Tempting Rowan(12)

He opened his mouth to argue but the professor finally decided to make an appearance—ten minutes late I might add.

I turned away from Jude and set about taking notes.



I was running late and I hated being late, but I had gotten stuck in traffic thanks to a train passing through town.

I ran into the library bathroom and locked myself in the wheelchair accessible stall. I changed out of the clothes I’d worn to class and into my work clothes, stuffing my jeans and sweater into my backpack so I could change into them again after my shift ended.

I opened the stall door, washed my hands, and jogged down the hall to the backroom where we stored our stuff.

I ran back up to the front—winded at this point—and stopped in front of Mary, the head librarian. She was an older lady, in her sixties, with short gray hair. She was one of the kindest people I knew, but I hated to disappoint her by being late, especially since she was the one who had hired me.

“I’m so sorry I’m late,” I gasped.

She looked at me for a moment and her eyes flicked over to the clock on the desk. “You’re two minutes late,” she stated.

“I know, and I’m really—”

“Shush, child,” she lowered her reading glasses, “I hardly constitute this as late, besides, you’re usually early. Don’t worry about it.”

“But—”

She raised a brow and the look in her eyes silenced me. “You have nothing to be sorry for, Rowan. Now quit wasting my time with your apologies and put those books back on the shelves,” she pointed to a cart full of books.

“I’m on it,” I assured her, taking the cart and grabbing the first book.

“And Rowan?” She called before I was out of earshot.

“Yeah?” I turned to look at her.

“If you’re late again, don’t apologize. Just get to work,” she smiled kindly.

“Sure thing.”

I started the mindless job of replacing the books on the shelves. I loved being surrounded by books. They were the only thing in my life that always managed to make me happy. Reading allowed me to escape from my shitty life, even if it was only for a few hours. It was nice to…disappear for a while.

Before I knew it, the cart was empty. I rolled it back and there was another waiting for me.

By the time I finished the library was closed.

“Are you staying to study?” Mary asked, handing me the envelope with my check in it.

Technically I wasn’t allowed to stay after hours, but Mary trusted me and didn’t mind.

“No,” I shook my head, frowning. I really needed to study and get my homework done since I had trouble doing it at home, but I needed to stop by the grocery store and get some food. I knew my mom wouldn’t have bothered to make Tristan and Ivy anything to eat—even if she tried there wasn’t any food in the house. “I have to go to the store.”

“Oh, okay then,” Mary smiled and patted my arm as she flicked off the light on the desk.

“I’m going to change,” I told her, already heading toward the backroom to grab my bag.

“I’ll wait for you, sweetie,” she shrugged into her winter coat.

“No, no, you go on ahead,” I assured her with a wave of my hand.

“Don’t be silly,” she pulled on gloves.

“Mary,” I stopped with a hand on the door. “I leave here by myself a lot of nights. You don’t need to worry about me.”

“Don’t be stubborn now, young lady,” Mary warned.

“Alright,” I sighed, “give me a minute.”

I changed out of my clothes in record speed and met Mary at the front. She closed the large library doors behind us and locked them. The library was located in a historical part of town and first opened it’s doors in nineteen-thirteen. It was massive and one of the most beautiful buildings I’d ever seen.

Mary and I walked down the sidewalk and over to parking lot. I waved goodbye and got behind the wheel of my ancient—but reliable—Honda Civic.

I was exhausted, but my day was far from over. I still needed to stop by the local Wal-Mart to get groceries before I went home. I’d have to deposit my check first thing in the morning so I didn’t get a bill for overdrawing my account. That would majorly suck.

The parking lot was packed, even at six in the evening. I ended up having to park all the way in the back of the parking lot, which sucked since it was so cold out and my lightweight coat did little to protect me from the frigid wind and snow flurries. My long legs carried me quickly into the store. I grabbed a shopping cart and pulled the grocery list from my pocket.

My first stop was to get frozen lasagna. I would have rather gotten the ingredients to make it homemade, but it was far too expensive. I was used to living on a budget. I swung by and grabbed a package of deli turkey before heading down the bread aisle. I scanned the prices, looking for whatever was cheapest. Ivy and Tristan had learned early on that we couldn’t afford to be picky. Whatever was the lowest price was what we ate.