Chapter 10
Chapter Ten
Sierra could feel her energy lagging the next day at work as she added new labels to the books the library had ordered.
It was normally pretty easy for her to stay awake when she was walking around reshelving books, but sitting at a desk was causing her eyes to droop.
She had never been cut out for office work.
After the third time of almost drifting off, she grumbled, pushing her chair back to stand. If her body wouldn’t stay awake while sitting, standing and labeling it was.
It had taken hours for Sierra’s thoughts to calm the night before, and she hadn’t headed to bed until after three in the morning, which only gave her about four hours of sleep before she had to get up for her eight o’clock lecture.
Sleeping issues weren’t new to Sierra, but she had hoped they would go away as she kept busy with her job and school.
Unfortunately, it looked like that wouldn’t be the case.
Sierra heard the door open, only to feel her eyes narrow of their own accord when Aodhan walked in.
She had looked at the schedule when she clocked in, and he hadn’t been on it, which meant he was covering for someone—or was just here to annoy her.
Sierra had known she would need to see him sometime, she had just been hoping to at least have a day of peace beforehand.
Aodhan had his head down as he crossed the room, and his eyes rose to meet hers as he stopped in front of the cubbies where they could store their personal items during their shift. Sierra waited for him to say something, maybe an apology for the night before, but he said nothing.
Well, silent treatment it is then, Sierra thought, turning to pull the next book out of the box. Two could play at that game.
Instead of heading out of the employee area to reshelve books, Aodhan slid into the seat across from where Sierra was standing and working. She ignored him at first, but after a few moments, she looked up to see his eyes assessing her.
“Aren’t you supposed to be reshelving books?” she asked, looking back down at the book in front of her.
“Yes, but I have a few minutes before my shift.”
Sierra looked up at him, scowling. It was his right to be here.
He was an employee. At least now she knew he was covering for Sheila.
Most days, the library had 2-3 employees on reshelving and just generally being available for customer questions as needed.
There was also at least one at the checkout, though most shifts had two during the school year because it was so busy.
Then, there was additionally someone who was assigned to work in microfilm, helping students set up the machine and retrieving records as needed.
The last employee they had on each shift, besides the manager, was a ‘float’ who could either help with reshelving, the checkout, or book labeling, depending on where it was busy at the time.
This was the position Sierra was working in today.
All of the employees could work any of the positions except for microfilm, as this required special training on the machines.
While Sierra mostly reshelved by preference, she was also assigned float and checkout from time to time.
The silence stretched between them. Feeling the awkwardness grow, Sierra said, “So you’re covering for Sheila, I take it?”
Aodhan nodded, his mouth remaining pressed in a thin line.
Sierra couldn’t explain it, but she had a weird feeling in the pit of her stomach when she thought of Aodhan talking to Sheila. She brushed it off. “That’s nice.”
He nodded. “You don’t look like you slept well.”
It was Sierra’s turn to answer nonverbally with a shrug. She really didn’t want to discuss her sleep problems with Aodhan.
To her surprise, the next thing that came out of his mouth was, “Do you want to talk about it?”
For some reason, that was the absolute last thing she expected him to say, and she almost choked on her saliva, swallowing the retort she had prepared for what she had thought would be an insult coming her way.
She lifted her eyes to meet Aodhan’s, a little at a loss for what to say, but knowing she didn’t want to discuss anything with him.
“No thanks,” she finally managed to squeak out.
Aodhan didn’t say anything else as he rose from his spot at the table and headed out the door, pausing only for a moment to throw a concerned glance her way. Something in the air buzzed between them, but Sierra couldn’t put her finger on it.
Sierra shook her head at the odd encounter, turning back to the book in her hands. Whatever was going on between her and Aodhan, it was only blossoming to become more uncomfortable, and it needed to stop now.
Aodhan was her enemy. Her archnemesis. Even he himself had said that he didn’t like her. The last thing he should be doing is feeling concerned for her.
It took about two hours for Sierra to finish all the labeling of the new books.
Once she was done, she grabbed a cart and began loading the books by the section they would need to be shelved in.
The employee area was quiet, and she was able to work efficiently.
A song she had added to her Spotify playlist circled in her mind, keeping her occupied and awake more easily than those few hours prior.
As soon as the books were labeled and loaded, she made her way into the main part of the library, which was mostly empty, usual for this time of night.
She made her way over to the first section she needed to shelve books in, glancing at the clock on the wall. It was 20:00, giving her two hours to shelve the books before her shift ended at closing time. If she stayed focused, she knew she could definitely finish during that time.
After completing the first section of shelving, she maneuvered her cart to the next, only for a commotion at the front entryway to catch her attention. There was a group of students trying to enter the library, and they sounded intoxicated.
“C’mon man, I dare ya’.”
The taunt reached Sierra’s ears as she turned and made her way down another section. It didn’t happen often, but sometimes, students would come through campus buildings on their way back from partying. They were loud and annoying, but usually harmless.
Sierra zoned in on the task at hand, pushing their drunken taunts to the back of her mind, hoping they would get bored with whatever they were doing and make their way back to their dorms.
She was so focused on ignoring the drunkards that she didn’t realize one was behind her until he was pushing her up against the bookcase, his fetid breath blowing in her ear. Sierra tried to shove him off, but he was amazingly strong despite his intoxication.
“Get off of me!” she shouted. Looking around as much as she could with the side of her face pressed up against the books, only to notice that there were no other students in her line of sight. Great, she was on her own.
“I caught one!” The drunkard yelled, breathing his disgusting breath on her face a second time.
Sierra gagged, trying to keep the contents of her stomach calm.
She pushed against him again, and this time, she was able to get him to stop actively leaning against her, but she fell to the side as one of his hands still encircled her arms. She tried to pry off his fingers.
“Hurry! She’s feisty!”
Sierra looked around, but none of his drunk friends were nearby. She almost felt bad for him for a second, as it was obvious this was some form of prank gone wrong, but then she remembered he was still holding on to her forcefully, and her anger renewed with a vengeance.
“Let. Go. Of. Me.” she yelled, hoping that one of the other employees would hear, and come to her aid.
The drunk man started trying to drag her to the exit, but Sierra dug in her heels and began yelling for help.
It felt like an eternity, though in reality it must’ve been only seconds later, when a shape came around the corner of the shelf.
It was Aodhan. Sierra would’ve much preferred to see someone else’s broad shoulders, but at this point, she would take anything she could get to stop breathing in the drunkard’s booze breath.
“Let go of her this instant,” he said, his voice sounding strange to Sierra, even though she had heard it multiple times over the past week.
The drunkard dropped her arm instantly, and Sierra fell, catching herself on her palms at the last minute.
Rolling into a sitting position, she reached to rub the part of her arm where his hands had been, sure she would have a bruise later.
“Leave,” Aodhan said, in the same tone as before.
Without a single word, or argument, the drunk man stumbled past Aodhan and back toward the entrance.
Sierra pushed herself off the ground, so she was once again standing. “Geez, I gotta learn how to do that.” As soon as the drunkard was out of sight, Sierra brought her eyes to meet Aodhan’s, only to find them looking at her with irises that were ablaze.
“Did he hurt you?” Aodhan questioned, his teeth clenched together.
Sierra shook her head, rubbing her arm again. “No, I’m fine, he was just drunk.”
“Let me see your arm.” Aodhan reached for the sleeve of her shirt, but Sierra stepped back out of his reach.
“I said, I’m fine.”
Aodhan stepped toward her. “And I asked to see your arm. Now show me.”
Sierra went to step back again, but Aodhan was too fast. At what looked like inhuman speed, he grabbed her hand in one of his, and his other hand went to her sleeve.
Sierra tried to protest, “No, don’t—” but before she could finish, he pushed her sleeve up to reveal her forearm. He went still, staring at her skin.