I was registering the last returns of the day when I noticed that he had not left.
He had been reading in the Mythology section for a week now, Celtic and Indian and Egyptian and whatever not. "Kat's admirer" Jen called him. Not funny, if you ask me. I glanced at his library card on the table, the only one left. Kyle Cory. Surprisingly enough, Google had not yielded much on the name to go together with the face. There were a dozen of Kyle Corys scattered over the country, but all the pages mentioning them featured some ridiculous homemade photos, and even taking the picture resolution into account I was pretty confident none had this man caught on the camera at the Granny's birthday or a fraternity party.
He did look vaguely familiar, though, as if I had seen him in a book or an old picture. Black hair, green eyes, liking for black and green and grey in clothing. Burberry London aftershave. Actually, Jen had all the reasons to be joking: she must have seen how my nose automatically followed his scent as he would pick up another pile of books, thank me with a charming smile and go to his apparently favourite desk at the window. He moved like a person constantly on guard, without making a single unnecessary step but at the same time in a weirdly graceful way. Dancer? Martial arts? Hell knows. His handwriting was neat in an old fashioned way; and that was basically all I had learned about this guy so far. And that was what added to my restlessness.
Every four years or so I would become sleepless and fidgety. I would start having absurd dreams bordering on nightmares in the few hours of sleep that remained. My colleagues and friends would start complimenting on how I sort of had not aged a day more often. That usually meant it was time to move on. That day I had received a couple of job interview by Skype offers and was rather pleased with myself. I thought I would go north this time. To some town near Seattle, maybe. The big city life was taking its toll on me; for the last month I couldn't get rid of the creepy feeling of being watched.
Kyle Cory walked up to the counter carrying the remaining three volumes of his today's research, smiling apologetically. The clock was showing three minutes to eight.
- I'm afraid we are closing, sir, - I said with a hint of mockery in the voice, - would you like to keep these here for tomorrow?
- Yeah, I think so. - He hesitated. - Listen, ms...
He looked at my badge, as if that was really necessary after spending a week in this department of the library!
- Can I just call you Kat?
- Sure, Kyle, how can I help you?
Let him know I can read too, and have eyes and the nose and... wait, I'm getting really sidetracked.
- You see, I have been studying the recources in your section for quite a while now, and noticed you always worked the evening shift, and that Friday and Saturday are your days off so I might not see you before... well, the thing is, I like you. Would you agree to go out for a cup of coffee later tonight?
Well, wow, at least that was honest. Never in my life had a man been so straightforward.
And then a strange thing happened. The stone in my pendant suddenly felt slightly warmer than usual. A warning? Or approval? Whatever the case, it would be much safer if I did no go home through the park alone; it was still quite dark at his hour.
- Oh, gladly! - I glowed (at least I hoped I did). - But I have a more practical suggestion. Why don't we just go out for dinner; I'm positively hungry. There's a cosy Italian place just around the corner and an Argentinian restaurant across the park...
He agreed, and I thought I glimpsed something like relief in his eyes. I guessed he wouldn't mind grabbing a bite either after the whole day of writing and thinking about... whatever he was studying.
So I snatched my jacket off the hook, took the bag from under the table, entered the code to set the security alarm at the door, said good night to Jeremy "of the night watch" downstairs, and we went out into the warm evening of May the 13th, fragrant with freshly cut grass and apple trees blossoming. Yet something in this peaceful quiet spring air fel undefinably wrong and dangerous and about to give me shivers as we were walking to the corner where he had parked to drive to the Argentinian place and chatting casually about books.
Oh, shut up, stupid, I told myself. It's just that you haven't had any fun lately so you're excited. Nothing is wrong.
However, the pendant had not cooled down.