Damnit.
The weather forecast had been too good to be true. Sunny and hot, with a pleasant breeze, for the entire day. Only in the late afternoon would there be some 'mild rain.' Anna wrung out her fiery red hair, leaving a puddle of lukewarm rainwater on the polished tiles, before casting her gaze down and taking in her white tank top, which was now practically see-through.
Crossing her arms inconspicuously, she took a look around. She - and everyone else - had taken refuge from the torrential downpour in the very first building she'd encountered. Apparently, that had been the city's central library, she realized with a wrinkled nose. Of course it had to be the library...
The lobby was now filled with dripping people in their shorts, skirts and summer-y shirts. Hopefully, this little bout of bad weather would be a very, very temporary one. She longed to get home and change into some dry clothes that wouldn't cling to her skin and reveal a lot more than they were intended to.
And I hate libraries, she grouched mentally.
The bright flash and loud crack of thunder startled her and caused her to jump slightly. Well, I guess I can forget about walking home anytime soon...
Apparently, the majority of the other people hiding out here thought the same thing, taking seats on the comfy chairs and couched that lined the walls. By the time Anna willed her legs to move, she found all the seats to be taken already, people now going so far as to sit on the floor in small puddles.
She noticed one particular guy, sitting only a few steps away from her, lecherously staring up at her see-through top and skirt-clad legs. He waggled his auburn eyebrows suggestively. Anna mentally snickered. Yeah, keep dreamin', Sideburns.
Before her unintentionally seductive outfit could attract any more admirers, she made her way into the actual library, figuring she could just wait out the storm between the bookshelves, away from roving eyes and crazy sideburns.
She milled through the seemingly endless rows of bookshelves for a few minutes, the dry, dusty air tickling inside her nose. "I guess this wouldn't be so bad if I actually enjoyed reading," she mused out loud, making her way over to the centre of the large hall. As expected, she found various chairs and couches crowded together there, with far less rainy occupants.
In fact, there was only one occupant - a very blonde woman who seemed so engrossed in the book she was reading that she seemed to be just about dead to the world around her.
Even in here, Anna could hear the thunder raging outside, and she sighed softly as she lowered herself onto one of the many chairs. Even she had the common decency not to disturb readers in the library... Her mother raised her properly, after all...
Which was, apparently, more than could be said for Auburn Sideburns. Anna bit her lower lip as she watched him approaching, a burly blonde walking behind him, and groaned internally as they took seats on the other side of the open space. Sideburns was - very openly and obviously - looking at her chest, where her bra was now clearly visible through the white cloth.
At least I'm wearing a bra, she consoled herself. This could have been much worse.
As if reading her thoughts, Sideburns jabbed his friend - who looked more uncomfortable than amused - in his ribs and exaggeratedly pointed at Anna, waggling his eyebrows again and showing off most of his teeth as he grinned widely.
For a moment she considered getting up and going somewhere else... but she figured he'd just keep following her anyway. Might as well just sit here and wait out the storm...
It wasn't too bad, Anna thought, until Sideburns actually started giggling and chuckling with his companion, sizing her up with his eyes constantly. Anna felt the gooseflesh form on her arm, knowing it had nothing to do with the temperature in the library.
She tightly closed her eyes for a moment, trying to imagine Sideburns and Big Nose to be gone, and only opening them as she heard someone decidedly non-masculine clearing her throat.
She looked up to find the blonde standing beside her, holding out her hand, clearly intending to hand whatever she was holding to Anna. She hesitantly took it and unfolded the crumpled wad to find a wrinkled, black blazer. She arched her brows at the blonde in an unspoken question.
The blonde merely shrugged with a faint blush. "I um... thought you might want to cover up a little. You can use my jacket until you... you know, go home. Or stuff. Unless you don't want to, of course, I mean-"
The redhead felt her lips stretching in a smile. "Thanks... I... I really appreciate it."
The blonde shrugged again, already turning back to her seat. "Don't mention it," she muttered shyly.
As she shrugged the garment on, she couldn't help shooting a satisfied grin at Sideburns, who seemed distinctly disappointed by the development. He and his friend waited for nearly ten minutes before they sighed, got up from their seat, and trod off.
Anna sucked in a deep breath before letting out a relieved sigh, taking note of the particularly pleasant scent surrounding her. Half-reluctantly, she got up from her seat, shrugged out of the blazer, and placed it on the chair next to the blonde. "Thanks for that... Those guys were... Unpleasant."
The other woman looked up from her book for a moment, taking Anna and the garment in slowly. "I can imagine, yes... If you're cold you can um... keep it for a while longer, or something..."
For some reason beyond her understanding, Anna felt a blush spreading across her cheeks and throat. "Nah, that's alright. I'm alone now, so it's fine..."
The blonde blushed as well, nodding mutely as Anna turned around and took her seat again.
Only an hour later, when the air was still moist, but rain had finally stopped falling, did Anna realize that, all the time in the library, she hadn't been alone. The blonde had been there, the entire time, and Anna blushed as she realized that the blonde hadn't corrected her either.
Two visits to the library in as many days? What is wrong with me?
Of course, Anna knew it had nothing to do with her. The weather had been guilty the first time, and now she needed some extra information for one of her assignments, and all the books in the university library on the subject had already been checked out.
Lazily dragging her feet across the library, Anna attempted to locate the section she needed. Why weren't there signs, or instructions, or big, glowing Vegas-style arrows, pointing in the right direction? Ugh, libraries...
Anna was surprised to find the blonde sitting in the exact same seat as she had been yesterday, appearing to be reading the exact same book, although she was a fair amount further than she had been before.
Not paying it any more heed, Anna returned to her miserable scavenger hunt throughout the many aisles, having the hopeless feeling that she was just walking in circles. When she, somehow, returned to the central sitting area, she realized that was exactly what she was doing.
The logical thing to do was ask the receptionist for help. The old crone gave her such a nasty glare, however, that Anna stubbornly decided she'd rather camp out in the library tonight than ask her for help. And thus, she turned in half a circle and stalked off in between the bookshelves again.
How hard can this be? Not that hard, right? It's just one room. Dozens of aisles. Hundreds upon hundreds of books... No biggie...
It took the redhead nearly fifteen minutes of fruitless searching before she changed her mind and decided to brave the crone at the front desk. Anything to get out of here so she could continue on that darned assignment...
"Um... Are you looking for something specific, or do you enjoy leisurely strolls through the library as much as I do?"
Anna swivelled around, finding the blonde woman, book clutched in one hand and half-hidden behind her leg, looking at her sheepishly.
"Yes. No! I mean, yes, I am looking for something specific, and no I do not enjoy this at all."
The woman smiled her shy little smile again. "Perhaps I can help... What are you looking for?"
"Something on neuro-linguistics?" Anna winced.
The blonde giggled softly, stifling it with her free hand. "Well, you're not going to find that in the romance section," she chuckled, waving her hand around.
"Right. Romance section... I knew that!" Anna huffed semi-defensively.
"Uh-huh," the blonde murmured, pushing her book in between two others. And casually pulling another from the shelf. "Come on, this way."
The blonde led her through a veritable maze of bookcases, eventually stopping in a far corner and pointing at the shelves there. "This is your best shot."
"Um, thanks," Anna laughed softly, perusing the shelf and secretly quite glad the blonde waited.
"Is my sense of direction so hopeless you don't think I'll find my way back?" she asked jokingly.
"That's not- I mean, of course not. I'll leave you to it," the blonde stammered.
"No! I didn't mean to tell you off... In fact, my sense of direction is probably that hopeless and then some."
The blonde gave her the signature shy grin again. "In that case, I'll wait and escort you back."
"Awesome," Anna smiled over her shoulder. "I'm Anna, by the way."
"Oh, um. Elsa," the blonde said, offering up a hand for Anna to shake.
"So, Elsa," Anna murmured as she looked over the titles on the shelf and pulled one of the books out. "What are you doing here?"
"Reading," the blonde responded as if it were obvious. Which, in truth, it was.
Anna rolled her eyes. "Obviously. I meant what are you reading?"
The blonde's face turned a fiery scarlet, amusing Anna to no end. "Nothing," she croaked.
"I know you took the novel from the romance section, but is it really that bad?" Anna asked with an impish grin.
"Of course not!"
"Mhm," Anna murmured sarcastically, deciding to drop the subject. "I've got what I need. Would you be a dear and escort me out of this infernal maze?"
"Yeah, this way," Elsa responded around a relieved sigh.
Placing the book back on the counter, in front of the, luckily, much less intimidating receptionist, Anna could not resist glancing over her shoulder to see if Elsa was in her usual spot. It was ridiculous to expect the same woman to be sitting in the same place three days in a row, surely. Yet, somehow, it apparently wasn't, because Elsa was exactly where Anna expected her to be.
Overtaken by curiosity on what drew Elsa here day after day, Anna tried her best to replicate her steps from the day before, somehow, miraculously, ending up in the romance section again. Peering at the books surrounding her, Anna identified the general location where Elsa had taken a novel from the day before.
"A Touch of Temptation, Heart of the Pack, A Reunion to Remember... Princess Charming?" Anna's eyebrows raised to her hairline, a mischievous grin overtaking her features. "Ah, I see how it is..."
With some minor difficulties, Anna managed to end up back in the central section of the library, gracelessly dropping herself on the chair next to Elsa's and clearing her throat to catch her attention.
"Oh, Anna! Hey! I didn't expect to see you here again..."
"Well," Anna drawled. "It's my understanding the library prefers book being returned..."
"Right..." Elsa mumbled sheepishly.
"And now that I'm here... I was wondering if you could advice some reading materials?"
"Oh, I um... I don't read-"
Anna's smile grew a little wider, her eyebrows raising in a silent request for Elsa to continue.
With a sigh and a soft shake of her head, Elsa conceded, flipping her novel so Anna could see.
"What's it about?"
"Um... A woman who's being set up on a string of blind dates, but ends up falling in love with the babysitter for her son..."
"Sounds cute," Anna smiled innocently.
Elsa blushed fiercely. "It's... um... sort of a lesbian romance novel, I suppose?"
Anna nodded sagely. "Yeah, I figured that out already, Elsa. Why else did you think I'd come to you for help in selecting a novel to read?"
"You want-"
"Uhhuh."
"Oh... I see..." Elsa wavered for a moment. "So, are you-?"
"Uhhuh," Anna repeated, smile growing even wider.
Elsa blinked a few times in short succession, before taking a piece of paper and scribbling a series of titles onto it. "You should probably read these, if you're interested in the genre," she suggested, still blushing but seeming less shy now. "The first is about the first female, lesbian president, and her biographer... And the other one is about the owner of a vineyard, who..."
Anna continued to listen as Elsa explained the plots of the novels on her little list, silently cooing over how adorable she was when she went in full-geeky-librarian-mode.
"Elsa," she gently interrupted.
"Oh, yes?" Elsa muttered, stopping mid-sentence.
"I know you enjoy spending time in the library and all, but would you perhaps care to have a drink with me sometime? Or maybe dinner?"
For once, Elsa's smile seemed to mirror the size of Anna's, the two of them smiling at each other for lunatics for a moment.
"I think I can guess, but I'd sort of like for you to verbally answer my question... Just to be sure."
"Oh," Elsa gasped, "of course. Yeah, I'd really like to have that drink sometime... Or maybe dinner."