When Perfect Meets Crazy

Chapter 39: 38 - Now is not the time to protect your dignity

With my chin resting in the palm of my hand, I stared, listless, letting out a sigh of boredom every now

and then. Ian was right. The library was pretty boring. Especially on a hot Sunday afternoon.

I had finished updating the log on my desk unit over an hour ago. Normally, after that, I would busy

myself with re-stacking used books and wrongly placed ones but today, there were no books to

reorganize since not a single person had come in all day. Not even one of the regulars. It was an

incredibly slow day. So slow, April couldn’t even be bothered to hide the fact that she was napping on

the job.

There was no one to attend to so, in a way, she wasn’t really in the wrong. I found myself envying her

ability to fall asleep wherever, whenever. For some reason, I could only ever fall asleep at home.

Normally, I considered it a blessing but today however, I was so bored I’d have given anything to trade

places with her.

If only I had Ian for comic relief.

I expelled a breath noisily through my mouth, absently tapping out a beat on the table top. I reached for

my phone again, hoping something interesting had happened in the last three minutes. Nothing had.

I heaved a sigh and returned my phone.

Shockingly enough, the double doors burst open causing me to reflexively sit up straighter as the first

patron of the day walked in. A tall muscular build filled the doorway. Dark brown locks glittering in the

halo of sunlight streaming in from behind him. I recognized him before I even got a look at his face. It

was Ian.

I sent up a quick prayer of gratitude. At least now, I wouldn’t die of boredom.

He had on a wide smile as sauntered over, to my desk.ConTEent bel0ngs to Nôv(e)lD/rama(.)Org .

“What?” I wore a confused smile.

“Practice is over. I killed it.” His smile didn’t diminish.

“Fighting?”

He nodded.

“I was just thinking about you,” I revealed.

“Yeah?” He wriggled his eyebrows, leaning over the desk till his face was merely inches from mine.

“I was,” I answered, pushing his head back a few much needed inches with my index finger. “It’s a slow

day,” I added by way of an explanation before changing the subject. “You’re unusually happy today.

What’s up?”

“Nothing. Just in a good mood.” He shrugged.

I stared back flatly.

“My sister’s birthday is coming up and I just got her the perfect present. She’s going to have a tea

party.” At this, he wrinkled his nose in derision. Fond derision, if that was a thing. “I have to go with a

date. Tammy.”

“Have fun.” Somehow, I managed not to snicker.

“At a nine year old’s tea party?”

“You never know.” I shrugged innocently.

He eyed me suspiciously, tilting his head to the side. “You’re mocking me.”

“Little bit.” I nodded, unable to keep from smiling any longer.

He scowled.

“How’s Trevor?”

“Good.”

“Just good?” he asked skeptically.

“We’ve been texting.” I jerked one shoulder. “He seems cool.”

Trevor’s texts were the only reason I hadn’t died of boredom yet. We had the most cringe-worthy game

going between us but it’s was fun. We were texting in song lyrics, and at the moment, I was winning.

Speaking of which, I took out my phone and shot him a text.

Given up yet?

I ignored the curious look Ian flashed my way.

“You were right about him by the way,” I informed him.

“Yeah, well.” He shrugged and turned away dismissively. Not the polite kind of dismissive.

I stifled the urge to roll my eyes. His hot-and-cold attitude was starting to get on my nerves. He was the

first one to get on the Trevor train. Then, there was last night with him practically feeding Trevor lines to

feed me.

“What is it? One second you’re team Trevor and the next, you can’t stand the mention of his name.” I

met his gaze. “Pick a side and stick with it.”

He rolled his eyes.

“Sure. Whatever,” he said dismissively. The normal dismissive this time.

Oddly enough, all of three seconds later, he seemed to actually ponder it.

Then, he said, “I guess I have been acting been weird. Trevor seems like a good guy until I actually see

you two together and then something feels off. It’s weird. I know.” He shrugged helplessly.

“Very weird,” I seconded.

“Maybe your hormones rubbed off on me.”

“That was over a week ago.” I pursed my lips, shooting him an unimpressed look. “I’m not hormonal

anymore. Not that it was contagious to begin with.”

He jerked his shoulders, flashing me an apologetic smile.

“How’s Tammy by the way?” I switched topics to what I felt was safer ground.

He scowled.

“What?” I snickered. “Trouble in Paradise?”

“She said she wants to ‘talk’,” He mumbled, flashing me a look of child-like innocence that made

something in my stomach flip.

“Nothing good ever follows those words,” I pointed out.

“I know. Why do you think I’m here?”

His scowl darkened. He pushed aside my bag and perched gingerly at the edge of my desk.

“You’re avoiding her?” I surmised, eyes widening in surprise. “That’s an even riskier move.”

“I know.” He heaved a sigh, that shockingly enough, had April jolting awake.

She normally wasn’t such a light sleeper.

“I just... Don’t know what else to do.”

He cradled his head in his hands, releasing yet another sigh. I flashed an apologetic smile at April who

was shooting Ian dirty looks he couldn’t see. She looked around, came to the realization that the library

was still practically empty, then dozed off again.

I was in awe of her ability to smoothly fall back asleep.

“Look, just go talk to her. It might not be a bad as you think...” I paused, indecisively nibbling on my lip.

“Or it will be. It could be worse to be honest.”

He raised his head and shot me an incredulous look. I shrugged. Comforting people wasn’t exactly my

specialty. He should be grateful I was even trying.

“Anyway,” I bulldozed on, “my point is whatever is going to happen will happen but if she does figure

out that you’re avoiding her, and she will soon enough, it’ll be worse. Girls don’t like being put on hold.”

He sighed wearily.

“You think I should go to her?”

The sound of the large double doors being opened filled the hall.

“Yeah, I do. Go now.” I said, glancing at our very first customer of the day from the corner of my eye. “I

even have a customer. It’s practically a sign you should go.”

He raised his head and glanced at the approaching customer, only for a look of utter panic to coat his

face. He looked like he’d just been caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

My brows furrowed in confusion as I took in the accusatory glare on the girl’s face as she made a

beeline for my desk. It only took a second to connect the pieces.

“That’s Tammy, isn’t it?” I confirmed, a mere moment before she arrived at my desk.

Ian nodded, eyes wide with fear. He was practically screaming guilty with his eyes.

“You know when some random girl dm-ed me that you were hanging out with a high school chic at the

library, I laughed,” she hissed, forgoing any semblance of a greeting.

‘Someone’ dm-ed her? My eyes widened in surprise but I wisely stayed silent. Her anger wasn’t exactly

unjustified. Any normal girl would be angry if her boyfriend was spending more time with a younger girl.

It was a tale as old as time.

Correcting her on what kind of relationship I had with Ian at this juncture would’ve done more harm

than good.

I couldn’t help but wonder if ‘someone’ was Claire. Knowing her, she wouldn’t have done it directly but

it had to have been her. No one else wanted to screw me as badly as she did.

“She insisted. Even sent me a picture of you with her at her school but you know what, I chose to trust

you.” She snarled. “Stupid. Fucking. Decision.”

The girlfriend –I suddenly couldn’t remember her name again- had shiny, unnaturally straight blonde

hair that went all the way down to her waist. She was pretty too. Very pretty and curvy wiyh perfect

skin. It was almost unfair.

“I don’t even know why I came down here.” She shook her head. “She just seemed so sure of herself, I

decided to humor her but here you are. After you told me you were going to be busy all day with

practice and Emily.”

The fire in her eyes had Ian shrinking away.

“Have you even seen Emily today?” She hissed, eyes narrowing to slits.

It was all I could do not to snicker. A scoff did escape me though, drawing her attention to me. I

immediately slapped on a contrite expression.

“Ian isn’t cheating on you.” I piped up, on his behalf since I was now on her radar. “He may have lied

but he’s definitely not cheating. At least, not with me. The only reason he’s here is because he’s scared

of what ‘talking’ to you means.”

“I wasn’t scared--” he protested.

My gaze cut to him, warning him now was not the time to protect his dignity.

“You were terrified because she said she wanted to talk.” The words ‘someone dm-ed her’ flashed

through my mind again and I added, ”I don’t appreciate being used as a wrench to throw between you

two so you guys are going to go over there and have that ‘talk’.”

I pointed in the direction of the history shelves.

A distant part of my mind was aware that the polite thing to do would be to walk away, leaving them

alone to talk it out but it was my desk at my workplace. There was no reason to move seeing as they

both possessed fully functioning legs.

“Go,” I shooed.

I had important things to think about like this anonymous ‘someone’ who sent Tammy a picture of Ian

and I, and even went as far as to tell her where we’d be. What. The. Actual. Fuck.

I was sure Claire was behind it. I was completely certain it was her. She wasn’t stupid so there was no

way she would’ve done it herself, not since there was a possibility it would get resolved and I’d find the

perpetrator. It wouldn’t even be one of her henchmen. She was a proper veteran in the art of covering

your tracks. If I followed the trail, I knew it would only lead to some remote uninvolved person. Probably

an underclassman.

“Bitch,” I hissed under my breath.