Fell For A Stranger

-: Chapter 6 :-

                                        ZAYAN

Sarah  was sitting at a wooden table, surrounded by stacks of books. The soft glow of the reading lamps cast a warm light on her face as she flipped through the pages of a novel. First, I looked at her for a while, and then I spotted her from across. I take a deep breath, muster my courage, and approach her table with a playful smirk.

I leaned casually against the table, "Well, well, if it isn't my favourite bookworm. Do you come here often, or is it just fate trying to set us up?"

Sarah raised her eyebrow, not looking up from her book, "Oh, it's you again. Are you stalking me, or do you just have an uncanny ability to show up wherever I am?"

I chuckled, "I prefer to think of it as destiny. Besides, who could resist the allure of a library and the chance to see you?"

She finally looked up, a hint of a smile playing on her lips, "Destiny, huh? That's a fancy word for someone who probably just got lost looking for the comic book section."

I placed a hand over my heart dramatically, "Ouch, that hurts. But I'll have you know, I'm here for the classics. And maybe, just maybe, to see if you'd like to grab a coffee sometime. You know, outside of our usual haunts."

She pretends to ponder, "Hmm, coffee with a stranger who keeps popping up in my life? Sounds like the beginning of a bad rom-com."

I grinned, "Or the start of a great story. What do you say, Sarah? Give destiny a chance?"

She kept busy with her reading, ignoring my offer. She was deeply engrossed in a book, her fingers traced the lines of the book. I saunter over, pretending to browse the shelves.

I said loud enough for Sarah to hear ,"Ah, the library. The perfect place to pretend we're all intellectuals, right?"

Sarah looks up, raising an eyebrow at my comment. I catch her eye and give her a playful wink.

"Some of us enjoy reading, you know", she said.

"Touché. But I bet you haven't found the secret treasure hidden in these books", I said.

Sarah's curiosity was piqued. She watches as I slip a small, folded note into the book she is reading. I gave her a knowing look before walking away.

Sarah unfolded the note, which was;
"𝑰𝒇 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒅 𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒆𝒏𝒔 𝒏𝒆𝒙𝒕, 𝒇𝒐𝒍𝒍𝒐𝒘 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒊𝒍 𝒐𝒇 𝒄𝒍𝒖𝒆𝒔. 𝑺𝒕𝒂𝒓𝒕 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒐𝒐𝒌 𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒐𝒑 𝒔𝒉𝒆𝒍𝒇, 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒓𝒅 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒆𝒇𝒕. - 𝒁"

Intrigued, Sarah follows the instructions, finding another note in the indicated book. This one says:

"𝒀𝒐𝒖'𝒓𝒆 𝒈𝒆𝒕𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒘𝒂𝒓𝒎𝒆𝒓. 𝑵𝒐𝒘, 𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒄𝒌 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒐𝒐𝒌 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒄𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒆𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒉𝒆𝒍𝒇. - 𝒁"

Sarah continues the scavenger hunt, each note filled with my sarcastic humour and playful hints. Finally, she reaches the last note, which directs her to the reading nook at the back of the library.

There, she finds me sitting with a triumphant grin.

"Congratulations, you've made it. Your prize is... my company. Lucky you", I bowed with a smile.

She laughed, "You're impossible."

I smiled, "I know, how about we grab a coffee, and you can tell me all about that book you're pretending to read?" I asked again for coffee.