Later in the week, Blue got a copy of the full script to start reading over. She whirled through it the first time so fast she didn't think she was actually at the end when she reached the last page. Immediately, she started over at the beginning and was able to go slower this time and start making notes.

The show was set during the Civil War - she was excited about historical period costumes - but Gael had specifically mentioned an ethnically diverse cast.

Genius.

He planned on expanding their theatrical colleague's minds and showing them that casting only depended on talent, not pigment. Further than that, he would speak to the audiences by visually representing in his show what the world actually looked like.

Oh, and the music was hip-hop inspired.

Blue could finally understand what he meant when he said he had to convince people that his crazy idea was a good idea. It was a risky script, but if they could pull it off it would not only work well but have the potential to be big. It could shift the world of theater forever, change people's mindsets, and have them leave their baggage forever at the door.

Gael had been texting in a group chat with all the heads of departments, giving details about upcoming meetings and constantly asking if anyone needed anything. Blue had decided to head to one of her favorite places in the world, the New York Public Library.

Her little library in Texas had never let her down when she was growing up, reading her way through life. When she had a question, it had an answer. Even walking through the doors of a library she'd never been in before gave her a sense of comfort that she could find whatever she needed, even before she knew what it was she needed. So, the first time she visited the library in New York City, she almost fainted. It was like walking into a European medieval castle, complete with statues and murals delicately painted on the walls. When she had accidentally wandered into the Rose Room for the first time, her jaw actually dropped in awe. The room was nearly the length of a football field and filled with row after row of long wooden tables that almost gave away how heavy they were just by looking at them. The fifty-foot high ceilings and arched windows gave the dark wooden room the light it needed. When the darkness and light mixed together, it made magic. Being surrounded by books on every wall, made even more magic. The smell of old books and old wood mixing in the air...magic.

So, one morning she decided to update the group and say she was headed to the library to start research. What she didn't expect was for Gael to immediately send her a private text and ask if she minded if he joined her. He had been texting her pretty often, updating her on the costume shop remodel, and answering questions she had about the storyline to help her start brainstorming costumes. Even though he had been just as nice and slightly flirtatious via text, she hadn't expected him to text her that. Although she normally researched alone, she didn't mind him coming along since she was the second hired costume designer and he probably already had some ideas that he had been brewing with the designer before her. She would rather implement them now instead of going down a path and find out later that he had other ideas. She texted him back that it would be great if he could meet her there and be prepared to carry lots of heavy books for her.

He said he would love to do nothing more than carry her books for her.

————

As she stood outside of the library's doors waiting under the arches for Gael, she wondered if this was actually such a good idea. Her first time alone with someone that was technically kind of her boss would be inside a place that normally made her feel pretty vulnerable. It was a place where she let her guard down and allowed herself to be fully immersed in the research.

Before she had time to change her mind, she noticed him bounding up the steps towards her. He had sunglasses on and his hair was in a man-bun today.

She couldn't believe he could actually pull that off, but he did very very well.

His vintage Beatles t-shirt had frayed edges from being worn so many times - he probably knew how good it looked on him - and his dark jeans fit perfectly, yet again. She was reminded of her earlier question about how well they fit in the back, but tried to shove that thought out of her mind because he was saying hello.

"I can't believe you actually beat me here, no one is ever earlier than me to a meeting!" Gael exclaimed while throwing his empty coffee away in the nearest trash can.

"Yeah well this ain't a meeting, Gael, this is an experience." She smiled at him and put her hands on her hips. "Some ground rules before we go inside this most glorious place on earth: don't question my book choices, don't question how many books I need, and don't interrupt me if I am deep in a book, lest you stop the genius at work. Got it?" she raised one eyebrow to show she expected a fully committed response. He didn't let her down.

" Si, mi capitana . I swear to abide by all the rules and make sure your library time is fully productive today. Can we go in now?"

Blue pretended to ponder his worthiness with her hand on her chin, then finally nodded her head. "You have been deemed worthy to enter," and she waved him on. He bowed then turned around to walk toward the doors and she finally got an answer to her previous question.

The jeans did, in fact, fit him very well in the back.

As he walked away her eyebrows raised slightly as she took in the sight before her. She didn't even think she had ever truly checked out a guy's ass, until now. The curve was subtle, yet perfect. She said a silent thank you to whoever designed those jeans and decided to find out the brand, for professional reasons of course. She now had a new question about the firmness-

Stop. Focus. Be professional.

He opened the door and held it for her as she walked through and thanked him. As soon as they entered he immediately turned right and went towards the shop where they sold coffee. She wasn't sure if he had a sixth sense that could find coffee anywhere, or if he was familiar enough with the library to know where to get the coffee at.

"Did you know that when it opened in 1911 the library had already shelved over one million books, ready for the public to read?" he asked as he got in line for the coffee.

Astonished, she had her answer that he was obviously familiar with the library. She responded, "yes, and close to fifty thousand people visited that day. Can you imagine?"

He shook his head. "I get overwhelmed seeing that many people attend a football game in the 21st century, I can't imagine seeing that many people gather in 1911. It had to be such a sight for the founders and workers to see, I bet they never felt prouder than that day."

The cashier asked what he could get for them and he ordered a black coffee for himself and another one with cream and extra sugar for her, without even asking.

"How did you know how I take my coffee?" she asked as the guy started making them, stunned he guessed the extra sugar part correctly.

"Ah, it's a special gift I have. I can guess anyone's coffee order just by looking at them. I'm sort of a coffee enthusiast, my family has always been into it, but mostly I think it comes from my days as an intern. Once you order over a thousand coffees you start to notice a trend."

She laughed and thanked him for the coffee, "this is actually pretty good. Normally I just drink store brand grounds made in my ten-dollar coffee maker at home."

He stopped walking abruptly, unable to move after hearing such a statement. "Oh my God. That's honestly the saddest thing I've ever heard anyone say in reference to coffee."

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

She shrugged her shoulders and smiled, "I don't really care how I get my caffeine, as long as it's sickeningly sweet and gives me heart palpitations, I know it's doing its job!"

He laughed and shook his head in disbelief at her as they headed up the stairs to their right. She had already reserved a computer and headed towards her favorite spot to research. It was in a corner on the second floor that was secluded enough that she felt like she could really focus without being interrupted. As they sat down at the computer, he leaned back in his chair and sipped his coffee, causing his shirt to lift ever so slightly; Blue could see a bit of his flat stomach and the tiniest bit of hair that grew there.

She was then very confident that her library trip was going to be full of nothing but interruptions.

"I'll start putting in the requests for the books I already know I want,” she said, trying to focus on the task at hand, ”then we can start discussing the show and see if any more books pop up that I might want to request." Gael nodded and took his phone out of his pocket. While she typed on the old computer keyboard, he sat next to her and tapped away on his phone, probably answering emails from vendors for the upcoming orders the set designer was preparing to make. Every time he looked up from his phone she could feel his eyes on her, watching her fingers and staring at the side of her face. She finally decided to look over at him, frustrated at the computer for running so slow, and caught his eyes staring straight into her own. He lingered for a second too long, then smiled and said, "you are so cute trying to battle with an ancient desktop computer, it’s impossible to win."

She was blown away by his forwardness. He just said she was cute. Out loud. She wasn't sure about New York, but in Texas, guys didn't go around calling girls cute unless they meant something else. She knew plenty of guys growing up who were always more openly flirtatious and it came off naturally, like it was part of their DNA. But this was way more than she was used to and it kept throwing off her guard.

Remembering her determination to stay professional, yet project any flirtation right back at him without backing down, she shrugged and simply said, "thanks," with a mischievous smile on her lips.

The look of shock he let slip onto his face at her confidence was enough to make her bold enough to add, "you're not going to think it’s cute when you see the list of books you're about to have to carry for me."

He laughed out loud, which brought on an evil look from the librarian sitting behind her desk across the room. She even cleared her throat, which was basically as good as her saying, 'strike one'.

He didn't take his eyes off Blue the entire time and ignored the librarian stating, "I already told you, I'm more than happy to carry your books anytime, mi Azul ."

Damn. That smooth Spanish nickname he gave her made her heart actually skip a beat. People say that all the time and she didn't think it was a real thing, but it happened. She felt it actually stop for at least two seconds before it began to beat again quickly enough to catch up.

The proud look on his face made her think he knew exactly the effect it had on her. She wondered how many other nicknames he had for how many other girls; she was getting tired of how affected she was by him and decided she either needed to step up her retaliation game a notch, or give up and let him win.

How did she end up in this game anyway? What was he trying to get at with this exchange? There's no way he was attracted to her in the way she was to him. He had plenty of actresses that were probably throwing themselves at him daily, so it's not like he needed the ego boost.

If she decided to step up her flirting game then she ran the risk of looking like a fool if he thought she was taking it more seriously than he was. But, if she gave up and let him win then...well...he would win. And she couldn't have that.

She stood up to go collect the requested research books, but before he could stand up too she leaned over next to him to grab her purse that she had put on the floor by their chairs. Her wavy brown hair slid over her shoulder and fell right in front of his face. She swore she could hear him inhale, which made her very grateful she actually woke up early that morning so she could wash it with her hibiscus shampoo.

She turned to look at him and was only inches from his face. His eyes seemed darker, as if that was somehow possible, and there was a small crease between them from where his brow was furrowing. His face had completely changed from the nonchalant look he always wore to something that resembled surprise. But his eyes...they were the window into his thoughts and she could easily read them.

He was actually attracted to her. For real. He wasn't just messing with her. He obviously felt something, whether it was sincere or just biological she didn't know. But it was there.

Her plan had backfired and now she had no clue what to do. So she did the only thing her brain was capable of - this was a fight or flight situation and her legs started moving before she even knew where she was headed.

Flight won out, apparently.

He jumped up behind her and caught up to her by the time she was walking out of the room and back into the atrium where the stairs were. In the few seconds of running away, she had enough time to think of something to say. She looked over to him as he came alongside her after tossing their empty coffees in the trash and unflinchingly said, "come on, it's time to put those muscles to the test and collect my books."

————

After waiting for all the books she had requested, they started pouring over every page in her beloved Room 315, the Rose Main Reading Room. Just seeing the neatly organized rows of thick oak tables calmed her down as she walked in, Gael in tow carrying all her heavy books. The perfectly spaced bronze lamps on each table made her feel regulated and ready to work.

Blue was visually driven, so seeing the drawings and photos of historically accurate garments in the 1860s in front of her really got the creativity flowing. They discussed the characters in great detail and he was able to provide a lot of backstory for each one. Every idea he had, she had another idea to make it even better. Their excitement was growing; she had expected it would be great to work with him, but never thought it would be this easy. Their minds were simultaneously working on the same wavelength, but still different enough to build off each other. It was like being two pieces of a puzzle, both having their separate ideas but seamlessly fitting together.

She had made some notes while reading the script and was able to go over them with him. She loved translating someone's vision right in front of them and relished in his delight as she began quickly sketching rough versions of their ideas.

A couple of hours later, he interrupted one of her sketches and leaned into her to say, "you truly are the perfect person for this show. I knew when you walked in that there was some kind of connection, that we would be able to work together well. But sitting in this library today I can see that you not only will be able to do the job, but make the entire production better. Seriously, thank you for this," he waved at the mountain of books they had piled in front of them, "it means a lot to know that something I've poured my soul into is being taken care of by someone who unmistakably cares too."

She didn't know what to say. Yet again. Why did she always have to flounder around when emotions were involved? She tried to take a second to think before she spoke, but that never worked before, so she just let it all blurt out.

"I think you might be a genius."

He smiled and rolled his eyes, sitting back in his chair. He nervously ran his hand through the hair that had started to fall out of his man-bun, while leaving one hand resting on a book he had just been browsing.

"No seriously, when Arjun told me about the show it sounded interesting and definitely came at the right time for me, but his excitement about it is what drew me in. And I knew it must be something special to make him act so brash as to offer my name up for the job. But when I read the script, I couldn't believe the words on the page. You are so good at conveying exactly what you mean to say in the most abstract way possible. I loved that it made me think, I had to focus completely on what was happening, and in today's world of quick entertainment that is a rare thing."

When she stopped talking, she could see in his eyes that apparently he had needed to hear that. Not knowing the reason why, but realizing he must have been feeling somewhat uncertain lately, she decided to reach out and put her hand on his. Not meaning anything but to comfort him, she hoped she didn't just throw herself out there and get stuck drowning in vulnerability with no life vest.

He stared at their hands for a bit, then looked up at her and stared straight into her eyes. Leaning in towards her again he whispered so only she could hear, "I don't know how you do it, but when you say things like that I believe it more than when anyone else tells me. With production starting soon I really needed to hear that. I didn't know I did, but thank you."

She took a deep breath and slipped right back into her cover-emotions-with-humor trick, "well don't get used to it buttercup, I'm only being nice because you carried thirteen books around the library for me. Bump that number up to twenty and next time you might even get a handwritten card to go along with those compliments."

Gael let loose his booming laugh yet again, and wouldn't you know that same exact librarian just happened to be walking by collecting books. The look on her face this time said, 'this is both strike two AND three'.

Before she could actually reprimand them verbally, Blue stood up and started collecting all the loose papers, putting them back inside her leather-bound notebook. Gael, still chuckling, started stacking the books.

Blue decided to check out a couple of the books that were allowed to leave the library so she could have them at home as references over the next few weeks, just in case. On their way out Gael said, "thanks for letting me tag along and for being so dedicated to your work."

Brushing off his compliments again, Blue said, "text if you think of any other ideas, and I will do the same. I think we got off to an amazing start today, so far I guess we make a pretty great team."