Scott

If Scott hadn’t been freaked out about finding his book, he may have played along and said yes. The man was the epitome of gorgeous. He was at least six feet tall with ash blond hair, and the baby blue t-shirt he wore made his ocean-coloured eyes sparkle—overshadowing his shorter, geekier looking companion. Plus, Scott loved to flirt. But at that moment, he just wanted rid of the men, wanted them away from his book. My book… Scott felt the words were true, the book was his.

“My name’s Scott, not Randall, and, as I’ve already tried explaining, this floor is—”

The blond took a step forward. “Randall!” This time his voice was a little more raised and a lot more desperate.

“No,” Scott said flatly, wondering if the man was hard of hearing.

“But…you read the book,” the blond said, sounding confused.

Oh no. “I-I,” Scott stammered, “I work in a library; I read a lot of books…” Books were something Scott had found solace in after his mum passed away when he was young. His brothers would read them to him, then when the books became too hard for them to read, Scott would read to his brothers. “Which book are you talking about?” Scott tried to act nonchalant, but the break in his voice as he spoke undoubtedly gave away how nervous he was feeling.

“The one behind your back.” The blond pointed towards the desk behind Scott. “We saw you reading it. Only you can find it, Randall—it’s okay, it’s me, it’s Sterling.” He smiled and a confusing part of Scott’s brain wanted to keep the radiant smile on the stranger’s face.

However, the man’s smile didn’t loosen the ball of anxiety in Scott’s chest. “Look, Sterling, my name is not Randall. And I’ve never met you,” Scott looked to the geeky-looking guy—who had yet to speak, “or your friend, in my entire life, before now!” Scott could feel his face getting hot with frustration. He didn’t understand what was happening to him. He just wanted to be left alone.

“What does it say on the front of the book?” Sterling asked. He seemed to be getting frustrated too.

As Scott processed what Sterling had asked his heart almost beat out of his chest. The book was called Randall. But…How could he have known that? The door they came in was to my right…they wouldn’t have seen the cover. Scott made a quick decision that he didn’t care how the man knew what the book was called, they weren’t taking it from him, he’d do whatever it took to keep it.

Grabbing the book from where it still lay on the desk behind him, Scott hugged it to his chest, doing his best to shield it with his arms. “This is a library book,” Scott could hear his own voice shaking, but tried to sound as authoritative as he could manage, “so, you can’t have it. Now…leave…or I’ll call the police.”

“We don’t want the book, we…” Sterling turned to his friend. “You…you said…” Sterling was talking to his friend but made a pleading hand gesture towards Scott.

“I don’t know what to tell you.” The geeky guy threw his hands up. “He’s the only one I’ve seen.” He tapped his right temple as he spoke. “That already makes him different from the others.”

These two have got to be on day release—sane people don’t talk this way.

“Was it him you saw?” Sterling asked his friend suddenly.

“Sterling!” his friend said in a warning tone.

“Was it him?” Sterling didn’t raise his voice, but his tone demanded the truth.

The man looked toward Scott, before dropping his eyes to the carpeted floor, then whispered, “Yes. He’s the one I saw.”

Scott’s vision started to blur as his frustration came to its boiling point. This situation is too messed up for words.

Sterling turned towards Scott again. “Then…where’s Randall?”

Scott didn’t think the question was directed at him. He undoubtedly wouldn’t have the ability to speak anyway as he was about to implode with the audacity of the two men still standing in front of him. They’d barged into his workplace, talked a load of nonsense, and had yet to leave, even though Scott had threatened to call the police.

“I don’t know, Sterling,” the geeky man said. “But this guy clearly isn’t Randall. We’ll go back, speak to the others, and see if we can make sense of this, okay?”

Scott felt a spark of relief from the guy’s words; they were going to leave. But Sterling’s next words shattered his reality. “Will you come with us?” Sterling asked Scott; his stupid smile was back on his stupid face and his stupid voice was full of hopefulness.

Sterling’s ludicrous question dumb-foundered Scott, causing his mouth to fall open in utter confusion. “No,” he said, exasperated, “I will not go with you! You’re both strangers to me.” loosening the death grip he had on his book slightly, Scott ran a shaking hand over his face. “I can’t believe this, you come up here chatting utter crap to each other, that I don’t even understand, and then expect me…”

Sterling’s friend, who looked to be about the same age as Scott, took a few small steps towards him. His hands were held up in front of him in the universal gesture to calm down. “Scott, we’re sorry, okay. Please calm down, we didn’t mean to scare you. We thought you might need our help, but you obviously don’t, so we’ll go.”

Scott didn’t speak, all he wanted was for the two men to leave.

He watched as the man took Sterling by the arm. But Sterling didn’t flinch or move. All he did was stare at Scott. He could practically feel the man’s eyes penetrating his soul.

“Sterling!” the man barked, causing Sterling to finally move. But he had kept his eyes on Scott until the door to the stairs closed behind them.

Scott sagged in relief after hearing the distinct click of the door closing. He was finally alone…with his book.