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Blushing
I woke up with serious bedhead and battled my thick mouse brown, mane with a comb, still groggy from the weekend.My beautiful waves from saturday had long since deflated and I gave into the snarls, folding my hair into a lazy braid less than pleased with the turnout.
Inspecting my hair in the mirror I loosened pieces of hair and tucked in others creating a would-be romantic updo if I had taken the time to smooth it down. I rummaged through drawers of clothing and decided on a light pink peplum blouse and skinny jeans with black ankle boots and a scarf. My eyelashes refused to curl and I toyed with the idea of mascara and then left my eyelashes bare deciding it would be too much of a burden. Lipgloss was my only makeup of the day. I strolled to the library hugging my purse with semi-chipped nails, against my jacket for insulation. The library felt like a warm hug, the smell of freshly printed paper intermingled with aging books tugged a tired smile onto my face.
I hummed as I clicked through the late books listing on the computer and snacked on an orange.
“Hey Aise.” Jay called as she walked by the desk pulling the slice of orange from my hand that had been about to reach my mouth.
“Hey!” I exclaimed in more surprise that greeting.
“Good morning Aislyn.” Agatha greeted snatching the orange slice from Jay and popping it into her mouth.
“Mornin’” I laughed as I watched Jay’s face look longingly at my orange.
“How was your birthday?” Agatha coughed.
“Great!” I exclaimed tossing half the orange to Jay.
“Good! I didn’t have time to drop it off but better late than never.” Agatha insisted pushing a card into my hands. “Oh, and I need you to organize the fiction section please.” I nodded and ate the rest of my orange while I tucked the card into my pocket and walked to my beloved section of books. As I sorted the books, shifted by previous grazers, I stumbled upon a book that was far from its home, Sci-Fi. I slid my finger slowly down the side of the book, reading the title that rolled out from under my finger. Tilting the book slightly forward I glanced at its cover, and a plain mustard colored fabric stared back at me with one simple golden word written across it, “Indigo. An odd name for a yellow book.” I thought curiously as I plucked it from the shelf and skimmed the first page.
“Aislyn,” Croaked the old librarian who teetered down the aisle happily. “Aislyn I have to head home, John just got back from Italy so I want to go see him. Think you can handle things?”
“Of course.” I replied confidently, “Tell him I said hello!” I whispered, slinking back to the desk with the book held tightly in my hand. I began reading quickly, viciously inhaling the enthralling words of the first chapter. My cheek turned to shredded flesh as my teeth gnashed at it subconsciously.
“Oh,” Coughed a deep, proper voice, my eyes shot up from the book irritably. The voice belonged to the deepest brown eyes that I had ever seen, almost black it seemed, they twinkled playfully in the light. Dark wavy hair settled over thick brown eyebrows, and his sharp jaw clenched as he cocked his head to the side. As he began to talk I caught glimpses of brilliant pearls guarded by rosy lips. My heart beat rapidly, caught by his god-like features.
“ I actually came to ask you if that book was here, I checked the computer and it said it was in stock but I found it absent as I went to search for it.” The voice chuckled. “Is it as good as you make it look to be?”
“Oh...well, wait... what?” I stuttered weakly, embarrassed that I asked because I had really strived to listen to what he said. Though my ears absorbed each word, his words failed to translate into english as I gaped stupidly, entranced by the way his lips moved
He laughed, He began to speak, stroking his chin slightly. “Do you like that book so far?” I thankfully held in a squeak as he ruffled a strong hand through his soft, dark curls. My face caught on fire as I nodded yes.
“I figured, you looked very excited while reading… sorry to interrupt that.”
I blushed deeply wondering how long he had been looking at me twisting my face in the unattractive grimace of concentration I knew I was cursed with while reading a book.
“No, it’s fine.” I assured. “I work here..” I stated awkward slapping the book shut shuddering at my words, wishing it had been my mouth I had slapped shut.
“Are you sure?” He joked as he cocked an eyebrow.
“Yes.” I replied praying that he would ignore my awkwardness.
“Alright. Erm...” He paused to look at my name tag, “Ms. MacAuley, could you put that book on hold for me?” He asked quietly.
“Oh, Aislyn please, and Sure.” I gulped, keeping my answers simple, knowing now not to try at longer ones.
“That’s a very pretty name, Aislyn.” He repeated ruffling his hair nervously as his face grew pink.
“Thank...you.” I stammered as my own face pinkened with his.
He grinned crookedly and gave a slight nod, gliding towards the door. My chin fell forward onto my palm as I sighed silently and watched him head to the exit. Suddenly his head gave a quick turn and his eyes caught mine for a brief moment. Then he turned back towards the desk grabbing the back of his neck with a soft hand strung with masculine veins.
“My name is Kendall...Watts.” He stated with another crooked grin, a dimple dotting one cheek. Then he walked briskly back to the exit. He swung the unusually heavy door open with a quick flex of his toned arm and battled the icy Derbyshire winds, a short red scarf cuddling his neck. I stared at the door in shock. Kendall, Kendall Watts. I smiled faintly and then sat back in my seat, kicking my feet off the ground and watched the library whirl by as I broke into a wide smile. I sat back and allowed myself to slowly wind down to a stop and then placed my feet back on to the grey carpet. I felt so happy, I giggled in unbelief that he had even walked in to the library and covered my red face with my cold fingers.
“Men should not be allowed to have dimples.” I head Jay squeak from behind me.