sure, give me playboy any day"
She glanced over her shoulder and saw the shadow of a man. It was late but she was in a public place so she decided to ignore him and carry on reading, taking out a pencil and paper to make notes
"A book... a pencil and you're actually writing, where are you from? The 1600s?!"
"Actually pencils weren't invented until 1795, so no... I'm not from the 1600s"
"Smart, sexy and sassy. Okay, consider my interest piqued"
Smart, sexy and sassy...
Never in her wildest dreams did Taylor ever think a man would use those three words to describe her
Shy? Yes
Anxious? Yes
Frumpy? Well Michael had called her that on numerous occasions but smart, sexy and sassy? She knew the stranger had to be having a joke at her expense so she just snorted her displeasure at the comment and went back to making notes
The shadow of the man moved from behind her and then she heard the seat next to her scrape the ground, when he finally sat down she was shocked first of all by how tall he was compared to her and then by how beautiful he was
His rich, brown hair fell over his forehead and his emerald eyes were framed by long, luscious lashes, his lips were pink and pillowy and turned up in a smile
"See something that's making you drool?" He asked humorously as he lifted a plain white napkin from the table top to her lips and pretended to wipe.
Taylor stared into his eyes for a moment finding herself unable to break away until she finally realised what he was accusing her of
"In your dreams" she snapped whilst lifting her book to cover her face but a long finger appeared on the top of it, pushing it down until she was eye to eye with the stranger once again
"Oh I have a feeling you're going to be in a lot of my dreams from now on" he winked before snatching the book from her grasp and placing it face down on the table "Okay, Now I have your full attention, I'm Travis"
"And I'm not interested" she replied whilst trying to grab back her book
"That look you were just giving me tells me otherwise"
"I have a boyfriend"
"All the hot girls do, it's not a problem to me"
Taylor gasped but she wasn't sure what shocked her more, the way he had described her as hot, or the apparent disregard he had for a relationship between two people.
He didn't know her, didn't know her relationship was broken beyond repair but apparently it didn't matter to him anyways
"I don't cheat on my boyfriend"
"No, but I thought maybe he'd cheated on you and that's why you always look so sad"
"I'm not sad"
"Well you aren't happy"
"You don't even know me!" Taylor said louder than she intended and then moved her head closer to his "Leave. Me. Alone" she whispered harshly
"I get the feeling you're about to get to know me really well" he said taking her coffee from the waiter, handing him ten dollars and then reaching into his jacket, pulling out a silver hip flask and putting a generous splash of alcohol into the coffee
"What do you say mami? Are you ready to take a walk on the wild side?"
