Chapter Ten

I woke up early and with a smile on my face. A smile that had no doubt been there all through the night.

I stretched out and sat up on the bed when...

"Hello Roomie, good morning. How are you?" My smile instantly dropped.

Yeah, Sienna's faux cheery and friendly voice in the morning could that to anyone and any smile. I let out an annoyed breath because how on earth was I supposed to deal with her?

"What do you want from me Sienna?" My voice mirrored my annoyance.

"Ooo would you look at that, our shy little strawberry has finally grown some balls. How old are you feeling now, I bet you're feeling pretty matured now, aren't you?" I rolled my eyes, good thing I ignored her last night.

I didn't even acknowledge her after that, just got up and out of bed, and went for a long soothing shower. By the time I got back into the dorm, Sienna was laying down and on her phone. I ignored her and went about getting ready for my day. I had a class at eleven and it was only seven, but I wanted to study before the day started, so right after getting some breakfast, I went to study at the library.

I was so focused that by the time I lifted my head to scan my surroundings, it was nine thirty and the library had more people in it now than it did when I came in. Among the sea of students though, I caught a pair of familiar dull brown eyes framed by huge red rimmed glasses. An uneasy feeling settled over me when I looked at Virginia.

I looked away as quickly as my eyes met hers. I wasn't quite certain why I felt that way towards her, but I just did.

Feeling like I didn't want to be late, I rounded up and by ten I was heading towards my class. Midway I turned and stopped short when I saw Virginia following me, it could be that she also wanted to get to class early, but I didn't like how she seemed to follow me stealthily, it just added to the whole unease. For a second I was indecisive about whether to stop and confront her about it or just leave her be and go to class.

After a few seconds, I decided to just ignore her and go to class, after all she could always say she was just going to class too, so I just let it go and got into the class. I sat in my usual middle seat and soon Virginia was walking in and making her way towards where I sat, I watched with bated breath, hoping she didn't decide to plop down beside me. Thankfully, she sat two seats behind me and I finally released my breath.

I didn't hear anything from her from the time she sat till the class ended and I rushed out to avoid her and get to work early.

I walked to my dorm to change, and all the time I kept looking behind me to see if she was following me, she wasn't, but I really didn't like having to look over my shoulder all the time. I would definitely talk to dad about it after work.

I got out of my white shirt and trousers and replaced it with a yellow knee length dress with sandals. Then I released my hair from the high ponytail I held it in, shook it out and gave it some breathing space and then held it up into a bun. Satisfied with my looks, I took my bag and threw two novels in, my purse with money and my water bottle. After that, I was out of the dorm. Locking it behind me and taking my key with me.

~~~

After more looking over shoulder sessions, I was soon at the shop. Surprisingly, Mr. Potter was already there.

"Good afternoon Mr. Potter." I greeted with a smile which he returned.

"Hello Rosette. How are you, darling?" He said while neatly arranging some new books onto specific shelves. We must have gotten some new deliveries while I wasn't around.

"I'm fine Sir, and you?" He turned, beaming at me and spreading his arms out. His kind eyes crinkling at the corners.

"I feel wonderful dear, like I'm twenty years old all over again." I laughed at that.

"I'm glad you feel that way."

"Yes, yes. But tell me dear, how was the game yesterday?" I sighed and dropped my bag on the front desk.

I informed him about the game when I was asking if I could take the day off to go to the game, and he readily agreed.

"Well while it wasn't as nightmarish as I thought it would be, the game is still not going to be on the top hundred things that I'll spend my time doing." Now it was his turn to laugh.

"There's no way to convert you, eh? Or should they try just a little harder, maybe a little convincing will move it up the ranks?" I considered it for a moment and then settled on a no. I didn't see it moving up the ranks anytime soon, not for any reason.

"Well that's understandable. I watch the game from time to time, but it's honestly not something I'd ever invest serious time into." I agreed.

"So will you be here for long?" He usually didn't stay for long when I was around.

"No, I just wanted to sort out these deliveries but since you're here, well it looks like I wouldn't have to go through the whole lot of them."

"Oh don't worry about that, I'll get it sorted out. I should be done before I have to go, so don't worry."

"Sure, but please Rosette, don't leave too late. I know the school is close by and the streets are always awake here, but I'd rest easy knowing that you are getting home early and safe." I understood, he had the same concerns as my family. I completely understood and didn't disregard it at all.

"Yes Sir, I'll leave early." He nodded.

"Good, very good." After that, he explained the process and what he wanted me to do to sort things out. Soon after, he left me alone to work.

I was sorting some books out at the back of the room when I heard the door open, and since there was no one around, I immediately dropped everything and went forward but my blood turned to ice when I saw who was standing there, Virginia.

"V-Virginia?" I squeaked, my voice shaky. I most definitely didn't like this, not one bit. She turned to look at me. She had a smile on her face, but even that didn't make me feel better.

"Hi Rosette, I didn't know you were working here, how are you?"

"Have you been following me around?" I couldn't help but ask.

"No" she all but shouted, growing defensive. " I didn't know you worked here, I just wanted to get a book and this morning I was just studying in the library too, and then later I was just going to class. I'm not, I'm not following you around." I didn't buy it, but I couldn't prove she was up to something either, so I let it slide...again.

"Okay, what do you want?" I asked, walking past her and going to the desk. No reply came, it was like she was thinking of what to say for a moment. I raised a brow at her and she blushed.

"Sorry, I just want to look around. I wanted to get a book but I wasn't sure what to buy, so I'm here. Do you have any recommendations?" I may not like her at the moment, she may make me feel uneasy and I wanted her far away from me, but I had a job to do, I would do it no matter what. So I pasted a friendly smile on my face and spoke to her.

"We have both fiction and nonfiction books, and there are a lot of genres under each. We have romance, fantasy, horror, sci-fi and the likes under fiction and we also have self help, motivation, religious, educational books and such under non fiction, so please feel free to explore." My voice was professional.

"Um...what books do you like?Personally?" It took everything in me not to show my frustration.

"I'm not picky with books."

"Oh uh, I thought you liked romance, since that's what you always read." I blinked at her. You claim you're not following me and yet you know the type of books I like, you're clueless about what you want from my workplace yet say you came here to get books, and if you know I like romance, then why ask?

"Yes, I read romance novels. If you'd like those, I can direct you towards them."

"Oh sure, that'll be lovely. Thank you." I didn't respond, just took the lead and took her towards the romance novels, and before she could ask me to choose one for her, I left her there and went back to the desk.

She came back not even five minutes later and laid down three books by Nora Roberts; Savor The Moment, Daring To Dream, and The Next Always. I didn't comment, just scanned them gave her the total, took the money, kept the change like she'd asked and said goodbye. It was only after she left that I could let out a breath of genuine air.

I had to get to the bottom of this as soon as possible, I didn't like what was going on and I didn't want it going on for long, or even at all.