Chapter 22 Ian's New Interest
Ian stood behind a shelf and peaked at Amy who scanned some books for a customer. She took down their information and they exchanged a few words before she let the customer leave with the books. It was quite upsetting that she did not require his help in operating through the library system. Yet, he found it fascinating to watch her work with ease as though it was her natural habitat when it had only been two days.
"Excuse me? Do you know where the World History section is?" a familiar young girl asked.
Ian frowned when he saw her. Seeing him remain unmoving, she took a bold step towards him and subconsciously he took one back before turning to let her follow him. There were too many people watching. He knew what she wanted and he needed to set things straight for the sake of his new interest.
Ian locked them both in a storage room and turned to give her a Stern gaze. "This has got to stop", he growled.
The girl cast him a long gaze when her lips spread into a sly smile. "What has got to stop, Ian?"
He was about to retort when what she did next made him swallow back his words. 'Why me?' he whined internally.
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On the other hand, Ian's new interest had her eyes glued to the monitor. Amy was looking through the security footage for both inside and outside the library. Volunteering to help Stella with the library was quite a gumble and a security risk.
She would be much safer in the confinement of her home but, she was trying to be one among the common folks of West Village. Should anything happen, she would be the last person to be suspected. She didn't know whether those people were looking for her or not but still, she would monitor inside and outside movement for any suspicious activity.
A notification sound went off. At the corner of the monitor, a recent news article popped up. Her heart lept when she saw the familiar name, Zachery Frost. She hovered the cursor over the article. With a click of a finger, she could easily find out what's going on in his life. Unlike last time, she hesitated. She just stared at his name while having a mental debate whether to discard it or check.
She closed the security footages and buried her face in her hands. Any memory of him brought her great sadness. Thinking of him brought about an emotion she could not afford to be feeling in her situation: regret. It was only one night but why was she like this whenever she thinks about him?
She felt a warm liquid on her palm and gasped when she realized she was crying. She quickly wiped her tears and left her desk. Ian was rushing back to his station when he saw Amy who had cupped her mouth while rushing to the bathroom.
"Fuck", he mumbled. He glared at the young girl leaving the library who gave him a playful wink.
Amy splashed some water onto her face but she still felt her eyes burn with tears. Why is she crying so much? She took a tissue and blew her nose then discard it. She looked at her reflection in the mirror. Her blond hair had grown long over her shoulders, her blue eyes shimmered with fresh tears, her nose was red, and her pink plump lips started to quiver.
She sighed and wiped her face before running her hand through her hair and leaned against the wall. She stared at her shoes as she was plagued with thoughts. What if she had stayed instead? She had seen how Zach had ruthlessly taken down Parton. Would he have helped her? No, it would be selfish of her to put him in danger because of her issues. What if she had waited for him to wake up than leave like she had? And then what? What was she hoping for?
She scoffed as she wiped more tears. "Stupid Amy. You're crying over a man who probably moved on from you."
It was just one night. There was no chance for anything special to bloom between them. Besides that encounter, there would have been no way they would have ever crossed paths. They were not supposed to in the first place. But here she is, getting emotional when she shouldn't. She had been doing a great job avoiding anything related to him so what was with this emotional outburst?
Amy felt that part of her homesickness was because of him. She missed him and she had been trying to deny that emotion because she had more pressing matters. But who knew that one night would turn her world upside down like this? Feeling frustrated with herself, she hastily took a tissue and wiped her tears. She took a couple of deep breaths and made sure she calmed down before walking out of the bathroom.
Stella, who had noticed the girl's absence, felt relieved when she saw her. However, her face pulled into a frown when she saw Amy's puffy eyes.
"Are you okay dear?" She could not help but worry.
"I'm fine", she managed a smile but it was not enough to convince Stella. However, she was not in the mood to deal with her emotions so she walked away and Stella watched on with a helpless look.
The day was somber for Amy. Although she performed her duties, her mood was off. Crying seemed to not help things at all but she kept herself busy. While Stella's heart could not help but break for her, Ian could not help but feel guilty. He could not even look her in the eyes when it was time to go home.
"S-See you tomorrow", he mumbled quickly before running off to catch a taxi home.
"What's wrong with him?" Stella mused loudly as she and Amy walked to her car.
While driving home, she could not help the worried glance she cast on Amy who had her head resting against the car window. She watched the view whiz by in melancholy.