Polarity of Us

by K. B. Ladnier

  “You and Bastian seemed to hit it off earlier,” Hannah said beside me while we watched a movie, smirking at me over her wine glass as she sipped.

  I nudged her shoulder with mine, snuggling deeper under the soft throw blanket. Tonight was a tad cooler than the night before, so the fireplace roared to life, and Hannah and I had opted to throw on some fuzzy socks, a pair of sweat pants, then wrap up under blankets to get toasty. Though, she was getting a bit toastier than I was. She was already on her third glass of wine while I still sipped at my second.

  “We just sat there. I don’t know how that says, ‘hitting it off’.”

  She paused the movie, turning to me with a mischievous smile on her face. “Oh, no you don’t. That wasn’t just sitting there. I was watching you two, wondering if it was safe to venture outside and join the party. But you two were sitting in complete silence more than half the time, and both looked content doing it. Hitting it off doesn’t always call for words, Daisy.”

  I rolled my eyes, seeing what she was doing now. “Hannah, I’m here to get away from guy troubles, relax, and focus on my writing. You remember that, right? What would be the point of trying to set me up with a man who most likely isn’t even available? This is a vacation. We don’t live here.”

  She shrugged, her face taking on a more serious expression. “I don’t see your point. The point I do see, is that there is no ring on his finger, and he’d be an amazing way to get over said guy troubles. Matthew has taken enough away from you this last year, scaring you from having a single normal date. Don’t let him make you feel like it’s not okay to move on. Hell! You should’ve been able to move on months ago!”

  “It was your choice in dates that scarred me, Hannah. And, you’re seriously suggesting I use Bastian as rebound?” I gaped at her. “Doesn’t that seem a little immature? I don’t want a rebound person. I’m fine being single and waiting until Mr. Right shows up at my doorstep. There’s no rush.”

  Hannah took a big sip of her wine and set it down on the coffee table, grabbing mine and setting it down as well before taking both of my hands in hers.

  “What if there is no Mr. Right? What if there is only a Mr. Good For You? Or even several of them? You shouldn’t wait your whole life for someone perfect just because your first and only true love so far in your life is a total waste of space. Like that man shouldn’t reproduce he’s that much of a waste. There may be a man out there for you that is your opposite in every way possible, yet he would love you for you.”

  I laughed and pulled my hands away from hers, grabbing my glass from the table and tilting it at her. “Hannah, you’re getting a bit over zealous on the topic of my love life. I know no one is perfect and I don’t expect perfect. I just want someone right for me, not a gorgeous man for a few good lays.”

  “So, you do think he’s gorgeous!” She finally smiled; her mood lightened up a little.

  “Shut up! You know I did! I’d have to be dead to not notice,” I snatched the remote from her hand and pushed play, ready to get as far away from the subject of my love life as possible.

  “True. I was worried there for a second,” she grabbed her wine and sank back next to me, leaning her head on my shoulder as the movie continued to play.

  “Why do you think he’s taken?” she asked. “You know, other than the glaring fact that men that sexy are either gay or involved with someone already. Like I said, no ring so he’s not married.”

  “Did you listen to anything Aunt Em said to him yesterday? Or were you too busy checking him out?” I laughed.

  “Oh, I was definitely zoning out on his finely toned abs poking through his tight shirt,” she admitted coyly. “What’d she say?”

  “She mentioned a girl named Addy being picky about what she eats. Maybe Addy is his girlfriend?”

  “Or a dog,” Hannah supplied. “Dogs can be picky eaters, too. Remember Grandma Val’s little basset hound Daphne?” Hannah asked enthusiastically, lifting her head from my shoulder. “She refused to eat kibble unless it was smothered in some sort of gravy or sauce. She was so fat because of her crap diet.”

  We both collapsed in laughter, reminiscing about the poor baby and how she’d just lay on her belly to eat food from her bowl instead of standing like a normal dog would. Her right ear would always wind up in the water bowl when she did that.

  After a couple more laughs over several other mishaps with Daphne, Hannah laid her head back down on my shoulder.

  “I just worry about you, you know?” She said to me softly. “You’re too beautiful of a person to have to live through your books just to live life the way you want to. The dream worlds you build are beautiful and exciting, but real life can be just as amazing as those worlds. You deserve that, Daisy.”

  “I promise you, I won’t give up okay? I’ll even go on one of your ridiculous blind dates that you just love setting up in exchange for you not worrying anymore. Deal?” I lifted my pinky up in front of her face, making her giggle at my going old school with a pinky promise.

  “Deal,” she replied, hooking her pinky in mine.

  I understood where Hannah was coming from. God knew that it’d been since before the break-up with Matt that I’d had sex. A man as stunning and powerful looking as Bastian screamed good in bed. Even so, the way he carried himself didn’t scream one-night-stand. In the short time I spent with him, he looked like a man that once he loved, it was hard, deep and forever. Love wasn’t just a word to be thrown around. It was his whole heart he gave when he said it. Not just some insignificant piece like what Matthew had given me, but the whole damn thing. Someone like that would never sleep with someone one time. It was everything or nothing. No in between.

  I wanted a love like that, and maybe I was projecting my ideal of who he was onto his image. But strangely enough, I was one hundred percent sure that was the enigma of Bastian. It was possibly even the source of the sadness that smothered him like smog does a city, suffocating and constantly there to the point you didn’t even notice it anymore. At least, not until you took a breath of fresh air again. Maybe he’d loved and been hurt by that person like I had. Maybe he was just aching for something more like I was.

  Or maybe I was just full of it and he was already seeing someone, so this whole thought process was pointless anyways.

  I concentrated on the movie after that, trying my best to get Bastian Urso out of my mind. Unfortunately, it was a lot easier said than done.

  I didn’t see Bastian the next day or the day after, which helped to keep him off my mind.

  Aunt Em showed Hannah and I around town a bit more, taking us to the cafe every morning for breakfast before we went off exploring. We met a few of the people that Aunt Em was close friends with; one of which was the mayor of this place. His name was Gregory Baker and he was probably as close to Santa Clause as I’d ever be. He was a very round, older gentlemen with cheeks rosy from the cold and even a long white hair and beard to match. He was very kind and even admitted to dressing up as Santa every Christmas for the children. However, because of this, the children here were convinced he really was Santa and that this town was the real North Pole. Hannah and I had a good laugh about that.

  There was just something magical about this place that lifted my spirits. It was comforting and homey. I hadn’t expected to like it this much, or feel as good as I did just walking through town. Being out and about today made me love everything about White Hemlock.

  Especially the library I found while walking.

  On Friday, Aunt Em had to work, and Hannah was feeling under the weather, refusing to let me take care of her. I offered to at least pick her up some medicine, to which she finally agreed. After my trip to the store for a few other things, she let me make her some soup and help set up a spare TV Aunt Em had in her room, then shooed me out the door to go do something so I wouldn’t catch her cold. I hated leaving her, but she was too independent and stubborn to have it any other way. So, I went to the one place I’d been dying to see since passing i
t on our way into town that first night.

  The library.

  After grabbing a coffee from the cafe, I made my way there; practically skipping at how excited I was to see it. I wouldn’t be reading today, but libraries were one of my favorite places to write, and writing was what I needed to do badly.

  The library was enormous and almost gave me the chills at how beautiful it was when I entered. Books were my haven and to be in such an expansive space, filled top to bottom with every book imaginable, was like seeing the world for the first time. The library in Chicago was huge, but it was modernized. It didn’t have the smell or feel of history like this one did. There were three fireplaces in this place and the building was two stories tall. Large, leather chairs were scattered all over the place and some dark wood tables set up with dim lamps took up the middle of the floor.

  I quickly spotted the librarian at the checkout desk and made my way over.

  She was an older woman, mid-to-late sixties with grey hair and spectacles low on her nose. She looked up upon hearing me and smiled.

  “Hello! You’re new here. How can I help you?”

  With just that quick greeting, I instantly liked her.

  “Hello. My name is Daisy Lennox,” I held my hand out for her to shake. “I’m here with Emery Hudson’s niece Hannah visiting.”

  “Oh! That’s right!” she replied, taking my hand and shaking it happily. “I’m Arlene Baker. Emery was so excited about you girls arriving and just raved about you two at brunch the day before you arrived.”

  “You’re the mayor’s wife! I remember the mayor mentioning you, but I had no idea you ran the library.”

  “Yes, that’s me. This library has been in my family for four generations. It’s everything to me and my husband. “

  I smiled at her, loving this place even more knowing it was a family establishment.

  “How do you like White Hemlock so far?” she added.

  “Hannah is still adjusting, but she’s meant to live in the city. It just suits her there. However, I’ve always wanted to come on vacation up north and just relax in the mountains and talk a walk through the trees. Between the Northern Lights and this amazing library, I don’t know if Aunt Em will be able to get rid of me.” I joked. I was only half kidding, though.

  “Well, life out here isn’t for everyone and that’s okay, we just hope you enjoy it while you’re here,” she replied cheerfully.

  “I have no doubt that I will,” I said with a grin. “So, about helping me. Do you have a spot where I can plug in my laptop to write? I haven’t charged it in a few days and I didn’t see any sockets by the tables coming in.”

  “Absolutely!” She replied, walking around the desk and meeting me on the other side. “Right this way. It just up the stairs to the right. We have a fireplace next to the table, so you should be able to keep plenty warm there.”

  She led the way up the stairs and passed shelves that stretched at least twelve feet high. It was hard not to sneak away from Arlene showing me where the tables were to take a ride on the sliding ladders. I always wanted to do it. I held off the urge and continued following her until we ended up in the back-right corner of the building where a few more tables were set. The fireplace was a bit smaller up here, but it still kept it toasty.

  “You just let me know if you need anything else, Miss Lennox,” Mrs Baker said kindly as I took a seat at one of the tables closest to the fireplace.

  “Daisy. Just call me Daisy, please.”

  She grinned and nodded, going back down the steps to her desk.

  I lifted my bag up and set it on the table, extracting my laptop and notebook from inside and setting myself up. I promised myself I would not leave this library until I had a general idea formed in my head of where I wanted to go with my novel and completed an outline at least.

  I managed to come up with a quick idea of how I wanted the story to take place in a town just like this one, but the love interest for the heroine in the romance would be something magical. Though, after staring at my laptop for a solid thirty minutes with not a clue as to what I wanted him to be, I got frustrated. I needed to get some inspiration somehow.

  I grabbed my coffee and stood, walking over to the bookshelves lining the walls, seeing what sections they had up here and hoping fantasy or science fiction was one of them. There were several rows of those tall, free standing shelves scattered around this floor, which seemed to wrap around in a semi-circle with the railing overlooking the first floor below.

  As I made my way around one of the shelves, I accidentally ran straight into something massive and hard as a rock, startling upon impact and spilling my coffee. I fell backwards, but strong arms wrapped around my waist and stopped the fall.

  “Daisy?”

  I looked up in surprise to find it was the arms of my handsome neighbor that were holding me up.

  “Bastian.”

  Eight

  I couldn’t believe I just rammed into Bastian.

  My cheeks burned red with embarrassment as he helped steady me on my feet. I felt something wet all over the front of my shirt and groaned when I looked down. My bra was completely visible through my now translucent white shirt from the coffee that spilled. I pulled it away from me to avoid giving him a peep show and saw that his own shirt was just as soaked as mine, neither of us being spared from my coffee spilling.

  “I am so unbelievably sorry. I wasn’t watching where I was going.”

  He waved his hand dismissively and chuckled. “It’s alright. Really. Accidents happen.” He tugged at his shirt which was sticking to him in a way that showed off every curve of his toned abs.

  “Let me go see if Mrs. Baker has any rags or paper towels we can clean ourselves up with.”

  I went to walk past him, but his hand gently clamped down on my arm to stop me. “Why don’t you stay here, and I’ll go ask.” He stated, obviously having seen that my shirt was in fact see through.

  I nodded, too embarrassed to say anything back. He walked back towards the stairs and I quickly grabbed my jacket, not caring if I got coffee on it. As long as no one could see my bra, and by no one I really meant Bastian, then I could live with that.

  Bastian returned quickly, handing me one of the two wet rags he carried. We both did our best to wipe the stickiness away, but unfortunately, neither of us would be able to remove the stains without a good washing.

  As we silently finished, the story of how my parents met came to my mind and I immediately started laughing. The whole irony of it happening almost exactly like this was funny to me, yet I couldn’t grasp exactly why.

  Bastian quirked his brow and leaned against the bookshelf next to us. “What’s so funny?” He asked, amused by my outburst from the look on his face.

  “I’m sorry,” I choked out through some very unladylike snorts. “This isn’t funny, but is at the same time. It just reminded me of something about my parents. That’s all.”

  He observed me for a moment longer before his deep laughter joined in.

  “Well, I’m glad I helped make you laugh today no matter the reason. You really weren’t kidding about the klutziness, were you?” He joked.

  I chuckled. “I was definitely not kidding. Hannah tells me that I should just live in a plastic bubble at the rate I’m stumbling through life.”

  We were silent for a moment; both of us just sort of staring at each other with soft smiles. It took a lot of will power to avert my eyes from his serene blue ones, because for once, they weren’t clouded over with that sadness I’d seen before. They looked brighter and much harder to look away from when they were filled with laughter.

  I cleared my throat and motioned at his shirt.

  “I really am sorry about your shirt. My heads in a fog and I’m frustrated with my writing. I was in a rush to find a book to read and just take the edge off for a bit.”

  He shook his head and stood straight, shoving his hands into his pockets. “It’s fine. I have plenty of shirts and a decent washing m
achine.”

  He looked over my shoulder at something. When I turned I saw it was my lap top sitting at the table.

  He nodded his head at it when I turned my head back to him. “You’re a writer?” He asked curiously.

  “Yeah. At least, I’m trying to stay a writer. I’ve published a few novels and some children’s books, but I haven’t written anything in a long time and my publisher is getting antsy,” I bit my lip, keeping myself from revealing the reason as to why that was. “I’ve got a pretty hard deadline to meet and I’m not sure I’ll make it.” I added.

  “What’s the deadline?”

  I sighed and swiped a hand down my face in exasperation before answering. “I have until March to give her at least an eighty-thousand-word novel or they’re dropping me from the company. And not just any eighty thousand words, but ones that incite something in them. Those grueling emotions that leave you on the edge of your seat and begging for more.”

  He bobbed his head. “Sounds intimidating. What kind of books do you write? I mean, other than children’s books.”

  I grinned sheepishly, not sure if I wanted to answer.

  “That bad, huh?” He chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck.

  That had to be a nervous habit. Did I make him nervous? Because he sure as hell made me nervous.

  “No. It’s just girly stuff, I guess.”

  His brow arched in question and tilted his head to the side with an expression that said he was still waiting for a legit answer. It made me grin wider and my cheeks blush once again with embarrassment.