A big library was exactly what it was, apparently. Juliette hadn’t really been to the New York Public Library since she’d moved there, since it had always just been more convenient to buy books or go to the mansion library, but if she had a friend there, then that would be a good reason for her to make the extra trek down the road. Plus, she was intrigued by the thought of going to a library that large.

>>And we do try to stop people from running – unless there is a very serious book emergency that needs to be handled.”

Juliette cocked her head. ”Book emergency? What’s that like? A spinal injury?” She chuckled quietly at her own pun as she continued to write down her notes. In all honesty, though, she had no idea what a book emergency could be. She’d seen plenty of emergencies in her time, but they were all regarding people.

Perhaps a misplaced book? Or someone that urgently needed information? Nicholas Cage on a quest to find a National Treasure? Nothing particular came to mind.

>>”Ah, well, that does sound tough. But give it time. Animals can more easily adjust to change than us humans.”

”Yeah,” Juliette nodded in agreement. Animals adapted to situations a lot faster than humans. Probably because all they really needed in life was love and food, while humans needed so much more. Plus, it wasn’t like animals could complain very much.

Booker, however, seemed to be very adaptable. From the way that they had been talking before, she had thought that there would be some sign of, well, something on his face, but there was nothing. Obviously, Juliette had misread the situation, and as much as she would have liked to say that it wasn’t a little disappointing, she couldn’t. For some reason, her heart sank a little.

She had absolutely no claim on disappointment, though, so she tucked the thought away. At least then there wouldn’t be any awkwardness if they saw each other again, she figured.

All of his answers sounded about right, which was the final check on his form. He was all clear to leave and live out his life.

>>”Do I sound right in the head to you?”

She tutted her tongue. ”I’m afraid I only have bad news; you’re perfectly fine, which means that I sentence you to going back to the everyday grind,” she explained with a fake sigh. ”You can go home now if you’d like to. Just take a couple of aspirin if your head is bothering you. If you have any other symptoms, make an appointment to see a doctor.

"Do you have any concerns or questions?"She finished with her usual spiel and held her completed clipboard against her chest.

Book emergencies. It really did sound like one of those impossible things that could never happen, but there have been a few instances. Nothing as dramatic as, say, a toppled bookcase or a book that needed to be repaired stat! However things did happen that required a librarian's attention. At her comment about “spinal injury”, he replied with a sarcastic grin.

”Very funny. But I’ll have you know that book spinal brokenitus is the leading cause of early discarding. Very tragic.” His smile became more genuine at this point, where he instead elaborated. ”And trust me, working in a library isn’t all dust and shushing. Can’t tell you how many fistfights and public humping I've had to break up.” Insert innocent smile.

Yeah. He totally wasn’t kidding.

He had to admit, he was pretty bummed to hear that Juliette was already taken. He wasn’t surprised by any stretch of the imagination, but it was unfortunate that they met after the fact. Still, there was really no crying about spilt milk that you never even had a chance with. It was time to tone down the flirting, as much as he could, and act like a regular, boring person.

He thought maybe, just maybe, he saw a fleck of disappointment in her gaze when she let slip that she had a boyfriend, but he was clearly overthinking all this, right? Why would she be disappointment when she was the one who brought it up? Again. Over thinking. It was such a shame, but he'd get over it.

>>”I’m afraid I only have bad news; you’re perfectly fine, which means that I sentence you to going back to the everyday grind…You can go home now if you’d like to. Just take a couple of aspirin if your head is bothering you. If you have any other symptoms, make an appointment to see a doctor.”

Again, it wasn’t even fair. The snark was just too perfect, but he responded in kind. When she said bad news, an excited, smiling look appeared on his features, but they quickly sank when Juliette assured him that he was fine. Another snap of his fingers in disappointment and Booker sighed, before giving her a smile. She gave him the practiced spiel about taking meds to handle pain and, if more symptoms arose, to contact an actual doctor.

It all sounded perfectly fair to him. Still disappointed that this could possibly be their last meeting, Booker readied to close the chapter on this subject. While nothing came from it as he would have hoped, at least he was walking away with only mild headache and not a concussion! Gotta look at the silver lining and all!

>>"Do you have any concerns or questions?"

Yes. Runaway with me so we can live a happy, sass filled life together. No, he had to stop. It wasn’t right for him to have such thoughts and he was more a gentleman than that. Time to say “Thank you” and go off to live his normal life…

”Actually…yeah…”

Face palm.

He turned and leaned, reaching into his back pocket where he pulled out his leather, comic book themed wallet. Opening it up, he pulled out a small card, his business card. It had his name, work address, and the name of his institution, the New York Public Library. He stood, smiled, and handed the card out to her.

”Just in case you ever want to see what a real library is like.” He beamed proudly, waiting for her to take the card or not. ”I do tours. And, you know…bring the boyfriend…IF you like.”

He wasn’t going to be RUDE you know. Ahem.

With that done, it was time for him to go. So, standing, a final stretch, and he gave her a small wave. Turning on his heel, he made his way toward the door way, stopped to turn back and share an slightly awkward smile with her, before his foot caught on a small children’s table, neon pink in color, and unceremoniously made him kick and stumble. Thankfully he didn’t fall this time as he caught himself on the side of the door. Stopping himself, he shyly turned back to face her, trying to subtly kick the table off, cause a few passing kids to giggle at his antics. Finally he stopped and plucked it off his foot, setting it aside.

”Um…when you think back on this…?” he said, scratching the back of his head in embarrassment. ”Maybe leave that part out?” he sighed. Smooth, Booker. ”Well, later Nurse Dizzle!”

There. Better to leave now while he had some dignity left. Jeez. What a day.

Talk of the separation of humping people made her chuckle awkwardly, but the further mention of dropping by the library really piqued her interest.

”I’ll definitely stop by,” Juliette nodded. She probably would have at some point anyway, but this way she could make it a priority on her list of things to do, now. She ran her finger along the edge of the business card before storing it away in her pocket for safekeeping.

Was it wrong that she didn’t think she would bring Sam if she decided to visit? There was a bit of a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach, like something had just taken a turn for the worst, but she ignored it and pasted on another smile. Everything was fine. Everything was absolutely fine.

Soon enough, though, the smile didn’t have to be faked. She stifled a loud laugh and rolled her lips over her teeth to try to curb the wide grin that soon overtook her anyway. Booker had almost wiped out on a children’s table. She watched with the same grin as he plucked it off of his foot and set it aside.

>>”Um…when you think back on this…? Maybe leave that part out?”

”I don’t know,” Juliette replied honestly, ”it’s going to be pretty hard to shake that image.”

It was like “The Game” - as soon as you told someone not to think about it, then it was the only thing they could think about. It was a catch-22. She tried (well, not very hard) to erase it from her mind, but it just wasn’t budging.

>>”Well, later Nurse Dizzle!”

”Goodbye for now, Booker B. Bookman,” she waved him off with a smile.