This guy could just be a creature of habit. He does the exact same routine every day.Īnd I watch him every day, like a creeper. Gets a laptop from his messenger bag, places it on the table, and opens it up. Takes off his jacket and hangs it on the back of the chair he’s sitting on. The stranger puts his helmet down on the floor beside the table.

The old me would never have spared a single thought about why a person took a particular seat in the library. I didn’t always used to analyze people like this. I know what my reason would be for sitting there. The new me would take the same seat that he has. The old me would have faced the window and looked out at the view, ignoring what was happening behind me. Or he wants a bird’s-eye view of the library. He sits at the same table, in the exact same chair, every day that he is here. Although, currently, I’m not doing anything but cataloguing this stranger’s movements. I watch as he rounds the table, pulls out the chair that puts his back to the windows, and sits down, giving him a view of the open library space, the reception desk, and the door he just walked in through.īut not the stacks that I’m standing behind, where I’m putting away returned books. The stranger runs his hand through his hair, messing it up more as he walks over to the table closest to the windows. The new Audrey avoids all possible contact with people.īut I do pay attention, especially to people who are new in town. Not that I’m a social butterfly who gets to know people. I would know if I had seen him around before. Scuffed-up brown biker boots on his feet.Ī messenger bag hangs from his shoulder.

He unzips his well-worn black leather jacket as he walks inside, revealing a white T-shirt. Eyes so blue that you can see the color clear across the room. Short on the sides, a mess of waves on top.

He is also everything I would have been attracted to in my former life. I would give him late twenties, early thirties. And this guy is most definitely not sixty. Okay, so the standard type of men who do come in the library, where I work, are typically sixty and over. He stands out to me because he doesn’t look like the usual type of guy I see in here. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Visit my website at Cover Designer: Najla Qamber DesignsĮditor and Interior Designer: Jovana Shirley, Unforeseen Editing, No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without the written permission of the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

Weathering the storm samantha towle