Honor: a novella (2 page)

I pulled myself back to reality. “I am sorry. Yes, I will show you.” I reached out and took a piece of paper from his hand. I looked down at it. In immaculate cursive was the name of a book I had never heard of with an author I was also unfamiliar with. I smiled and said, “I’m not familiar with this one. Let me see if I can find it over at another one of our branches.”
 

We walked over to the youth desk. I saw that Brenda had composed herself and was straightening chairs at a nearby table, glancing over at us more than necessary. I checked online and did find it at the downtown branch library. I picked up the phone and fumbled a bit as he watched me dial the numbers.
 

“J. L. Brewster downtown branch, Margret speaking, how can I help you?”
 

“Hello Margret this is Honor Ellis, I work at the Northeast branch, and I was wondering if you could help me find a book?” I gave her all the information and she told me to hold. I covered the phone with my hand, “The computer says the book is at our downtown branch and she is looking now.” I wondered if I looked like a klutz, I couldn’t think straight with him staring at me.
 

He smiled, “Thank you.”
 

Margret came back on the phone and informed me that they did have it. I let her know to pull it and put it at the front desk. I thanked her for her time and hung up.
 

“They do have it. She is putting it at the front desk for you now,” I told him.
 

“Could I have the address to that library?”
 

I wrote it down and then without even thinking I blurted out, “I am fixing to leave for the day and it’s on my way home. You could follow me, the downtown branch stays open later than we do here.”
 

He stared at me for a moment. I felt his rejection coming, and felt like a complete ass for asking. For some reason I was drawn to this complete stranger, who just happened to be the best looking guy I had ever laid eyes on.

“You would do that?” he asked.
 

The way he said it made me think of my dad and how he would’ve said:
What were you thinking having a strange man follow you
?
 

I pushed the thought aside. “It’s no problem. Let me get my stuff and I will meet you out front.” I walked away from him and headed straight to the back to get all my things.
 

I ran to the employee restroom and looked myself over in the mirror. I was so pleased that I had started taking the time to actually get ready in the mornings before work. I put my sweater on and combed through my hair. I hurried to the back exit as my phone beeped. I pulled it from my purse; it was Brenda with her address. I put my phone away and hopped in my car.
 

I pulled around to the front parking lot of the library where he sat on a bench at the front doors. He stood and began to walk towards my car as I drove through the horseshoe drive. I was a bit curious as to how he knew it was me, being that my car windows were fairly dark and not down.
 

I began to roll the window down as he approached. He looked like he had just walked out of a magazine. I smiled up at him—unsure what to say at the moment.
 

“My car is over there.”
 

He pointed to the corner of the lot and I turned to look. The only one there was a shiny black car with windows that were darker than mine. It looked new and very expensive. He smiled and made his way to his car. I watched him walk away and realized I was blatantly checking him out.
 

“Get a grip!” I whispered to myself.

Chapter 3

I turned into the parking lot of the downtown branch with him not far behind. I parked in a space and he did the same in the one next to me. He started to get out of his car so I rolled my window down.
 

“I guess you can find the rest of the way by yourself?” I laughed feeling like a moron.
 

He smirked at me and held out his hand. As I returned the gesture, he took mine in his. “Thank you for your help Honor Ellis.”
 

I stared up at his piercing blue eyes trying to remember if I had told him my name.
 

He interrupted my thoughts, “In the future you shouldn’t be so quick to offer a stranger to follow you somewhere. Not everyone may be as honorable as they may seem.” When he said this, I saw something in his expression that looked unsettled.
 

“I thought the same thing. In fact, my father would say that same thing.”
 

His expression changed and he smiled. “Your father sounds like a wise man.” I smiled back up at him and looked to our hands that were still interlocked with one another. “My name is Osric Tekton, it is nice to meet you.” He let go of my hand.
 

“Well, I would tell you my name but you already seem to know it. It is nice to meet you too, Osric. That is a different name, I have never heard it before.”
 

He put his hands in his pockets. “You told the woman on the phone your name at the library.”
 

I blushed then feeling foolish. Realizing the time, I looked at him and said, “You should hurry before they close.” I pointed toward the doors.
 

“You’re right, I should go.” He smiled again and began to walk away, turning to add, “Until we meet again.”
 

I watched him go. I probably sat there longer than I should have lost in thought. He was so different and I couldn’t put my finger on what it was about him.
 

I started the car and headed for home, and when I was about a block away my car started to die. I pulled on a side street as best as the car would allow. I tried to start it again and nothing happened. It was dead.
 

“Stupid car!” I yelled.
 

I thought it would be silly to call anyone, being a block away from my apartment. I decided I would make the walk home, but I couldn’t leave the car parked crooked. I would have to have it towed. I got out and readied myself for the walk as a car came around the corner and parked in front of mine. I realized very quickly who it was. I felt like I must be breaking a record for making an ass out of myself in one day.
 

Osric approached me. “Car trouble?” he asked.
 

“You could say that.”
 

He put his hand out. I was unsure of what he was wanting, and he could tell, “Can I see your keys please?” I handed them over (my face burning with humiliation).
 

He opened the door and took a seat inside. He did this very gracefully for his large size. He tried to start it and nothing happened. Then he popped the hood and began tinkering with things. He pulled out what looked like the car battery.

“It’s the battery,” he confirmed. He took it, opened his trunk, and put it inside. I was shamelessly enjoying the show. He held open his passenger door and waited.
 

“I believe someone told me earlier this evening to watch out for strangers,” I stated.

Osric stared at me for a moment. “I can’t leave you here on a dark street.”
 

I tilted my head to the side. “Lucky for you I can’t let you leave me on a dark street.”
 

He smiled as I got into his car. It smelled of cologne and leather. It was clean and had black leather seats. He got in next to me and started the car.
 

“You have a nice car.” I suddenly became curious about him. “Do you work on cars for a living?”
 

He looked over at me. “Thank you, and no I don’t work on cars for a living.”
 

“What do you do then?” I asked.

He glanced over at me. “I am a carpenter. My grandfather was a carpenter, he taught me when I was a child.”
 

I tried to picture him as a small child. I was sure he was one that had to be large for his age. One of those that everyone thought was older than he actually was. It made me wonder if he was picked on, or if he was idolized for his size.

“Were you raised by your grandfather?” I asked him.

“I was raised by my mother and grandparents.”
 

It made me think before I asked the next question, but I asked anyway, “What happened to your father?”
 

He looked over at me. I could tell he seemed to be lost in thought. I was about to tell him I was sorry for asking so many questions when he started to talk: “My father is no longer here.”
 

My hand went up to my mouth; my big fat mouth. “I am sorry Osric. It is hard when someone we love dies.” His expression was hard to read.
 

“He isn’t dead, he just isn’t here anymore.”
 

All I could think was that he had left him at a young age. I wasn’t going to ask any more questions about it.
 

We pulled into the auto parts store parking lot and he took the battery inside. I followed close behind. When the salesperson brought out a new battery I went for my wallet, but Osric beat me to it.
 

“What are you doing?” I asked him.
 

“I am buying you a new battery.” He took his change and we walked out.

“Here, take this please!” I tried to hand him the cash, but he wouldn’t take it.
 

“You helped me earlier today and now I am helping you.”

“Showing you where a library is at is totally different from buying a car battery.”
 

We were both buckling up and he smiled at me. “Tell me about your family Honor?”

“You can’t change the subject on me!” I was getting a little angry at this point.
 

“Do your parents live around here?” he asked and waited for an answer.
 

“They live about an hour away. I went to college here and started working at the library right after.”
 

He drove with both hands on the wheel looking over at me from time to time. “Do you have any brothers or sisters?” he asked.
 

“Just me. My parents were older when they had me. I have no living grandparents and never knew them. I have an aunt we see on holidays, but that’s it.”
 

We pulled down the street by my car and he put the new battery in as I watched. I made sure when he wasn’t looking to put the money in his car. He started my car up and it worked just fine.
 

“Thank you Osric!” I smiled at him.
 

He looked at me for a second like he was thinking about something. “Honor, would you like to get coffee with me tomorrow night?”
 

I was first in shock that he would ask. I wouldn’t have thought a man like him would ever be interested in me. Once I processed what he had asked, I was screaming on the inside…
YES! YES! This gorgeous man wants to have coffee with me
. Then reality came crashing in. I had told Brenda I would come to her thing.
 

“I would really like to, but I have this thing I have to go to. A lady from work is having people over. Would you like to come with me?” I tried to read his face to see what he was thinking.
 

“Your friend won’t mind?” he asked.
 

“No, not at all. She had even said earlier today, in so many words, the more people the better.”
 

“What time would you want me to pick you up?” he asked.
 

“It starts at seven, so a little before then. She doesn’t live too far from me.”

We exchanged phone numbers and I gave him my address.
 

“Thank you again for your help tonight Osric,” I told him.
 

“I am glad I was here to help.”
 

He smiled down at me from where he stood. I waved goodbye as I drove away.

Chapter 4

Saturday morning I busied myself with laundry. Once everything I owned was washed and put away, I tried to find something to wear. A pile of clothes was beginning to form on my bed. I finally settled on jeans and a sweater my mother had gotten me for Christmas last year, which was still in the gift bag. I quickly put away the clothes I had tried on and had tossed aside. I cleaned up the kitchen and put away my massive book towers in the living room. Once my cleaning was done, I hopped in the shower.
 

I had not considered what Brenda would think when I showed up with Osric. I hoped she wouldn’t bombard me with questions in front of him. I started to panic as I straightened my hair. I put on more makeup than I normally would wear. I had always been one of those women who thought I would never try to over do it in the makeup department just to impress a man. I laughed out loud as I looked at my reflection; I had never seen a man like Osric before either.
 

I was ready at six-thirty and kept rearranging the pillows on the sofa. I was checking over my decorating skills as I heard a light tap on the door. It made me jump and I had to calm myself down before answering it. I opened the door and there he stood, even more drop-dead gorgeous than I remembered. He wore dark jeans and a dark green button up shirt. He smiled at me as I looked him over.