It was just another typical day at the library, so there was no way that Emily could have foreseen that something so seemingly innocent could change her life forever. She had been checking in books from the return box that she had done everyday when she happened upon a book that did not belong to the libraries collection. This in itself was nothing out of the ordinary because people were constantly dropping off books that that belonged to other libraries or even their own books by accident.
Those books were dealt with by putting them on a separate shelf where they could be reclaimed and more often than not they were. This particular book however, was unlike any type of book that she had come across in all her three years of becoming a librarian. At first glance it was just a regular hardback book. It was a black book with no cover with the title written in gold print. As Emily was putting the book away she got a proper look at the title and paused. The Darker Side of Sex it read. No authors name appeared anywhere on the book, simply that intriguing title.
She was tempted at that moment to leaf through the pages since her curiosity was definitely peaked, but she thought better of it. Mrs. Smith, the head librarian didn't approve of an idle moment in her library and she always seemed to be popping up at the most inopportune moments. Hastily she put away the book and went about her duties as if she had never even seen that book, but no matter how hard she tried, for the rest of the day her thoughts drifted to what it's contents might hold.
On her way out that night, she made a detour to that shelf. It was such an automatic function that she realized that she must have been thinking about taking it with her all day. What would be the harm anyway, she would take it home that night, to read and she could return it in the morning with no one being the wiser? She simply wanted to look through it that was all.
When she came home that night to her house that night, she went through her regular routine of feeding her cat, fixing herself a light supper, and then drawing herself a hot bath, which was her favorite part of the night when she could relax and let her hair down. Tonight she had a book while she soaked. As she sunk into the steaming depths of the water and settled back she opened it up.
The very first page made her sit up and gasp, for on the page was a diagram of a woman positioned on her hands and knees naked, while an equally naked man was kneeling behind her with a handful of the woman's hair in one hand and a whip in the other. Underneath was a description of what was happening. Emily was stared transfixed to the page. She had only heard of stuff like this whispered in hushed conversations but never did she believe that stuff like this went on. To the average person, this picture may have produced a snicker, a snort of disgust or no reaction at all but Emily was not quite the average person.
From an early age she sex was a three letter word that was unmentionable. She was taught that it was something that should be shared only within the sacrament of marriage and only for purposes of procreation. If not used in those circumstances it was something to be ashamed of and dirty. From the age of two when her parents were killed in an automobile accident, Emily was raised by her elderly great-aunt Ruth who was an avid bible thumper. When she was a little girl the rules that she was governed by seemed only natural but as she grew older she began to question these rules. Emily grew into a pretty girl with a gleaming main of reddish-brown hair, and huge green eyes, that dominated a heart shaped face, with a smooth peaches and cream complexion but she wasn't allowed to flaunt these qualities, having to wear her hair pulled back in tight ponytails, and wear unflattering clothes like skirts to her ankles and shapeless dresses, never being allowed to wear pants of any sort. Because she was unable to get outside much, she was always rather pale. When Emily had dared suggest a little blush to give her a little color this fact to her aunt, Enid said that only sluts painted their faces and were so overly concerned with their appearance. As she grew older and prettier, her aunt grew stricter.
One of her most vivid childhood memories was when she had gotten her first period, and she had told her aunt. Ruth had immediately ripped her clothed to shed and forced her in the shower where she was pelted by scalding hot water, while Enid stood over her with the bible reading sanctimoniously reading scriptures about the loss of innocence. Emily could only huddle there in a ball crying, humiliated and shamed. She felt as if she must have done something terribly wrong to have deserved this, from that point on Ruth became much more fanatical. She was only allowed out of the house to go to church, school, and church functions, and to accompany her aunt on her "good works." Making friends was discouraged because most kids in Aunt Ruth's opinion had the devil in them anyway. Most of the kids never talked to her anyway because she usually just melted into the background. She didn't bother anyone and no one bothered her.
Emily didn't mind so much because she was so shy that the thought of making friends made her nervous. She was only allowed to read school text books and the bible, and anything else was strictly forbidden, which was where Emily's one rebellion lay. Books were her passion, she loved the thought of far off lands and adventure, but she could only indulge at school during her lunch hour. Sometimes when she knew Ruth would be away from the house for a while, she would sneak down to the public library to read for a couple of hours. At home she was the good little girl her aunt wanted her to be never daring to bat an eyelash without her aunt's permission, that was until the her senior year in high school, and the day she met Mike Black. He was the substitute teacher that took over for the English teacher who was off on maternity leave. In his early twenties, Mike was the stuff dreams were made of. Every girl in class had a crush on him, with his movie star looks. He wore his jet black wavy hair pulled back in a pony tail. His eyes were the most intense piercing blue that she had ever seen, and his pouty red lips, would make the likes of Brad Pitt jealous.
He didn't believe in formalities and everyone called him by his first name. All the girls in class vied for his attention while the males smoldered with jealousy. He was Emily's first crush, and she flourished under his praise when she did well in class. She knew that she would never hold his attention with all the prettier girls in class but she put forth an extra effort to do well in the class so that he at least knew that she had a brain. One day at class her prayer had been answered, Mike asked if she could stay after to go over an assignment with that she had turned in. Emily's heart fluttered at the thought of spending a little time alone with him. "Emily, I just want you to know that I think that you are one of the smartest students in the class. This assignment that you turned in was college level work but to be honest, your work isn't what I wanted to talk to you about."
He looked directly into her eyes while he spoke and she felt as if she would faint. "I don't understand, Mr. Black," she said uncertainly.
"Please call me Mike. Anyway, I've only been here a couple of weeks but I was wondering why you seem to isolate yourself from the rest of the class. You sit in the corner, and you don't say a word. I know that it's out of line for me to say this but I hate to see a pretty girl you hiding away." Emily blushed fiercely at his compliment. No one had ever called her pretty before, and she couldn't reply to save her life. "Do you drink coffee?" he asked.
"What?" she asked not knowing where this was leading.
"You know, coffee, the black stuff you make in a percolator. Do you drink it?"
"Umm, no not really. I like tea though."
