Page 191 of The Life of Anna-Tenth Anniversary Edition: Act 2

“Or we have more comfortable chairs over there.” He motioned behind him.

Anna smiled shyly. “I know . . . I just . . . It’s quiet here.”

The man chuckled. “Yes, it can get a little noisy on the weekends. People don’t seem to understand what quiet means anymore.”

Anna smiled. “I can imagine.”

“You were just here last week, weren’t you?”

Anna’s eyes widened. “Yeah. I liked it so much I came back. It’s a beautiful building.”

The man leaned his shoulder against the end of the bookcase. “It is. I couldn’t imagine working anywhere else.”

“You work here? What a wonderful job to have!”

He tilted his head and studied her, then nodded with a smile. “I’m Max. Max Richardson. I’m the head librarian here.”

Anna stood and shook his hand. “A—Katrina. I just moved here from California.”

“California, eh? That’s quite a change. What brought you to New York?”

“Oh, uh . . . dancing.” She shrugged sheepishly.

“Ballet?” He grinned, glancing down at the book in her hands.

Anna smiled down at the book. “Yeah. I just joined the ballet company.”

“Wow. That’s quite impressive.”

Anna didn’t get the sense that Max was trying to flirt or come on to her at all. He was just a nice, friendly older gentleman. “Thank you.”

“I take my granddaughters to The Nutcracker every year. They love it.”

“I understand The Nutcracker is very different here than what I’m used to.” She laughed. “Well, everything is very different here.”

Max laughed with her. “Yes, the east and west coasts do tend to be quite different. We’re a bit more... uptight.”

Anna liked Max. He was funny and didn’t seem uptight in the least.

Max studied her for a long moment. “Why’s a pretty thing like you hanging out in a library on a weekend?”

Anna bit her lip. “I like reading. I haven’t been to a library in years and...” She sighed. “There’s nothing like it.”

The man chuckled again. “You’re an unusual young woman.”

“I’ve been told that.”

He smiled. “Have you been on the tour?”

“Oh, yes. It was wonderful.” Anna sighed. “I was going to go again, but I got here too late.”

Max chuckled. “I’ll let you get back to your reading. I was just curious about you. Most young people don’t come in two weeks in a row.” He gave her a last smile and then walked away.

Anna smiled and then sat down again on the floor to finish looking through the book, happy to have found a new friend.

Aaron was at the apartment when she returned. She ran to him, hugging him tightly. “I missed you.” She gazed up at him. “How was your trip?”

He smiled, but not as enthusiastically as she’d expected. “Good. Interesting. Dancing went really well.” He glanced at the kitchen table. “Who got you the flowers?”

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