Chapter 5. Cross Path (+18)

Life was not always easy. And that how Sienna felt during those crazy hectic times in her life.
She had to work hard to earn extra money. She had a double job. And being a part-time local librarian was not that hard eventually when she was not handling a customer for a flower bouquet. She only had her shift at the library during the weekend.
On Sunday morning, she came early to clean up some stuff at the library. She helped along whenever she could. She also had to clean up the front shop with a few workers there. The place had two facilities; the library and the coffee shop.
The most thing she liked in this place; she could read a book while drinking her favorite hot coffee. That just felt so refreshing for her.
At the time, after she had done cleaning the books, she went to the coffee shop. She ordered a hot vanilla coffee from the barista. Then she went to clean up the wooden table near the window. She was just basically a diligent woman.
She had been living independently for a long time. Especially when her dad suddenly left her with Aunty Milla. That was the most frustrating moment in her life.
“Sienna! Here’s your vanilla coffee…” the young barista shouted out. Michael was nice to her. He always gave her more portions for her special coffee. He said he owed it to her for helping him clean up the shop.
She nudged her chin at him and smiled. “Hey, thank you, Michael! I will grab the cup once I finish with this…”
Then she quickly returned to wipe the surface of the table with a damp cloth she got from the backdoor.
When the wind chimes above the door rang, the first customer had just arrived here. At first, she glanced at the black shiny shoes that entered the room, she then slowly scanned his manly figure, who was wearing a blue knitted sweatshirt and a long brown trouser.
But when she stared up to see his face, she suddenly went froze. Her heart was quickened with such a great surprise. Her mouth was about to form a word to say, but her body got shuddered. She was just feeling pretty astonished with his sudden appearance here.
Seemingly, he also felt the same way as she was. He looked surprised to see her in this little coffee shop around the corner of Manhattan’s street.
That man’s appearance looked friendlier this time than last night when they first met. Sienna was still staring out at him. Her mouth was half agape. She was speechless.
*He was Daniel Wilson.*
He was a billion-dollar company owner. What would he be doing in here? Wasn’t this place not too fancy for his noble taste? Sienna wondered so much at the time.
While he paused at the doorsill. He stared quietly at her. He also looked surprised.
Once he blinked his eyes a few times, he finally said her name, “Sienna?”
Her hands felt kind of trembling. She immediately hid her hands on her back. She was still carrying the damp cloth.
“Uh…” she was too nervous to be able to say anything to him. But eventually, she had to greet him, “Oh, hey, Mister Wilson. Do you come here for a cup of coffee?”
He approached her while smiling happily. And then he said, “Yeah, I’d like to. But I’m actually wanting to search for some titles of business books in the library…”
She gawked and blinked when he mentioned the word *library*. That was where she should have been working at. She was only here to help Michael. And there were only Michael and herself this morning. The other workers had not arrived yet.
When she stared back at the bar table, Michael was not seen there. He must have gone to the backdoor to grab the coffee beans. She finally looked back at Daniel.
“I… I work here actually, as a librarian. I’m just happened to be here, helping the barista to clean up the coffee shop,” Sienna tried to explain to him, although she felt kind of embarrassed. She felt intimidated by him as the owner of a big company.
“Oh, really? That’s good for you, Sienna,” he never blinked his eyes when staring at her. And his glossy eyes made him looked as if he tried to endure his mysterious sadness. Then he said, “So, can you help me find some titles that I will need? You’re the librarian…”
She immediately nodded and left the damp cloth on the bar table. Then she said, “Sure. Please, follow me, Mister Wilson.”
While walking toward the passage, she could feel his eyes lingered on her back. There was an awkward feeling in the air. Especially when she imagined his eyes were gazing out keenly at the brown cardigan she wore. While her long thick brown hair left hanging down.
She didn’t think she would cross paths again with him. And alone, without Jonathan.
Once she entered the library, she turned to see him. She showed him a wide smile, although she only forced herself to do so as a friendly librarian.
“So, Mister Wilson, you can type on the keyboard here…” she pointed out her hand at the flat computer on the front desk, “for any books you want to borrow. Just let me know. I will help you to find them in the bookshelves.”
He smiled back, handsomely. Then he quickly typed the keyboard so fast. It didn’t take him more than a minute to type the titles of four books.
Once Sienna saw the titles, she tried to find them on the bookshelves. Those books were all about business and stock trading. She didn’t understand the topic at all. But her boyfriend, Jonathan was into that thing these days.
Soon after, Daniel was following her when she walked toward the bookshelves. He helped her to carry the books to the front desk once she found them all.
Before she could ask if he had a library’s member card, he shouted out, “This is my favorite library. How come I’ve never seen you before?”
“Oh, that’s…” she took a deep breath and smiled at him, trying to hide her anxiety about her financial problem, “Well, I’m new in this place. I’ve been working here for two weeks. But I only have my shift during the weekend, so…”
“Ah, I see. That makes sense why we just met today,” he chuckled as he took out his wallet. She watched him cautiously when he took out his personal library’s card. She slightly glanced at his cashless wallet. There were lots of cards, but not a single paper money.
She kept smiling when he handed over the card to her. But truthfully, she felt shuddered the whole time when meeting with his eyes.
How could she calm down when he kissed her last night? She still remembered the warm feeling from the touch of his lips. That was just crazy. The more she gave it a thought, the more bewildered she got.
Then he murmured, “We met again. Life’s a mystery, isn’t it?”
She paused to stare back at him. She went blank when he said that.
He looked at her deeply with those charming brown eyes. She almost felt like she was falling for his charismatic charm if she didn’t regain her senses sooner.
She blinked nervously and chuckled. “Yeah, who knows?”
However, Sienna already had a boyfriend. Thus why, she wanted to keep a distance from Daniel. She felt he was somehow looked dangerous. Something was off, but she couldn’t tell what.
Sienna quickly put the books into the paper bag. While handing over the bag to him, she said nicely, “Here are your books, Mister Wilson. Don’t forget, you must return the books before the due date.”
She slightly stared back at his intimidating eyes but stared away again to see the bag. She was just feeling nervous.
“Thank you,” he said as he received the bag.
He touched the tip of her fingers when he took over the bag, sending the shiver down her sensitive spot. When he pressed her fingers, she instantly felt the electric jolt snapped her body.
Although the feeling passed quickly, it still felt weird. Every time he made a contact with her skin, the sensation intensified.
She quickly backed away and stared down at the desk. She felt tremendously awkward. But he was still standing there in front of her. He just stared quietly, making the atmosphere felt intense between them.
She wondered what he really wanted from her? Did he intentionally touch her earlier?
She tried to calm down. She didn’t want to make a scene. She was worried more for Jonathan’s future. He really wanted the job at Daniel’s company.
Thereafter, she stared again at him, forcing herself to give him a farewell smile.
“Have a great day, Mister Wilson,” she murmured.
He looked at her in such a strange way. It was that kind of yearning eyes. She could tell, but she was afraid if it was all just in her imagination.
“Mister Wilson?” She tried to break his silent reverie.
Soon, he smiled quietly and nodded at her.
He didn’t say anything and just left with the books.