Although going to the university library was never in Sarah's routine, she had to do it as it was in Louis schedule. She had secretly asked one of his friends who gave her a breakdown of what he was planning to do before he finally flew back to the states. Louis had actually flown from the states to see his old pa but wanted to explore his alma mater once more before he finally took his leave. Sarah knew she wasn't a bookworm, nor was her friends Natasha and Demetria. While she non-chalantly glanced through the shelves, Nat and Demmie simply sat at the desk chewing gums and operating their phones. She was glad she brought Amopha who with keen eyes studied the books, her eyes brightening at every familiar name.
"Which one do you think Louis might be interested in?" Amopha heard Sarah say as she looked up to see that she was so close to her, she could smell the scent of her strong perfume.
"I'm not sure. He is a lawyer so he might be interested in legal books. Books that embraces the practices of the courtrooms and the judicial state of the country, it's laws, policies and propa…Amopha continued but Sarah only stared at her flummoxed
"Where did you know all these things? Have you been reading the constitution?" Sarah asked
"No. These are basic terms that people know"
"Well you don't expect me to cram all that"
Amopha tried to say something but Sarah abruptly held up her hand when she noticed a Sedan driving into the compound.
"He's here. Quick, move to the other part of the library" Sarah said moving Amopha towards Nat and Demmie
"Urgh, but I don't wanna go." Nat whined
"Yeah, I'm comfortable where I am" Demmie said
"Don't ruin this for me" Sarah said pointing at them " Come on" she said moving Amopha, Nat and Demmie into the inner part of the library.
She began spying on Louis who came into the library, halted beside the shelves and picked up a book with the name 'Little Women' inscribed on the spine. Immediately, she brought out her phone and googled about the book, scanned through the Wikipedia pages of the story and slipped her phone back into her trousers.
"You've read the book? Little Women?" Sarah said emerging from her hiding place as Louis looked up
"Oh," he said creasing his brows like he was trying to remember something
"Sarah"
"Oh yes, Sarah. Amopha's friend. How is Amopha?"
"She's doing quite well. It's so delightful to see you interested in such a book. Did you know it's a coming of age story?" Sarah said. Her friends Nat and Demmie hid behind the shelves eavesdropping on their colloquy as Amopha stared at them with an eyebrow raised.
"Oh yes, I have read the book and I can attest to the undaunted nature of Jo March"
"Oh yes, the sister that writes" Sarah feeling that the conversation was moving smoothly began moving closer to Louis
"At a point in the book, I could feel her pain, her joy, her tears when she cut her hair for her father when he fell ill" Louis said, his eyes beaming.
"Yes, yes" Sarah concurred still moving closer
"Its so sad that he came back to see that one of his daughters was sick"
"Yeah I think that was Amy. Was the sickness not chicken pox"
"No," Louis snapped abruptly halting Sarah in her steps as he moved back "It was Beth and she was suffering from Scarlet Fever"
"Oh" Sarah said creasing her brows and scratching her hair "Really?" she said feigning to be interested
"Yes. Amy was the artistic sister who paints. Aunt March saw her as the most sensible person in the family and took her to Paris. I totally disagree though" Louis said but Sarah remained puzzled. She kept acting like she wanted to remember something and unfortunately nothing was forthcoming. So she sheepishly stared at his eyes. "You haven't read the book, have you?"
Sarah turned her head sideways trying not to break her eyes off his.
"Right" Louis said "I'm just gonna return the book"
"Oh yes, yes, you can" Sarah said trying to maintain her stance even though she knew she had flunked making a good impression. She quickly moved away when she noticed that Louis shyly made signs that she was standing in the way. "I don't usually read novels, that's why I didn't know much about the little women. I read mostly legal books that talks about politics, and propa…propa…Sarah stuttered but Louis was already gone.
"Sarah, what happened? Weren't you able to impress him?" Nat said coming out with Demmie
"No. Clearly I'm not a bookish lady who reads Little Women" she said storming out as her friends trailed after her.
Amopha who was sitting at a desk held a book in her hand and watched the three of them through the window. She had gotten bored and had engrossed herself in a novel. Sarah was like a tank waiting to explode. She walked recklessly but still managed to sashay, her friends on the other hand tried to hold her but she kept shoving them away.
"Look who we have here" a voice said
Amopha startled, turned immediately sighting Louis towering presence in front of her
"Oh my gosh" she said placing her left palm on her chest, her right holding the book
"Did I scare you?" Louis asked taking a seat opposite her
"No you didn't Louis, it was just sudden" She said. She noticed he stretched his hand to her and knew that he wanted to see her book. She gave it to him turning her face away from his. The last thing she wanted was to make eye contacts.
"The Scarlet Letter." He said casting his eyes on the book and flipping the pages "What's your take on Hester Prynne?"
"Hmmm" Amopha said looking up and as she feared, got her eyes locked in his. He stared at her, waiting patiently, his eyes beckoning on her to speak. "Hester Prynne is a woman stripped off her agency as a woman. Although she was also guilty of her adulterous crime, Arthur Dimmesdale was also in on it. She loses her voice in a society plagued by patriarchy and dogma."
Amopha noticed Louis slowly taking a seat. He seemed to be basking in her words as his eyes refused to leave hers ergo making her shy.
"Well go on" he beckoned
She tried to say something as she diverted her eyes from his but felt as if she was tongue tied. "I feel…I feel as if I'm in an interview"
"Amopha," he said placing his hand on hers "Your voice is worth hearing, don't silence it"
Amopha stared at him. His hand felt warm on hers. At that moment, she felt safe. A feeling she had never experienced in a long time. She was always in her most vulnerable state, always at the mercy of a mockery or a sensitive jest. Abruptly, she felt awkward as she gently recoiled her hand and stood up turning towards the shelf with her back facing him.
"The irony about Hester's story is that she marries someone she doesn't love. She tries to explore her love life at the slightest opportunity and it turns on her. She becomes a laughing stock to a society that treats her like an epidemic. That village in the story was supposed to be a new world for her to explore but her adventures…
"weren't the right ones" Louis said rising "But we can't blame her. She wanted to love and be loved"
"Her child loved her. She was the most precocious little angel who said the most petty things" Amopha said smiling
Louis didn't say anything. He just stared at her replaying her words in his head all over again. She was like a book filled with a thousand discoveries if you were patient enough to flip through and read. She was just a freshman yet was surprisingly vast in her vocabulary, never faking any words but speaking them out freely like they were made for her lips. She noticed that he kept staring at her so she diverted her eyes back to the books on the shelves.
"Where did you learn all those words?" he finally asked
"When my auntie and Uncle go to work, I would bury myself in the dictionary learning new words on how to speak to people"
"Wait, hold on. You read the dictionary to know how to communicate with people?"
"I was shy. Very shy. I didn't know how to start conversations or keep it going, the right words to use so that I wouldn't offend my recipient" Amopha said turning towards him
"And here you are keeping a conversation going with Louis Chandler. Ain't you doing a great job?" Louis said as Amopha smiled " You have a beautiful smile"
Amopha's visage flushed down with red as she turned away from Louis before he could see her. What was this man trying to do. Make her like him? Sure, Sarah was definitely after him but she was not. She was after her books and nothing more. Her uncle had made it her priority to become a renowned Accountant like Tony Fernandez. But now, this famous Lawyer came out of the blues to distract her.
"So, what's your favorite book? Or better still, which book have you found interesting from all the ones you've been glancing through here?" Louis asked
"My favorite book?" Amopha said nervously but Louis just stared at her. It seems he was a person that didn't fancy repeating himself. What was she thinking? She was speaking to a strict lawyer whose interrogations were like bullets tearing out arcanas from the lips of criminals. Immediately, she turned towards the shelves casting her eyes quickly on all the names and then her eyes settled on one. Louis came in front of her just as she picked it from the shelf.
"The dreams of Mali Ghazaar" she said as Louis took the book and went towards the cashier. She watched him pay for the book as he collected a sticky note and a pen from the cashier. He wrote something on the paper and placed it inside the book, giving the pen back to the cashier and thanking her.
"Mr. Louis, I didn't expect you to…
"Louis", he corrected as Amopha exhaled
"Louis, I never expected you to buy the book. I really appreciate it and I would do whatever is in my power to pay you back." She said as he stared at her creasing his brows
"You don't have to pay me back. It's a gift" he said, placing it on her palms as he made his way to leave
"I would very much like to have your number Amopha, if you'd let me."
"I'm sorry, I can't" she said hugging the book. She didn't hear him say anything except for the creaking sound of the door opening and closing . She opened the book and raised the note up to read it.
For someone who sees the world in verses but deserves to be written into something beautiful.