"Do you think he'll be there?"
"Trust me, he's always there."
"Who like goes to a library anymore? Especially on Christmas break? Does he like have to go or something?"
"Alex. That's who. And no, he doesn't have to go. He says he enjoys the solitude."
"But it's all like totally quiet in there."
"You know what? You could benefit from some time in the library yourself." Her new friend completely missed the dig and kept right on going.
"Well, if he's as hot as you say, then yeah, for sure! I could like read a magazine or something."
Lydia loved her new best friend who was more fun than anyone she'd ever known, but she was by no means the brightest bulb in the shed. Teresa, or Tesi (pronounced TEE-see) as she'd been called since the age of two, was not only fun, but some said she was almost as attractive as Lydia, and Lydia had dated Alex Voss for over a year, and she was therefore Tesi's inroad to meeting the best-looking guy in school who happened to something of a recluse.
Alex Voss was an almost 19-year old senior who'd been held back a year when he was six because he was so far behind his peers when it came to reading. He was not only a very good looking guy but a shoe-in to be the class valedictorian. Since his setback, he'd learned to read well and then learned to love to read. He'd been a very good student since, but when his mother passed away during his 8th-grade year, he became withdrawn and turned to books not only for enjoyment, but for solace.
He quit playing sports and spent his time at home reading and mostly books. Lots of books. By the time he was a sophomore he'd read most of the top 100 classic books of literature as well as many novels written by modern writers like Tom Clancy, Dale Brown, James Patterson, and Michael Crichton. He loved adventure novels, science fiction, and just about anything related to science.
But more than anything he loved romance novels. No one but his dad had known his secret until he confessed it to Lydia some six months after they started dating, and so far, she'd kept her promise never to tell anyone. She wasn't sure why it was so important to Alex, but a promise was a promise, and if she ever hoped to win him back, she wouldn't do it by betraying his confidence.
Today she hoped that introducing him to someone cute might win her some points for being magnanimous. She also knew it couldn't hurt as there was no chance in hell Alex Voss would ever go out with someone as vacuous as Tesi Robertson.
Alex had once tried his best to explain to Lydia how books made him feel, but it so far over her head (or in reality, her experience base) that she simply couldn't understand him. He'd tried using one example he thought was very simple, a book called Love Story by Erich Segal. Lydia's eyes had glazed over the moment he started discussing the rich vs poor dynamic and was totally lost by the time he summed it up with, "So that's why she told him again near the end that love means never having to say your sorry."
She'd responded by smiling seductively and saying, "So...you wanna fuck?"
He'd been so turned off by her response he never again shared any of his deepest feelings with her. From then on, he kept things on her level and enjoyed the relationship as much as he could with sex being the best part. But no matter how good Lydia had been in bed, he yearned for someone who could understand him in a way she couldn't.
He had a teacher his junior year who could, and he'd spent as much time with her as she'd allow, but she was a happily married woman, and the time she could give him was far too little.
What he wanted, what he craved, was to find someone who shared his passion for love. If she loved literature, too, that would be the proverbial icing on the cake, as literature was his pathway to love and romance. But were she able to actually feel what he felt when the words on a page became reality; or if she could just clearly express that without the aid of books, he would do anything for her.
Implied in that kind of love, of course, was the same level of physical passion he'd shared with Lydia. Sadly, it had been an empty passion fueled only by raw desire, but somewhere out there was a woman who was a melding of Lydia and his teacher, and one day he would find her. For now, he had his books.
"Oh...my...God! He is SO hot!" Tesi said when Lydia pointed him out.
"Shhh! We're in the library. Keep it down, okay?"
"You so have to introduce me!" Tesi said gushing with excitement. "He could do me right there on that table in front of him!"
Lydia smiled but didn't tell her she and Alex had done something very similar one day not that many months ago. Instead, she said, "Come on. I'll introduce you. Just remember, keep it low key. He's a really great guy, but he's well...intense. And...he doesn't like ditzes."
"I'm not a ditz. Du-uh! I'm...hot!" she said going on ahead.
Two minutes later they were on their way back out having been told to go to hell in such a magnificent way, Tesi had no idea she'd even been shot down. Lydia, however, knew full well what he'd meant in spite of his warm smile and assurance it was good to meet Tesi and see Lydia again.
"I think he's like totally into me," Tesi said still clueless. "Did you see the way he kept checking out my boobs? Oh, yeah. He wants himself some of this," Tesi said turning around, smiling, and waving goodbye. "See! He smiled and waved back. I told you!"
Lydia knew better. Alex Voss was not only the hottest but the nicest guy she knew. He was polite to everyone—even her—and she'd blown it with him big time. If only she knew then what she knew now they might well still be together. She sighed deeper as Tesi continued blathering on and on about how awesome he was and how she just knew he was going to call and ask her out. Again, Lydia knew better.
Two hours later on his way out, the librarian said, "Alex? You know we close tomorrow at noon and won't be open again until noon the day after Christmas, right?"
"I did, but thank you for reminding me," he told her politely. "I guess I'll see you tomorrow at 9am then."
"It's none of my business, but wasn't that girl the one you used to go steady with?" she asked. "The brunette?"
Alex didn't even smile at her use of the term 'going steady'. It was a product of her generation and making fun of it would only show ignorance and disrespect on his part. "Yes, ma'am. We dated for about a year."
"She's a very pretty girl," she said with a sweet smile. "You know...I would love for my daughter to have met someone like you, Alex. She's married now but I just don't think she's happy. Had she found the right man...someone like you...well, who knows?"
Not knowing how to respond he simply said, "Thank you for saying that. That's very kind."
With that, he checked out a classic he'd had on his list for sometime but never gotten around to—Anna Karenina, a romantic novel by Russian author, Leo Tolstoy. Anna Karenina was the wife of a Russian imperial minister who created a high-society scandal by having an affair with a man known as Count Vronsky, a dashing cavalry officer in 19th-century St. Petersburg. Anna's husband, Alexei, offers her a difficult choice: Go into exile with Vronsky but never see her young son again, or remain with her family and abide by the rules of discretion.
In a way, he was glad he'd saved it as it promised to be filled with the intrigue of passion, romance, betrayal and heartache he so dearly loved. Its 864 pages would be a marathon read, but a pleasant one Alex couldn't wait to begin. Then again, he'd slogged through all 1,225 pages of Tolstoy's War and Peace so this would be a 'piece' of cake by comparison. By the time he lay down to go to sleep that night, he'd finished just over 200 pages and couldn't wait to start in on it again the next day.
