Vol. 6, Chapter XIII — The Unofficial Assistant and Her Librarian

Unlike my wonderful relationship with my wifey, the one I have with libraries is complicated. It’s the smell of paper and wood, you see? It reminds me of my Mum’s home office, the place where many of my scoldings and corporal punishments took place. Mum’s office also smelled of leather, but our school library didn’t have that, only the typical wood and metal school chairs, and wood and cloth padded chairs.

This, however, wasn’t really a deterrent for me to not come visit my wifey during her Committee activities, or even join her on those days Thomas or another member couldn’t come or hadn’t been assigned a shift. As long as Violet was close by, her scent and perfume were pretty much all I registered, or at least, it muffled the rest, and her presence kept the bad memories away. Today was one such day, the two of us sat tightly together, a blanket that Violet brought from home covering our legs. The Library had air conditioning and was at a corner of the building that usually caught plenty of sunlight, but the weather was heavily overcast, and the wind blew from the North, bringing a chill from the far, far away mountains where it had recently snowed. The big windows that are so good at letting in natural light were now the cause of why the space never seemed to get any warmer past a certain point.

Violet was working on the computer while I napped, or rather, just woke up from one. I stayed with my head resting on my crossed arms over the desk, one eye partially open so I could see her profile view. She looked so handsome when she was focused on her work. The fact that I had tied her hair into the “sexy librarian” style also helped.

She finished what she was typing, and, just to show how comfortable she feels in the library, stretched her body like a lazy cat, her feet bumping under the desk due to how long her beautiful legs are, arms high in the air, and all of her joints popping satisfyingly, a pleased moan leaving her as her body relaxed back into a seating position.

I closed my eye, knowing Violet would look at me next. Our pressed legs rubbed together as she shifted again, leaning over me. I felt her cold fingers brush my scalp as she caressed my hair, and her breath tickled my face as her lips grew closer. She delivered a very tender kiss to my cheek and whispered into my ear.

“I’m going to put the books on the trolley back into their shelves. Stay here, and call me if anyone needs me, ok?”

She then got up with a shiver as the cold air hit her legs, and she made sure mine were properly covered before leaving.

I supported my head with one hand as I watched her walk away and eventually disappear between the shelves, admiring the view and wondering when it was that she had become so observant that she knew I was faking sleep.

Today’s socks she had on were a gift from me. Cable-knit, made of very soft and warm wool, pearly-white, calling attention to her legs even more than usual. They looked cute and elegant, but most of all, so, so cosy. I had a really hard time not just constantly having my face on her lap and rubbing my cheeks all over. Perhaps that is why I brought my kitty-themed ones mismatched today, one white, the other black. Violet was a bit apprehensive about it, but mostly amused, and even said that she was surprised I hadn’t done it before.

“Yeah, it really is kinda surprising,” I said to myself as I peeked under the blanket and my skirt to see the cat ears and eyes it hid. It was a different, more overt, kind of cute.

Typically, I reserve these for wearing at home, but I might wear them more often outside and at school. She tried to hide it, but I could see her funny smile whenever she looked at my legs and remembered what the hem of the skirt hid below.

I began looking around next, noting how empty and quiet this place was around this time of the day, even though we were approaching test season again. People probably elected to go home, where it is probably warmer.

Normally, the lack of her presence would make me feel uncomfortable in the library, hence why I always tagged along when she was going around with the trolley, but since we had done our “exchange” earlier, I had Violet’s underwear on as a comforter, so I was ok being left alone.

“…I wonder, what is she up to?”

Not my wifey. Not this time anyway. Not my sister, not Mathilda, not even Jessy or Claire. I was actually thinking about my Mum, of all people. With winter came Christmas, and with Christmas came a bit of that annoying question. It’d be two years since everything changed this year, where my old life officially ended, and my new one began. Was she going to be alone this Christmas too? Was she… even remotely lonely? Regretful even? Those were questions I’d have answered with a no before, but ever since I saw her gain that Summer day, how sad and scared she looked upon seeing me, it makes me wonder if she hasn’t changed, even if just a tiny bit.

Not that it matters anyway.

Someone opened the door to the library at that moment, and I pushed those thoughts aside. I had seen that boy before, a second year, judging by the colour of his tie. He was tall—and I do mean tall, I’m not saying this just because my shortcake point of view makes everyone average in height appear so, and a bit scrawny. He always seemed to carry around a bit of nervous energy with him. We locked eyes, and I greeted him with a smile as he approached me.

“H-hi,” he told me, his hands wringing inside his pockets. “Are you alone today?”

I kept smiling at him, my suspicions that he had a crush on Violet or me deepening, and told him that Violet was currently putting books back in their shelves and asked if he needed something from her. He told me it was ok and that he was just curious before turning away and going to sit down on a desk with a view of ours. He took out his phone and started texting while I shifted my focus to Violet’s side of the desk, specifically, to her current literary addiction.

The book in question wasn’t particularly thick and had a mouse holding a sword and a shield under the title. It clearly was a children’s fantasy book, which made it an odd pick for her, as she usually reads more mature materials.

Maybe it’s a book from her childhood?

I picked it up and started reading. By the time I realised it, I had already read a bunch of pages and Violet had sat back down and was snuggling her legs over mine, seeking the warmth that only I could provide.

“Hi there!” I chirped, leaning against her and putting the book down to grab her freezing hands and tuck them under our blanket. “All done?”

“Almost,” she told me, shivering a bit. “I wasn’t expecting to find you reading.”

“Hehe! I kinda got caught by how it is written,” I told her. “Why are you reading it, though?”

“I apparently read it when I was a kid,” she told me. “They were playing the cartoon during the weekend on television, and Dad told me that I loved it when I was five or something.”

New Violet lore discovered! Nice!

Our talk was interrupted when we noticed that two boys were standing by our desk, the previous one I mentioned, and his friend, a slightly shorter guy with messy curls, whom I hadn’t even noticed coming inside the library while I was reading. Both seemed a bit nervous as they faced us.

Violet, ever the professional, greeted them with a smile and asked what she could help them with.

They introduced themselves to us and, between some lip-smacking as if their mouths were dry and blushing, they asked if we’d like to go with them to a café or something after we were done with our duties.

“S-sorry, boys, but…” Violet began, raising her left hand from under the blanket so they could see the ring.

“We are committed to one another,” I finished, also raising my left hand so they could see my matching ring. “We are the ones from that rumour about two girls being married to one another, you might have heard about before.”

The poor guys looked like they wished the ground would swallow them whole. They apologised for it, and I did my best to soften the blow to them, telling them that we appreciated the feeling and that they were very brave trying their luck, but it’s hard to tell if it made it better or worse, to be frank.

“Still, quite brave of them,” I contemplated after they left in a rush. “To ask two older girls out on a date.”

“Yeah, I guess,” Violet mumbled. It looked like she was a bit annoyed by it, this being the third time boys showed interest in her this year. “I don’t know if I could do it.”

“You would,” I chirped. “I dare you to look at your track record and say otherwise, Miss Box-Full-Of-Surprises.”

She squinted as she looked up to the side. After just a brief moment of thinking, she made an agreeing sound before snuggling back to me.

I jokingly asked her if she could guess which one of us each boy had been interested in. She was a bit surprised that I couldn’t tell either, but I reminded her that while I can read her like an open book, others, I can only form an educated guess at best. They were so nervous, it was hard to tell. Maybe the boy with the messy curls had been interested in me, the more easy-going one, or perhaps, like me, he was attracted to the more orderly-looking Violet. Violet shrugged at that, saying that, in the end, it didn’t really matter.

“Hey, babe?”

“Hmm?”

“I really liked the story so far. Would you like it if we read to one another after we got home?”

“Hmm… I think I’d prefer to read it rather than being read to.”

“Well, I wouldn’t mind you reading to me while we snuggle in bed or on the couch.”

She thought about it for a second before agreeing to it, but since she was on the last third of the book while I was only at the beginning, we’d have to wait for me to catch up, or Violet would have to re-read most of it again. I chose to let her finish reading the book, and then I’d finish reading it too, saving the idea we had for the next book she picks up.

When leaving school, Violet back to vibrating with shivers like she had that morning, even though I was tightly packed against her, my mind wandered back to thoughts about my Mum’s Christmas as my eyes stared towards the direction my old house was. It’d be so easy for one of us to see the other; we only had to walk a few steps to be at the entrance of the house or school, and yet, we never did.

“Are you warm enough, honey?” Violet asked, adjusting the collar of my parka and making sure the cat ushanka she had given me last year was properly secured on my head, keeping my ears warm.

And like that, the thoughts about my Mum disappeared, being replaced with thoughts of love and playfulness towards Violet.

“Gee, I’m fine, Mumma Violet!” I told her with puffed up cheeks as I adjusted her scarf. “You’re such a nagging wife sometimes.”

“Am not!” she said, sounding a bit offended. “I just don’t want you to get sick!”

“And when was the last time I got sick, hmm?”

“Erm… Well, just because it hasn’t happened yet, doesn’t mean you should tempt fate, you know?” she mumbled back, now being her turn to sulk.

I laughed and hugged her tightly, teasing her further as I told her to quit fussing so we could get home sooner and warm up under a nice shower. Her face turned from a pout to a dreamy expression as she pictured us under hot water, most likely snuggling as much, if not even more than we currently were.

“It really is a shame that we don’t have a bathtub in either of our places.”

“Once it’s time for us to start planning moving out, let’s look for a place with one,” I told her with a chuckle. “And a tiny kitchen, so that we cook all snuggled up.”

“Hmm… will we even continue cooking together at that point?”

“We will!” I pouted. “During the weekends and on some of the nights when I don’t have to study or do assignments, and you’re not too tired!”

“Pfft, fufu! Ok, ok. A bathtub and a tiny kitchen it is then.”

“Yay!”