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“So,” Cassius began. “About that book or collection of shorts. Care to help me find it?”
Amelia took a deep breath and composed herself, trying no longer to hide the smile on her face. She wanted to remain calm and collected, but instead of fighting it, she just allowed it to take over so she could remain focused on the task at hand. She cleared her throat and turned back to face the books.
“Ah, yes. James Joyce, Dubliners. This way please,” she said, directing him to follow as she turned and headed further down the aisle to where the book was.
Amelia hadn’t known what had come over her. She had never been shaken up so much before, especially from just an introduction. Yet here she was. Flabbergasted if not but anything else. Then, Amelia found the book, and her fingers gently pulled at it, sliding it out from the shelf until it was firmly in her grasp. She turned and handed it to him, and after he took it and began to skim through it, he smirked and let his arm drop to his side.
“This is fantastic, thank you, Amelia. Now, how about that coffee?”
CHAPTER TWO
Amelia and Cassius walked out of the library after he checked the book out and headed to the coffee shop around the corner. They walked side by side as Cassius opened the book and began to read from it. He read it aloud, his smooth silky voice entrancing Amelia. She felt like she was under some sort of a magic spell, had she actually believed in that. This man who came out of nowhere had completely flipped her brain over. She felt like those women on TV or in the movies she often criticized, which was why she didn’t watch them anymore. How stupid and easily manipulated many of them were once a gorgeous man walked into a room. A fairytale Prince Charming like trance. That was how she felt. She had seen attractive men before though. Many young college-aged men came into the library to do research, but none of them could ever compare to this. To Cassius. He was something else entirely.
Cassius’s walk sped up and ahead as he rushed to grab the door for Amelia as they approached. Chivalry wasn’t dead after all.
“Thank you,” she said as she entered the packed coffee shop.
Cassius followed closely behind her, tucking the book under his arm before looking up at the coffee menu on the wall.
“Have you ever been here before?” he inquired as they moved further up the line as customers finished placing their orders.
Amelia nodded. “I’ve been here a few times. You?”
He shook his head. “I haven’t. What should I order?”
“Depends on what you like. What do you normally drink?”
“Nothing. I don’t drink coffee, just figured you did, and it was an easy way to ask you out.”
Amelia glanced over to him as he looked over to her. They shared a glance before she turned back to the wall’s menu of options. “I’ll order you something then, and you can tell me if you like it or not.”
“Deal,” he replied as they moved up again.
After Amelia placed her order, getting Cassius the same thing as her, a mint chocolate chip expresso with oat milk, the two stepped aside and waited for their hot beverages to be made.
“Amelia?” the barista called out a minute later.
Amelia and Cassius took their drinks and then headed over to the table that aligned the windows facing the streets.
“Tell me how it is,” she said as she took a sip from hers which was delicious.
Amelia watched Cassius cautiously bring the cup to his lips. He seemed to be afraid of being burned, but it wasn’t going to be as hot as he thought it would be. This made Amelia smirk on the outside, but on the inside, she was chuckling in endearment.
Cassius tilted the cup back and let the drink enter between his lips. As he lowered the cup, he stared out of the window and Amelia could tell he was trying to savor it. He closed his eyes and swallowed it before turning to her with a smile on his face. “Wow, that was delicious,” he said. “Thank you for the suggestion. I’m going to have to become a coffee drinker now.”
Amelia smiled as she took another sip. “Once you start there’s no going back.”
“Who would want to?”
Cassius then turned and leaned against the table. His entire attention went directly to Amelia, who suddenly felt overcome with anxiousness. She had never been given someone’s full undivided attention like Cassius was. There was no cell phone in sight. His eyes focused only on her, and not on anyone else who walked by outside or inside the coffee shop. It was like the world had melted away to him and all he could do was focus on her. Or that was all he seemed to be caring about, at least according to Amelia’s observation. She liked that he was so personable, but also felt like because there was so much focus on her and so much attention, she was worried that she would bore him. That he would grow sick of her sooner rather than later. That this coffee date was as far as their interaction would ever go and then nothing further would ever occur after that. She was worried that the longer he looked at her, he would begin to find things about her that he wouldn’t like. That he would begin to see flaws, whether they were made up in her mind or she saw for herself, or things he just actually genuinely didn’t like about someone. Everyone had their preferences, both in physicality, mentality, and personality. She didn’t know what Cassius was into, even though it seemed to be her for some reason. For some unknown reason, he was into her. Maybe she was his type? To each their own she thought. Or, maybe he was only into intellectuals and her being the librarian and being into literature was what did it for him. Or, even beyond that, maybe he actually, by some long shot, didn’t actually care about appearances or intellect, but rather it all just came down to how he vibed with someone.
Not an impossibility. In today’s world the spectrum of love is vast. People had all sorts of kinks or preferences. She wasn’t one to knock on anyone for what they liked or desired. Everyone was entitled to like what they wanted just as long as what they were into didn’t hurt someone else, unless the other person was somehow into that sort of thing. Because Amelia had read some wild stuff over the years and smut and romance and erotic works were still literature at the end of the day. And with that being said, she’s read some pretty damn dark stuff. BDSM culture was something that had always interested her, even before she ever read Fifty Shades of Gray, which was less about BDSM culture and more about male dominance using that culture as a crutch and hiding behind it as an excuse to exert power over someone else. That was the kind of stuff Amelia had an issue with. As did many others when she scanned the reviews.
Everyone had something they were into. That was just a matter of fact. And if you didn’t have anything you were attracted to, or interested in, then you probably just haven’t done enough self-discovery yet. One could surprise themselves by opening themselves up to different experiences as long as you did your due diligence and were safe about it.
Which brought Amelia back to the moment she was currently sitting in. Here, in a coffee shop with a complete stranger she knew nothing about other than that he was into James Joyce and was literally the most angelic-looking human being she had ever seen.
Cassius stared at her before his eyes shifted to looking outside. He took another sip of his coffee and let out another pleasurable sound of enjoyment.
