Irresistible Attraction

Chapter 3

Charlotte

I just finished registering the book a user wanted to borrow. This woman borrowed a lot. All of them were about science, something that Greyson would soon get a headache. 

That made me giggled.

Even so, Greyson was very smart. He was the definition of good in looks and perfect in the brain. He used to tutor me too but Greyson was into bikes so he took mechanical engineering back in university. 

Once the user was gone, it was time for me to switch with my friend while I grabbed all the returned books and put them back in place. I used the cart to carry all the books. I started arranging which book goes to what shelves.

It might be tiring to some people but I loved this job.

I only took library science back in the university. I loved books since I was a little girl and I wanted to surround myself with them. I felt more relaxed by being surrounded by books. Although my favorite was fiction and I adored Eden Rose’s books, I loved it here. I could learn one or two things. My brother agreed with my choice. He never questioned my decision, almost giving me total control over my life. Even after our parents passed away, Dylan always let me do everything I wanted. He took care of me really well. He tried to fill in the role of a father also a mother. 

My brother was too perfect.

He was a great doctor. A great cook. He cleaned the house. He was a great brother I couldn’t ask for more.

That’s why I didn’t want to trouble him.

And Greyson too.

His family had done so much for me and Dylan. If it was not because of them, we would be homeless. Yes, Dylan had a saving but he saved them for his study. And he had extra luggage which was me. I felt bad about that. But Greyson’s parents stepped in and told us we could stay as long as we liked. I remembered Dylan refused at that time but Nancy-Greyson’s mother told him to think about me. I was still ten-year-old when we lost our parents. Still young and vulnerable. Dylan was thinking about me so he accepted. They even paid for his education until Dylan graduated properly and became a doctor. Well, he was still new as a general practitioner but he was doing a great job. I heard a lot of patients loved having him as their doctor.

So, Dylan and I stayed at the King until he got a job and was able to rent a small house for the two of us. The King treated us very well. Maybe because we had known each other for a very long time. 

Both our families were practically acted like a real ones.

The King only had one son which was Greyson so they were very happy when me and Dylan became Greyson’s best friend. And I loved to be his friend. I loved Greyson too. I used to depend on Greyson so much but now I had to take care of myself…alone.

I was a grown-up now. I had to try to do everything alone.

“Hello, Lola,” a familiar voice called out for me and I looked to the side, finding Caelan standing near the bookshelf.

“Oh, Professor Pearson.”

“Please, you can call me Caelan. You’re not my student.”

“Um, excuse me.”

“No problem. Do you need help with that?” he pointed at the book I was currently holding onto.

“No, I’m fine. Are you looking for a certain book?”

“No. I was just about to go to the literature section when I saw you.”

“You don’t have any lecture today?”

“Nope. I wanted to collect some materials and this library had tons of collections than my university. It helps me a lot,” he explained. I should be proud by working here.

“This library is one of the best.”

“I agree. Well then, please excuse me. If you need help, I will be sitting at the usual spot.”

“I know where to find you,” I said and he showed his signature smile.

“See you later,” he parted.

“See you.” And he walked away. I continued looking at him until he disappeared between two bookshelves. 

Caelan Pearson, he was working at Boston University as a professor in English and American Literature for the undergraduate major. He was originally from Washington but he fell in love with Boston and decided to stay and work here. He’d been staying here for almost a year now. He was quite older than me, he was thirty-eight-year-old. 

But I admired him. 

True, Caelan was handsome and looked so mature. And he loved books. 

I recalled the first time we met was like a novel came out as a reality. I was trying to grab a book from the very top shelf where I couldn’t reach without the stairs. Because compared to other girls, I was relatively small. I only stood for five foot two. If I stood next to Faye, I was so tiny. She was five-foot-eight. Owen was five-foot-ten. While Greyson being the tallest. He was six-foot tall.

But anyway, back to how I met Caelan.

Once I reached the book I wanted, I accidentally pulled the books sitting next to the one I wanted and almost hit my head if Caelan didn’t grab me and rescued me from the books rain. It happened a month ago and since that day, I’d developed a friendship with Caelan. He also told me he was working on a book too and that’s why he came to the library not just to gathered materials for his lecture purpose but for his book too.

And since that fateful day too, I’d been watching him. He would always be sitting at the table near the literature section. If he didn’t have any lecture to do, he would spend his time there for almost a day. He would go out for a lunch and then came back sitting at the same spot. I practically had memorized his routing while in the library. It was encrypted in my memory. It sounded like a stalker though. But I loved seeing him reading books after books and then he would be concentrating on his laptop. Maybe working on his book. I never asked him what he was working about but I knew Caelan would be a great writer one day.

I continued working on my job until I had to go back to the registration table and facing other borrowers until it was time for lunch. 

Any minute now.

Beep.

Yes, my phone chimed. I grabbed it and saw a text message from Greyson.

Have you started your lunch yet?

And I replied:

I’m about to.

He replied so fast:

You shouldn’t be late taking your lunch.

I rolled my eyes. Greyson acted like my mother now.

I won’t. Have you had your lunch too?

He replied like the flash again:

I’m about to as well.

 Be careful around guys, Lola.

That made me giggled softly.

I will.

I stood up while grabbing my bag, pushing in my phone. “Lola?” Until I saw Caelan stood in front of me. 

“Hey. Um, do you need any help?”

“No. I’m going to search for lunch and I was wondering if you would like to join me?”

I was dumbfounded.

What did he just say? Or better yet, what did he ask me? Lunch? Oh, my God. I couldn’t believe Caelan just asked me. We did that before and I was extremely happy. 

“Um, Lola?”

I blinked and replied, “Y-Yes, sure. I would love to.”

“Great. I brought my car and I hope you don’t mind with my choice.”

“Not at all.”

We walked out of the library together as I saw Caelan’s lavish black Camry. He opened the door for me first and he went to his. 

He took me to a seafood restaurant nearby. “I hope you don’t mind if I took you for lunch,” he stated after we ordered. 

I shook my head. Trying to convince him that I was not bothered at all. More like shocked though.

“I was quite nervous to ask you,” he confessed nervously. Caelan? Nervous?

“Why?”

“Well, first, you are working there and I don’t want your colleagues to think you badly because a patron like me taking you out.”

“Oh, they wouldn’t be thinking like that.” On the contrary, they would encourage me. Some of them had noticed how close we were and hoping we could go on to the next stage which was me being his girlfriend. 

Did I like him that much? Well, I liked him. But if this was love? Maybe not yet. It was too fast to consider what I felt about him as love. 

I had never been in love with a guy before. Guys around me were just Dylan, Greyson, and Owen. I thought of them as my family and Caelan…was a new guy entering my life.

“I like talking with you,” he suddenly said, breaking me from my thoughts. “It’s rare for me to find a girl who could talk with me. I’m not a really good communicator although I’m working as a professor and I have to teach my students and deliver proper material to them. But that’s me as a professor, but as Caelan myself to talk with a new person, I’m not really open. So, I’m glad that you could talk normally with me.” He was thinking the same too?

“Well, I’m like that too.”

“In that case, I hope we can be great friends like how you befriend Greyson. It’s still questionable to me how a cute girl like you doesn’t have a boyfriend. I thought this Greyson is your man.”

I chuckled nervously. “No. Greyson is my childhood friend and I like him very much.” I thought imagining Greyson as my boyfriend could be rather strange.

“Do I still have a chance then?” he asked as I flicked my eyes to him.

“Pardon?” What did he just say? A chance?

And he chuckled. “I’m joking.” Oh.

And our lunches arrived until he confessed something shocking. “You’re a great muse for my book, Lola.”

“A…muse? For your book?” He nodded. “Seriously?”

“I am. You made me able to think creatively. The words come out so naturally out of my head. Before I met you, I was stuck. Once I got to know you, I can type down the words so fast. Please, consider this lunch as a token of gratitude from me.” Wow, how generous. “I hope you don’t mind you become my muse.”

“No, not at all. I can safely say that I’m helping you indirectly.”

“I can’t be more thankful than that.”

And I was glad I could be his strength.