Finding Love...after Valentine's Day!

DISCLAIMER

This is a work of fiction. Unless otherwise indicated, all the names, characters, businesses, places, events, and incidents in this Story are either the product of the author's imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental and unintentional.

 

The Valentine's Day was over.

And the enthusiasm exhibited by youngsters eager to go out on romantic dates and wannabe lovers who wanted to spend their day with their girlfriends or boyfriends was sadly over.

And it was silence all over again.

The world had gone back to work.

Students to college, office-goers to their office, workers to their factories.

The restaurants which had been decorated fashionably and fancifully that day and which had offered that ‘free glass of wine or dessert for the spouse’ were now functioning as per their daily routine, which was quite bland.

The cake shops had even removed the decorations and balloons that they had decorated their tiny shops with.

The shops selling valentine gifts, cards, and stuff were now stripped of all colors and festivities and wore their normal look. Which appeared so desolate and empty!

Even the streets looked empty and silent…..for there was hardly any crowd or any excitement.

In short, the shops, the restaurants, and the streets were empty.

As empty as the hearts of hopeful lovers who wanted that someone special on Valentine's Day but were pitifully alone that day!

Except for Neil of course!

Neil was an exception. He had to date never quite felt the need for a female companion. For he hardly felt lonely when he was surrounded by books. Neil was that typical bookish type of guy who preferred a great novel over a hot girl. He was a typical studious guy, the one who wears those large, square and outdated glasses without ever thinking about how they would look on their face. ‘I have bought it because it was on sale!’ is their usual and obvious reply. He was in the last year of college and had seen the years pass by and the changes that they had ushered in the lives of his classmates and roommates.

Many had gone in and out of love and relationships, some had hooked up with someone new, others had broken up in front of him, while the lucky ones had grown closer or together in front of him…..he had seen it all.

And strangely it had neither bothered nor affected him.

For he was totally and completely immersed in his love for reading.

He was that kind of guy that you could forever spot in the library…….behind huge piles of books, ‘reading to his heart’s delight and enjoying life’ would be his explanation.

‘Just wasting your youth away’ would be his peer’s observation.

“You will never get a girlfriend just sitting throughout the day in the library, reading and reading’ many had advised him.

“Go out in the fresh air for jogs, long walks…….life is in the open” someone would tell him.

“It’s best to join some club or go to any pub…that’s where I met my girlfriend” others would tell him.

Some out of friendship. Some out of genuine concern.

And Neil would merely grin from cheek to cheek.

And he keep on reading and reading……….in the library, day and night, come summer or winter, first semester or second. Hiding behind his huge black specs or behind the pile of books, he loved to escape into the world of his dreams and knew of no other way to enjoy life or be happy.

“You are missing something important in life” his best friend Chuck used to tell him with brotherly concern.

Neil had hardly felt so in so many years…………but that Valentine's evening, when he was returning home……….alone……….he suddenly felt more alone than he had ever felt before.

It was as if a sharp needle had pricked his spine or his soul and he felt a pang of emptiness in his life.

That emptiness or void or abyss or whatever one would call it however lasted for around a night only and the next day when he found a book that he was looking out for for the past two months in the library, he forgot every loneliness in the world and immersed himself totally in the beauty and magic of its words!

The book transported him to a different place and he felt so comfortable in the images it created that he just did not want to come back.

There was only one copy of that book in the library so as per the library rules, it could not be issued until the library got another copy of it. The library had already placed an order for the same but it had not yet arrived. Every day, Neil used to inquire with the librarian, Mrs. Wells, an old, near-retirement soft-spoken lady with blue-green eyes and very white short hair, if the other copy had arrived, so that he can borrow one.

Every day the kind lady, whom hardly anyone spoke to throughout the day, for the students and professors were either too busy or in too much hurry, would look forward to this short meeting with Neil. For Neil was the only one who was considerate enough to inquire about her health, make small talk about the weather, compliment her on her looks, and would even discuss politics or theater with her.

Mrs. Wells’s answer every time Neil used to inquire about the book would be an apologetic "No, I am afraid, we have not yet received another copy. But I keep sending them reminder emails almost every other day”.

Neil, disappointed and almost crushed, for he desperately wanted a copy of the book, used to smile regretfully and depart, waving her a friendly goodbye.

That fortunate day, a few days after Valentine’s Day, Neil was standing in an unusually long queue of students who had lined up to issue library books. Neil, as always, his head buried in a magazine, looked up startled when his name was called. It was his turn in the queue and he looked up and did not see Mrs. Wells. Instead, a pretty young girl, with a long freckled face, blue-green eyes, and short brown hair, dressed in a formal shirt and scarf and striped trousers, sat at the librarian’s desk, holding out a book in front of him.

It was the copy of the book that he had been waiting for!

Despite all the wait, Neil hardly looked at the eagerly-awaited book. For his eyes were transfixed on the pretty young girl who was handing it out to him.

“Just received it today! Mrs. Wells had left special instructions with me to hand it to you as soon as I get it” she said with a brisk smile, almost patting herself for a job well done.

“Mrs. Wells!” was all Neil uttered.

“Mrs. Wells, hmm…… well……..she sprained her leg badly and has been advised bed-rest for a week. I am Dona, her temporary replacement, and her………..niece” she said.

‘Niece……….that explained the blue-green eyes and the striking resemblances with Mrs. Wells’ thought Neil to himself.

“Would you like to borrow it now or can I issue it to a Professor who has requested it?” she asked, looking at him. 

And surprise of surprises, Neil instead of taking the book from the library, took out the pretty librarian…………… for lunch, almost forgetting about the book that he was searching for.

Maybe that is what love does to you……….it makes you forget everything or maybe it makes you realize what is important in life!

And so love happened……………..

‘Whoever thought that you cannot find love in a library was a fool’ Neil thought happily, as he walked on the streets with the temporary librarian and suddenly the empty streets did not affect his heart at all for his heart was already full of love and romance.

‘Whoever said that you cannot find love after Valentine’s Day was a fool’ Dona thought as she remembered the past week where she did not have a single romantic incident to relate unlike her roommates who were bustling with their romantic Valentine Day stories.