The kids' section of the library was my favorite because of its wall art. When you enter you get only a half view of the double-height room because of its arched entrance which stretches into a wide column supported shelving section which goes around the entire room like an outline to its circular plan.

A level difference separates the shelves from the reading section which is followed by another level difference of two steps for the interactive section. The color theme is bright and cheerful and I love the small dome that covers the room because it's painted with clouds depicting the nursery rhyme where the cow jumps over the moon. I guess that the stars refer to 'Twinkle twinkle' but hey, it's a children's room meaning it's open to their bizarre imaginative interpretations.

The reading workshop left behind scattered books and toppled over furniture as well as cushions found in the most random places like the ones I discovered behind a shelf, stacked on top of each other. I guess some kid wanted to reach the shelf.

Bottom line was, I was not going to have a minute to rest because tomorrow was another workshop so the place had to look perfect.

The shelving section was the worst with the books misplaced and even kept upside down, so I started my work there. Now the problem with being a book worm was that any book could distract you like the pop-out book I held in my hands. I was intrigued by the Rapunzel pop-out book which allowed me to actually let her hair down and so while I was keeping myself amused by pulling the cut-out arrow for her hair, I didn't notice that someone had entered the room until they spoke out,

'Omi?'

I let out a startled gasp and looked up to find Ethan at the door.

'What are you doing here?', I asked stunned.

'I thought you'd like some help. You didn't really look excited when you told me about your job today', he said walking towards me.

I was lost for words. He actually came to help me when he could be doing anything else.

'You didn't have to', I said closing the book.

'Well I did so tell me what to do', he said and looked around.

'You could help by arranging the furniture and finding stray cushions', I said.

He nodded and then bent down to pick up a lime green cushion, 'On it', he said and left to help.

Honestly, I was glad that someone was here to help me but I just couldn't understand why Ethan just seemed to pop out of nowhere almost all the time just to help me. I mean, that's not normal.

Wait, he couldn't possibly like me, could he?

Because if that's where this train is headed, he's gonna be real disappointed when he reaches the 'I'm not allowed to date' station.

I peered through the shelves and watched him stack the chairs up on the tables. I had to admit, he looked really nice in that maroon sweater and black jeans, which made me wonder why on earth would someone as attractive as he want to be with someone like me.

Don't get me wrong, I mean I love myself. I've just recently learned to love my body the way it is but when you think about it, men like Ethan are supposed to be with women who look like Nadia or Neena. Not me.

My head reaches his chest, not even his shoulder and my skin is just recovering from the horrific battles of teenage acne which apparently lasted until I was 22. The only make up I use is mascara and lipstick because my skin has a tendency to break out when it's covered in almost anything. So, do you understand my dilemma?

It's that too good to be true Beauty and the Beast scenario where it's what's on the inside that matters. Well whatever it was that attracted him to me, it was getting my work done and I'm not gonna complain.

Almost an hour later he returned saying that he had finished and so after a brief tutorial of shelving, I sent him upstairs to check on the mess. Half an hour later I was finished with my section so I went upstairs to see if he had finished.

Just as I had suspected, the first floor wasn't as messy as the ground floor which meant he had to be finished. As I walked through the hall, I finally found him, sitting on a bean bag with a book in his hands which happened to be 'The Rainbow Fish'. I grinned and went up to him.

'Found something you like?'

He smiled and then looked at me with a cheerful expression.

'This was my go-to book when I was a kid', he said and traced his fingers over the holographic scales of the fish.

'Yeah I loved this book only because it shimmered', I said and he chuckled.

'Which was yours?', he asked and I looked sideways to think.

'Froggy gets dressed', I smiled and he laughed. At that moment when I looked at him, I realized that it was the first time that I had seen Ethan look so happy. It wasn't that he always looked broody or anything but this expression was almost childlike; so vulnerable.

He looked at me and then pushed a book into my hands, 'Be a good librarian and help a kid read, would you?', he asked almost childishly.

I looked at the book and grinned at the title,'Green eggs and Ham', I read out loud and Ethan leaned back into the bean bag arching his legs up, while I settled into one near him.

As I kept on reading it, I realized that the child inside of me was coming alive as I modulated my voice as if I were actually reading it to a toddler and it felt great. I could actually see myself sitting in front of my kindergarten teacher as she read it out to us.

'You'd make a great teacher for kids', said Ethan and I looked up to meet his face which looked as if I had done something so great. I swear if this were some other romantic story, this would be the part where we both leaned in to kiss.

But instead, we kept the gaze intact as if it were so delicate that it would break if either person blinked.

'I dunno about teaching children but it's definitely on the list', I said softly and he smiled as he looked down, breaking the spell. He then leaned back and looked up the painted dome with a smile on his face.

'There's just something about children's books that opens this door to what seems to be a happy place. It's safe from all the corruption of growing up and I feel like I'm recharged or something like that', he said as I listened in silence.

'You don't think that's weird, is it?', he asked looking at me like a child would when they know they've done something wrong.

'No, I think it makes perfect sense', I assured and watched him relax back into the bean bag to look up at the painted stars while in turn kept looking at him.

It made me wonder, how many intense stares did one have to share with the other person before catching feelings? Because if it were at this rate, I knew I was coming down with something purely infectious.

Ethan dropped me off at the apartment and we agreed to meet up after class to start our assignment. As he left, I could feel myself come down from a cloud but I quickly got a hold of myself and waited for Neena to open the door.

Once I had settled in, I looked at my table to pick up my candle and I noticed that my aroma bottle and china butterfly had been knocked down along with a frame of Karthick and me.

'Neena! Did you go through my table?', I called and she appeared at my doorway.

'No, why?', she asked confused.

'It looks like someone went through it', I said as I put them back in their original places.

'Maybe you were in a hurry and knocked them over', she said.

'I wouldn't knock over Karthick's photo and not put it up', I said and found her with an oval bead in her hands.

'When did you get these funny black beads?', she asked as she lifted one to her eye for a closer look.

Confused by her question, I got a look at what was in her hands. When I realised what it was I immediately knocked it out of her fingers.

'Hey! That was your bead and I'm not gonna find it for you', she said with a frown.

'Neena, that was rat poop'

An ear-splitting screech followed my statement as she ran into the bathroom leaving me to check the apartment for our unwanted guest.