Amnesia

Chapter 19

"Daniel don't be absurd!" The old woman looked up horrified at the man before me. Me being here changed him. Now, he looked cold and empty, hiding all traces of emotions from me. His eye's that once reflected his thoughts were now blocked and dark. This was the Daniel I had first met. The man who pushed me away and refused to help. His eyes fixated on me as if it was surreal that I was even in this library. But it's just a library? She leaned forward and whispered something to Daniel. He shut his eyes and took a step back. 

"Fine." He bluntly replied. After that, he refused to look at me and carried on with his duties. 

"I'm sorry about that dear. I'm Mrs Jones." With a small and veiny hand, she shook mine. 

"Pleasure to meet you," I answered in a sweet tone. As best as I could, I tried to rid my mind of the thought of Daniel. He had raised a wall around him, a wall I constantly tried to climb. 

Mrs Jones showed me around the library, explained the process and we discussed income. After signing a few paperwork and providing evidence of identity I was good to go. Mrs Jones kept herself preoccupied at the desk which gave me some time and opportunity to talk to Daniel. I pushed my cart around the bookcases and found him near the back by the historic section. He was organizing the shelves and looked focused, so focused he hadn't noticed me pop up behind him.  I called his name softly and he jumped in surprise but his facial expression quickly recovered and was back to being blank. 

"Why are you ignoring me?" I asked trying to catch his eye. "Daniel!" I hissed quietly. I gasped as he turned so quickly it was like a bolt of lightning. He gripped my shoulders and bent so his eyes were level with mine. 

"Leave Lana. Leave." He growled but I didn't budge. I had come to know the real Daniel, he was gentle and kind but this Daniel was rough and mean. 

"Why?" I argued. 

"This place isn't good for you. Please, just listen to me for once."

"Tell me why?"

"You're still just as stubborn and annoying." He released his hold on me and ran his fingers through his hair as he thought deeply.

"Then you know I'll just find out." I raised an eyebrow, hoping he would give in. Why was the library such a bad place? He sighed and rested his hands on his hips. 

"As your supervisor, I am forbidding you from entering the Geographic section." 

"Why?" 

"I am doing this for your own good, just listen to me!" His frustration had built up to the point of bursting out. I shut my mouth but that wasn't going to stop me from interrogating him later tonight. 

"Fine." I turned on my heel and pushed my cart as far away from him as possible. For the rest of my shift, I ignored him as much as possible. I ate lunch with Mrs Jones, she was very friendly which made it easy to talk to her. She talked about her childhood and how she moved to town with her husband. He bought her the library as an anniversary gift because she loved reading so much. The story was very cute and romantic.

Daniel, on the other hand, was nowhere to be seen. By the time my shift was over I had gone to a cafe in town to meet up with Sapphire and Alice, they had spammed my phone with text messages. Sammy was home with Daniel so I wasn't as worried as I was when I left him home alone.

"Hey, girl!" Sapphire stood from her chair and hugged me tightly but this wasn't her usual hug, something was wrong. She looked sympathetic and sad, Alice shared her emotions. I cautiously took my seat as I eyed both girls and greeted them.

"Lana, Max is in hospital." Alice spat out the harsh truth. I pretended to look shocked but in fact, I was slightly glad. How much damage had Daniel done?