Alex
Alex didn`t mind using glasses, except when it was raining –and right now, it was pouring down. He looked both ways and decided to wait until the red car had passed and took off the glasses to wipe them against his sweater. He could see without them; things just got a bit blurry.
As he looked up again there was a figure on the other side of the road, and it moved towards him. Did they not see there was a car coming? Some people were so engulfed in their own minds that they didn’t see what was going on around them. He put the glasses back on and the figure turned into a person dressed in a black jacket, the hood dragged over the head. He could see strands of dark hair sticking out from the side, but then he realised the person was still headed straight for the road, and the passing car. Surely, they would stop? The rain hammered down at the ground so hard it bounced back up. He yelled a “hoy” to the person, he thought it was a woman, although it was hard to tell through the clothes, but she didn’t seem to notice his holler. Alex watched the car get closer and closer, he tried yelling again, but the catastrophe was playing out right before his eyes. He swore loudly and shouted from the top of his lungs and waved his arms, the wheels of the car squealed against the wet asphalt, but it wouldn’t stop in time. Alex started running and threw himself at the person heading his way, he heard manic honking as the car avoided him by an inch of a hair, and he wrapped his arms around the woman like they were long time lovers meeting up. The fall to the ground seemed to last an eternity, he tried to capsule in the woman so she wouldn’t hit the ground so hard, but it was better than being hit by a car.
He heard more honking, and someone shouted profanities out the window of the car, but they didn’t stop to check if Alex and the squirmy woman under him were ok. He also heard grunting noises under him, cute ones, like a little pig basking in mud. He then realised he was on top of this girl and got up with a slightly unbalanced move. He held out a hand to the girl and started apologising. “So sorry, are you alright? It just didn’t look like you were gonna stop and the car was aiming right at you…or rather, you were aiming right at the car …” His voice drowned out when the girl stood before him and lifted her rain-soaked face to him. Big, moss-green eyes, surrounded by thick lashes stared right at him, her face was pale and heart-shaped, with a small snub nose covered in freckles. He didn’t dare look at her lips, so he took a step back to give her some space. He pulled in his arm; she had gotten up on her own. She wrinkled her nose and looked down to his feet and up again, Alex could feel his body burn. He`d saved her, why did he feel embarrassed? It was as if he was standing in front of the queen, with no preparation at all.
Finally, the girl gave the tiniest smile and nodded slightly. “Thank you, I tend to daydream, especially when it`s raining.”
Her voice floated around in the air before it snuck into his brain, echoing between his ears. She was a head shorter than him, and her whole body was covered, even the hands.
“You`re bleeding!” She reached for his hand but stopped and looked down at her own hand. When she`d turned her own hand around, she continued for his. The palm had gotten some beating against the pavement, and the skin was raw where he`d scraped it. It wasn’t bleeding much, but the wound was dirty.
“Come, let me help you.” She looked around in the rain, searching for a place to wash off. Alex pointed to a door, the same place he`d came from. Without hesitation, she dragged him across the now empty road and towards the door and inside. The room seemed so quiet after the hammering rain and speeding cars outside, Alex tried to still his erratic breathing so it wouldn’t sound so loud. She studied the place with interest, had she not been here before?
The City Library was one of the oldest buildings in town, and Alex had been so happy the day he got the job here. He`d grown up in a home filled with yelling, noise, loud music, people partying all night and his mother and father arguing right up to the day his father had the stroke. After that, his mother had kept on arguing with different men, and sometimes with their real girlfriends, who came by to yell at Samantha for taking their man. The Library was a safe haven, a small piece of Heaven in his turbulent life. Now he`d managed to rent a small apartment, and he only saw his mother when he stopped by to make sure she had food and electricity.
The girl – woman— had guided him to a chair in the small tea kitchen for the staff and found some towels which she ran under hot water. She held out her gloved hand and Alex put his injured one in hers. He watched as hypnotized as she wiped off the dirt from the scrapes. Her hood had fallen back, and he could see – and smell – her long and wavy black hair as she leaned over his hand. He felt bereft when she let him go, even if she kept the gloves on all the time.
“What`s your name?”
He coughed shyly; his voice sounded hoarse.
Again, the small smile.
“Rigan. Please get that washed properly later.”
He watched her take a step back and he shook himself awake in time to thank her without it becoming weird.
They were in the employee -wing of the library, but they had to walk past the entrance to the big hall on their way out. He could see her look longingly at the room filled with books in all kinds of shapes and sizes. Suddenly, he didn’t want her to go.
“Have you been here before? Do you want a tour?”
The library was about to close, he`d left early from work to stop by his mom, but now Eric was about to lock the doors and dim the lights. Eric stopped in the doorway when he saw Alex and the girl and raised an eyebrow.
“I thought you left.” He continued his round, looking curious over his shoulder at them.
“I did, but Rigan here was nearly hit by a car, and I jumped her to get her out of the way. I scraped my hand in the fall, so we went inside here to wash it.”
Eric only nodded and smiled politely at Rigan. Alex glanced quickly at her and took a chance.
“I can lock up, I want to show Rigan the hall, to say thank you.”
She didn’t respond, but she didn’t decline either. Eric grabbed his coat and pulled the zipper all the way up, having seen how wet the two of them were.
“Alright then, I`ll be on my way. See you tomorrow, Alex.” He waved and started running the second he was out the door. Alex loved working with Eric, he was the most unproblematic guy he`d ever met. He turned awkwardly to Rigan, “If you want, I can show you around? Have you been here before?” he repeated.
Rigan shook her head and peeped over his shoulder to the big hall. He stepped aside and made a sweeping motion with his hand as if it was the 1800s and he was inviting her out on the dancefloor. She didn’t look at him, just breezed by him and stepped out into the hall.
The walls were made of stone, but almost every inch was covered by bookshelves, the Library one of the biggest in the country. They had several small rooms spread around the building, but the big hall was the draw. Two giant curved staircases led up to a second floor they called the Balcony. You had to use ladders to reach the books on top, and between the shelves you could find small study-areas and comfortable reading-chairs. The light was dim, adding to the ambience. Alex was satisfied with the reverence Rigan was showing, there was a distinctive lack of appreciation for books nowadays.
He studied her discreetly as she let her covered fingers glide over the back of the books, taking one out to look at the cover before putting it back.
“Must be amazing to work at a place like this, so much knowledge around you all the time.” Her voice was low, but he heard her fine. Alex pretended to read on the back of a copy of Sherlock Holmes’ Complete Short stories, giving her space. Rigan stretched for a book higher up and he caught a glimpse of her pale skin on her wrist, he could see lines from a tattoo. Was it like this for the people in more puritan ages? A small sight of bare skin and their mouths went dry, and the heart skipped a beat? He swallowed and told himself to get a grip.
“Not only knowledge,” he argued, “passion, sorrow, love, hunger, sadness, joy, madness…” Alex stopped, and Rigan smiled before Alex continued, “Yes, it is amazing. A dream come true!” He ushered her on, and showed her rare books, funny books, peculiar books. He found that she was very knowledgeable, and almost every book he talked about was known to her. They were heading down the stairs when he asked about her favourite books, and she looked at the history section. “Oh, I like the old myths and legends.” She moved her eyes to the steps while talking. “I find it intriguing that people once believed it and lived it, and now it`s all in some ancient past.” Alex nodded although she couldn’t see it. “I know what you mean, how long do you think it will take before todays religions are seen as myths?” Rigan shrugged, “That depends on the person you ask, I reckon. For some it is already a myth. Gods die and gods are born, all it takes is a human believing.”
Alex got a glimpse of the big clock over the desk and couldn’t hide his gasp; he was so late. Rigan noticed his expression and started walking the way they came while thanking him. “Thank you so much for the tour, it is different when we have the place for ourselves, a whole other atmosphere.” She looked down at her slightly dirty, grey jeans. “And for the save. I`ll promise to be more alert.” Alex froze in her stare, her green eyes sparkled at him, and he blushed with no reason. “Oh, no worries, I`ll be your hero anytime.”
A flicker of something dark glided across Rigans face, and her mouth turned into a thin line. “No need for anymore heroes, a friend will do just fine.” Her tone was light, it didn’t match her facial expression at all. She clapped her hands together, but it didn’t make much sound because of the gloves, “Well, I have to go, I`m late for a dinner.”
