Page 3 of Raw & Vulnerable

She’s shaking and it takes great mental effort to remind herself that she’s not in any danger. He’s a patron of the library, he’s not going to do anything to her. “Y-yes. I’m fine.” Her voice comes out squeaky, much to Minnie’s embarrassment. She clears her throat. “I should have watched where I was going. My apologies.”

You’re a mouse.

He steps back from her immediate person, as if realizing he might be intimidating her, letting go of her small shoulders like they’re on fire. Minnie feels small, insignificant. He has wide shoulders and his hands had felt like iron on her tiny frame.

She feels even worse when she sees that she knocked a few books out ofhishands. She must have, because there are some unfamiliar ones on the floor mixed in with hers. She ducks down, starting to sort the books. She holds one up, noting it’s geared towards the study of engineering. “Is this yours?”

He takes it from her, not meeting her eyes. “Uh. Yeah. It is.”

Looking down at the other books, Minnie notices there are others that appear to be geared towards furthering education. “Oh,” she utters nervously, feeling like she needs to fill the quiet silence. She babbles when panicky and he’s very stand-offish, making her feel even more uneasy. “Are you finishing your education? This is some heavy material.”

Crouching easily, elbows on his knees, he picks up the remainder of his books, a hint of red about his tanned neck. “Somethin’ like that. Kinda missed out the past few years.”

Do I ask if it’s his GED or would that be insulting?Minnie decides against it. There’s no reason for her to pry and she usually sounds like an uptown snob when she pries. She smiles at him thinly, her typical librarian politeness. Her safety net, her mask so that no one sees the nervousness behind her gaze. “Well, I do apologize for running into you. Good luck with the studying; engineering is hard. Or…so I hear.”

Why does she sound like a babbling idiot? Minnie winces and stands, starting to turn to leave, feeling overwhelmed.

As she’s about to walk away with her books, he looks slightly pained, as if there’s something else he wants to say. Then, “Hey. You work here, yeah? Can you help me figure out how to book one of these study rooms? Some hag yelled at me about it the other day and I really didn’t want to ask her how to do it properly.”

Minnie lets the hag comment slide by, becauserude. Furrowing her brow, she asks, “Haven’t you been here before?” She’s well aware he hasn’t been here aside from just the other day, but a library is a library. “There’s some computers around the corner for the booking system…”

His hard, autumn colored eyes make her heart flutter as he gazes at her without blinking. His throat works awkwardly and Minnie watches his Adam’s apple bob. The short sleeve shirt he’s wearing today is tight around his biceps and now that she’s close, she can see more of the detail around those tattoos of his. There’s an ominous skull on the side of his neck, grinning, with fangs for canines, detailed in black ink. Minnie feels like it’s snarling down at her and she looks away from it quickly, not liking the feeling of apprehension it gives her.

There’s a large, attention grabbing belt buckle just above his groin, but Minnie isn’t about to let herself be caught staring atthat. Even though, last night she wondered…

His voice, that rusty baritone, seems so loud on the quiet floor. “I haven’t been in a place like this in like, over a decade, so I’m a little lost on how things work.” He looks away from her, as if not wanting to see her reaction, his strong jaw clenched.

Ashamed? Embarrassed?

Taking pity on him, Minnie sighs, juggling her books in her arms. “Follow me. I’ll help you with the system. It’s not too hard. Someone should have helped you yesterday.”

“I don’t think the bitc- the woman from the other day wanted me here,” his voice is dry, unamused.

Oh, no doubt. Minnie already knows he’s caused a stir. He looks like a troublemaker, rough and tough. In fact, he looks like he kicks people’s teeth in after hours. “I don’t know why that would be,” she says politely. Safe. Kind. A lie.

Her eyes touch on the grinning skull on his neck once more. She can’t stop looking at it and it’s absurd. Why is she so drawn to it? It’s absolutely hideous, like a grotesque visual made into stunningly gothic art. The skill of the artist is clear, so she can admire that.

He snorts, following behind her. Minnie feels like she’s the pied piper, but leading a giant, what with the way she can hear every footstep he makes behind her. Her face heats and she imagines his eyes are burning into her spine.

Or, perhaps he’s examining her rear, encased in her dark slacks. Maybe he’s thinking about how he’d like to bend her over one of the desks and drill into her from behind while her small fingers fight to gain purchase on the wood. She wonders if he’s loud or if he’s quiet.

Minnie hates herself for even thinking about it.

“I think you know,” he’s saying caustically. “I don’t look like a typical fuckin’ yuppie that comes through here.”

No, he certainly doesn’t. Minnie can’t even imagine him in a polo shirt and khaki pants.

Minnie gently shelves some of the books in her arms along the way, very aware of the way he stalks around behind her, surprisingly patient with how long it’s taking her to get him to the study room section. Pausing, she turns and gives him her full attention, saying quietly, “Well, I suppose not.”

He sneers, those lips of his curling cruelly. “You suppose not. Aren’t you a peach?”

Now, he’s just trying to intimidate her.Rude!

Slightly irritated by the look on his face, yet put off by his confrontational tone, Minnie twists her own lips at him. “Do you want my help or should I go find ‘the hag’ for you?”

His shifts his weight, a dark thought crossing his gaze. He sighs, tension leaving his shoulders. “Just hurry up.”

Scoffing at him in disbelief, she leads him over to the study room booking computers, hidden around the corner. She shows him how to look at the schedule, how to select a room, how to use his library card to book the room, only-

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