Chapter 15 - Lora's Escapism

Ezra wasn't pleased with the development of his wife's behaviour, and he certainly wasn't pleased to find that she wasn't home when he returned. Naturally, he wasn't too happy when Lora told him either, she had seen the anger in his eyes, she had seen the desire to take it out on a person who wasn't there. At that moment Lora knew he was no good man, not even a little bit. And it terrified her.

The following night - when he had gone - she found herself getting dressed and sneaking out of the house, careful to avoid housekeeper Linda on her way out.

She grabbed one of the cars in the garage - though she knew she would get in trouble for it later – and speeded out the driveway. She was quite astonished as she exited the grounds without running into or being seen by someone, as the time was nearing five in the morning.

Lora drove towards the city and parked in a parking house, before she headed down the streets, towards the main library.

She jumped up the stairs to the main entrance and pushed open the door without considering her actions further. She walked in her own thoughts up and down the rows of the bookshelves, until she was interrupted by the sound of footsteps and the feeling of someone watching her.

She turned her head to see a man with brown hair, glasses and a stack of books staring at her at the end of the row. He blinked a couple of times as their eyes met.

"Oh, I'm sorry, did I surprise you?" Lora asked and smiled at him.

He laughed a little and adjusted his glasses, "Surprised I would not say but…" He paused. "I'm sorry miss… I'm the librarian here, can I assist you with anything?" he asked as he pushed his glasses back. He looked at her and blinked a couple of times more, seemingly quite confused at the whole situation.

"I'm sorry, I didn't expect anyone to be here at this time," Lora said and scratched the back of her neck nervously.

"Then why did you go to the library if you didn't think it would be open?" he asked, walked back to a table a little, put his books aside, and removed his glasses.

Lora giggled nervously and looked away, "I suppose I didn't think it through," she said and followed it up with a laugh. "But why are you here so early? Or maybe you just haven't gone home yet?"

"Erhm," the librarian cleared his throat and pushed his books further aside, "just doing some light research." He placed his glasses back on his nose.

"Research, sounds interesting, what is it about?" she asked and then remembered, "I'm sorry, my name is Lora."

The librarian blinked, "yes, pleasure to meet you miss Lora… Was there anything I could help you with?"

"Actually…" Lora began but was interrupted by a voice coming from the library's second floor.

"Don't mind him miss Lora," the voice said, and Lora looked up to locate the speaker, "he's always a bit distracted at this time of the morning." A big bear of a man with long golden hair and a strong body jumped down the ladder from the second floor and landed with ease on the floor, though the floorboards slightly shook under his weight.

"My name is Hamish, and this is Gillian," he introduced with a gesture and made a slight nod of the head. "Won't you join us?" he asked and nodded to the table now with a big pile of books.

Lora stepped out from the rows of bookshelves towards the table, "what are you… reading?" she asked somewhat confused at the seemingly unsorted piles in front of her. Surely a librarian would be more structured than this.

"Nothing, it's really not… anything interesting," Gillian said as he moved a couple of books around so that they lay hidden under other books.

Hamish sighed and rolled his eyes, "of course not," he said and turned to Lora, "was there anything you wanted? There must be something with you being here this early."

Lora shrugged, "actually, it's really not… anything interesting." She smirked a little.

Gillian looked up over his glasses before he closed the book he had been reading. "Hamish," he said, still looking at Lora, "won't you assist this young lady."

"Of course," Hamish said and walked towards Lora, "let's head back to the shelves, shall we?" he said, smiling at her before leaning closer so he could whisper, "you have caught him on a bad day, he is kinder when you know him." He paused for a while as he moved even closer, "I on the other hand can be quite pleasant," he whispered with a smirk.

Lora felt her heart skip a beat, as she nodded, "yes… Ehm. I was looking for something about… Well. I was looking for a good book."

Hamish nodded, "I'm sure we can hook you up with something like that."