18 Meeting the Heartbreaker (1/2)
That Friday, five years ago has been the best day of her life till recently. Now she wishes she never entered that library, where she met that heartbreaker; but she recalls pushing open the heavy swing door and went into a large hall with a tiled chessboard floor.
About forty to fifty shelves of neatly arranged books fanned out from the central reception area. Behind the shelves were comfortable leather armchairs and large barricaded tables for quiet studies arranged in rows.
The cold and hushed atmosphere was occasionally punctured by laughers and loud whispers. The entire hall smells of old books and bleach.
Row after row of neatly lined books with their spines facing outward, color-coded with dots, fiction section arranged in alphabetical order. She scanned slowly until her eyes met Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's ”Half of a yellow sun”. She took it out, and then went behind in search for a place to sit and devour the book.
She walked slowly, passing people with their head seriously buried in books. Some staring blankly at laptop screens but just one guy seemed to notice her. He stared at her with passion, desire or even lust; she wasn't sure which in his eyes. Her heart sank as shyness overcame her; feeling his gaze all over her body as streams of thoughts rattled her mind.
”Why was he staring at her that way? Like he had seen an angel? She isn't that beautiful, she is sure. Or was it the gown? Could something be wrong with the gown? She wanted to wear something different but her roommate insisted she wore this one; saying it made her look sexy. She was never wearing this gown again nor listening to that crazy girl ever again”. She increased her pace, moving away from his gaze to the last seat behind, far from him and everyone else.
Few minutes into the novel, a strong scent of male perfume filled the air and suddenly someone sat heavily beside her. He did it on purpose to get her attention. He succeeded, her concentration was distorted, and gradually she shifted her gaze from the book and pinned it on the stranger. It was the young man staring at her not long ago.
Pretending not to know he distracted her, he arranged his books on the desk while Judith studied him. He was handsome, she will give him that; with a face that stopped you in your tracks. His eyes were dark brown, framed by graceful brows that went up a little occasionally as he spoke. From them came intensity, honesty, a gentleness that comforted her. He suddenly caught her eyes and she quickly turned away timidly while a genuine grin spread across his face.
”Yes!” she struggled to say pushing away the shyness that had suddenly returned.
”Oh sorry; I didn't mean to disturb you,” he said staring innocently at her.
”It is alright,” she said returning to her book.
”The air conditioner over there seemed not to be working, so I decided to move over here…”
She smiled, that was a lie. In fact, she didn't sit over there because the air conditioner there is always on the high, but she is going to allow him to talk.
”Really?” she asked mustering courage to look him in the face.
He gave her a guilty smile and with a boyish shyness looked away.
”No, not really. Let me be straight with you”
”Please be!”
”When… when you walked past my seat” he stammered but continued, ”I thought to myself; that must be the most beautiful girl I have seen. The way you walked, carried yourself like some kind of royalty, your gown seemed to adore your body. I was mesmerized upstairs and spellbound. My world stopped spinning; it felt like our stars aligned and a great force pulled me over from my seat”
”Really?” she asked with sarcasm, pretending not to be fascinated by the boldness of the young man.
”Hmmm, that's so sweet!” a female voice from the other side of the desk whispered. They were both embarrassed which resulted in a loud giggle.