Summary: Daphne knows a little more about Hamid’s past as they spend a night in a 24/7 library.
Based on the prompt: Choices August Challenge Day Nine – Exploration
Daphne tapped a burgundy colored balm on her lips and sprayed perfume on her wrists, on the inside part of her elbows, on her neck and cleavage, picked up her messenger bag and checked herself in the mirror again, scrutinizing every detail of her outfit.
“Ooh, I love this perfume!” Briar appeared on the doorway and wiggled her eyebrows. “Where are you going?”
“The library.”
“At this hour?!” Briar inquired. “You’re wasting a Miss Dior perfume on the library?!”
“First of all, it’s the only perfume I like and the only one I brought here. And secondly, the Uris library is open 24/7 and you know I prefer to study at night. And thirdly, what’s wrong with putting a little perfume on sometimes?”
“Nothing. But usually, you put on the moisturizer for daily activities like going to classes or the library, not the perfume,” Briar pointed out before realization dawned her features. “Oh, I know! You’re not just going to the library. You’re going on a date with your Turkish prince charming.”
“He’s not a prince,” Daphne corrected.
“He’s rich, funny, charming, sexy and his great grandfather was the last sultan of the Ottoman Empire. He’s a prince in my book, sweetie. And you didn’t say no to the date part.”
Daphne rolled her eyes.
The corner of Briar’s mouth quirked up as she gazed at her friend scrutinizing her own outfit in the mirror. “Do you like him? Not just enough to allow him to join you on your boring study routine that no one can mess up, I mean… Do you really like him?”
“I don’t know… Maybe? I met him two weeks ago and I could be wrong about this, but he’s so different from every other guy I know. He’s so spontaneous, smart, funny and–” Daphne trailed off as her phone buzzed and a broad smile spread across her face when she checked her phone. “He’s here.”
“Yeah, I picked up on that when your smile started to stretch towards your ears,” Briar implied.
“I’d love to hear you talking like a tween, but I gotta go.” Daphne put on her phone back and kissed her friend on the cheek. “Bye.”
“Have fun,” Briar waved.
When Daphne crossed the lobby of her building, her smile grew wider at the sight of Hamid leaning on the door of his SUV car.
“Good evening,” she said softly.
“Good evening,” Hamid grinned, taking in every detail of her outfit and the floral scent coming from her and lifted her hand to his lips. “You look absolutely stunning.”
“Said the dapper guy who pulls off Turkish blue shirts and black leather jackets like no one else,” Daphne replied.
“Are you becoming a flatterer as well, Daphne?” He raised an eyebrow.
“It doesn’t mean I’m lying. I’m just borrowing a few pages from your playbook.”
“Noted.” He flashed a broad grin. “Shall we?”
Daphne nodded, allowing him to open the door for her and get into the car. A short drive later, Hamid parked his car and they walked to the main entrance of the library. As soon as they came in, a middle-aged lady greeted him with a smile.
“Good evening, dear!”
“Good evening, Mrs. Clark! Don’t you look lovely tonight wearing pearls?”
“Aww, thank you, dear! My son gave me these earrings.”
“He surely has good taste. May I introduce you to my friend?” He wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her close. “This is Daphne Wang. She studies History of Art here.”
“Hello, Mrs. Clark. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
“Hello, dear. I don’t think I’ve seen you here before.”
“I usually go to the library in my department.”
“I understand, the Fine Arts library is wonderful. However, I have to say we’ve got a remarkable selection of art books here,” the woman said with a warm smile.
“I’ll be happy to look for them here.”
“Oh, don’t worry, dear. I have picked them up and put them in the private room reserved for you,” the woman smiled at Hamid.
“I didn’t know that, but thank you,” Daphne answered.
“You’re welcome. Now come with me. Your study room is ready.” The woman walked out of the reception counter, ushered them through the library, opened a door and led them into an antique room with leather couches, study desks, coffee table, a fireplace and a breathtaking view of the campus. “I trust you can take it from here, Hamid?”
“Absolutely. Thank you, Mrs. Clark.”
Daphne walked into the room, brushing her fingertips over the hardcover books. “Wow…”
Hamid chuckled. “Wow indeed. Sometimes I still get overwhelmed by the things I find in this library.”
“How many times have you been here?”
“I have no idea,” he answered, wandering around the room. “I loved hanging out here since the first time I came with my parents when I was ten. My father got his Ph.D. here at Cornell and he was a guest teacher for a year. He worked and studied a lot. And sometimes, the only way I could spend time with him was when I followed him to libraries.”
“Aww… I can even picture little Hamid reading children’s books in a room like this right next to his father writing his final thesis in a desk like this one,” Daphne beamed.
“If only I have spent that much time reading,” he grinned. “In the beginning, I played board games with the employees and a few college students and ran between the shelves upstairs. This is a great place to play hide and seek, tag and tabletop RPGs.”
“I believe you,” she smirked.
“Then one day, one of my father’s students showed me her favorite book,” he reached for one of the bookshelves and picked up the first edition copy of Pene du Bois’ The Twenty-One Balloons.
Daphne began to slowly walk towards him.
“She told me I should admire the work my father did because he traveled the world, meeting different people from different cultures like Professor Sherman in the book. I read this book so many times I dreamt about these illustrations coming to life,” he commented flipping between pages.
“So is this why you became a diplomat?” She asked, watching Hamid turn the pages as she stepped closer.
“In a way…” He smiled. “My family has this tradition to serve the country, so I chose a career path which allowed me to do both.”
“Sounds like an excellent way to serve your country and travel.” She affirmed, taking a seat by the antique study desk.
“I do have to tolerate some terribly dull meetings from time to time, but it’s worth it.” Hamid leaned close to her, lowering his voice. “And your texts certainly have saved me from boredom more than once.”
“Even the ones with gifs?”
“There are certain things in this world only a gif can express.”
Daphne giggled. “You’re something else, you know?”
“So I’ve been told,” he winked and sat next to her, fishing his laptop out of his bag to start working.
Following his gesture, Daphne picked some of the art books on her desk, her notebook and began to study. After a few hours in silence, occasionally interrupted when they exchanged glances and their hands or legs accidentally (or so they say) touched, Hamid stretched his arms up and stood up. “Let’s take a walk.”
“Now?” She grimaced.
“You’re almost sleeping on the desk and you promised me you’d stay up all night. Come on, let’s take advantage of this big and almost empty library.”
He helped her up and they strolled around together, opening a few books they’ve read or books they wished to read.
“Everything is so cool in here. I can’t believe I’ve never been here before.”
“Well, now you have.”
“Funny… When I first met I thought you’ve never been here in Ithaca.”
“Believe me, I felt the same way when I returned,” he chortled. “The city changed so much since then and I like it. But whenever I want to go somewhere familiar, I come here.”
“Thank you for bringing me here. I always loved reading and exploring this giant library with you was amazing. This place is definitely going to become a favorite.”
“You’re welcome. It was my pleasure to have you here with me,” Hamid replied, looked around for a moment and turned to her. “Still sleepy?”
“Not much. Maybe we could grab a coffee.”
“I have a better idea,” he smiled mischievously. “Do you trust me?”
“Yup,” she dimpled.
He offered his hand to her and they walked further into the grand room, stopping at a secluded dimly lit corner. “This was my favorite hide and seek spot. I also used to come here to read thriller books with a flashlight when there was no one around to play with me.”
“But since you’re showing me your secret place, I suppose we didn’t come here to play hide and seek.”
“There are other games we can play here if you want.”
“I’m in.” Daphne purred, closed the distance between them and rose on her toes, pulling him into a fiery kiss, her tongue leading his into a sensuous dance.
His hands tugged at her clothes, roaming over the curves of her body. “I’m glad to know we’re on the same page,” Hamid whispered and pinned her against the wall.
“Ah, yes,” she pulled away, smiling as he kissed her neck. “We’re definitely on the same page.”
They stayed in the corner for a long while, quietly relishing the pleasure of exploring each other’s bodies before returning to pick up their belongings and going home.
