Title: Snowed In
Author: Heavenli24
Pairings/Couples/Category: M/L
Rating: MATURE
Disclaimer: The characters of "Roswell" belong to Jason Katims, Melinda Metz, WB, and UPN. They are not mine and no infringement is intended.
Summary: My Christmas fic, based on a challenge by elodie (which can be found here – AU challenge #84) . Liz is a shy, innocent librarian and Max is the mysterious, handsome man who always comes in to read the newspapers. What happens when a freak snowstorm causes the two of them to be stuck in the library alone for one night just before Christmas?
***
Part One
For the third time in the last five minutes, Liz Parker turned her wrist to glance at her watch. Seven-thirty pm. She sighed tiredly, she hated the late shift. I mean, who visited the library at this time on Thursday night, and right before Christmas no less? No one, that’s who. Not a single patron had visited the small library in the last hour and a half, so what was the point of staying open until eight pm?
Normally she wouldn’t mind working late on a Thursday. After all, it was the only night in the week that they opened past 6pm, so she couldn’t really complain, but tonight was different. For one, it was only a couple of days until Christmas and there were several other places she’d much rather be right now; secondly, it was freezing cold outside and the heating system had kindly decided to break down three hours ago, leaving Liz cold as well as alone; but the worst thing of all was that so far tonight there had been no sign of Mr. Mysterious and she found herself completely disappointed that he had not shown up.
‘Mr. Mysterious’, as Liz had secretly nicknamed him was, in her opinion, absolutely the most gorgeous man she had ever laid eyes on. She had no idea who he was, or even what his name was – she had never spoken to him – but there was just something about his dark good looks and soulful eyes that made her feel weak at the knees. To say that she had been surprised when out of the blue, this enigma of a man had appeared in the doorway of her somewhat out-of-the-way library two months ago and had then spent the next ninety minutes doing nothing but sitting in the corner and reading the newspapers, was an understatement.
Usually the only patrons she saw were residents of the old people’s home next door, coming over to renew the same books they’d been reading all year; young mothers looking for new picture book to read to their children; and the occasional high school kid in need of textbooks for their homework. So when, on that rainy November evening just two months ago, the bell above the door rang out unceremoniously and in stepped Mr. Mysterious, clothed in an expensive-looking grey-suit-and-tie ensemble, Liz knew that her life was about to change. Okay, so it wasn’t like he literally ran in and swept her off her feet or anything. No, he had simply sent a brief glance towards her startled face, before his eyes scanned the room for the newspapers and he sat down to read them with not even a word to her.
In fact, that was how it had been ever since. He would come in two or three evenings a week to read the papers, which was usually only for a brief few minutes before closing since he obviously came in after work. But he was always here on Thursdays and he always stayed right until closing, something Liz was secretly glad about, since she felt she could literally sit and stare at his strong jaw line and flawless features for hours.
However, one thing did bother her about his newspaper-reading habit: he obviously had a good job and was well off enough to buy designer suits, so why didn’t he just buy the papers himself? Why did he need to come all the way out here, to her humble little library to read them? To be honest, she had no idea, but she had to admit that spending the evening alone and freezing her ass off was not her idea of a good time and it was then that she realised exactly how much she enjoyed having him around on a Thursday night, even though they had never even spoken a word to one another.
With a sigh, Liz pushed her dark-rimmed glasses up her nose and briefly glanced at the clock on the wall, before picking up the pile of books next to her on the counter. Only another twenty-eight minutes go get through until she could go home, take a nice hot bath and curl up with her favourite book. However, she was startled out of her fantasies of relaxation by the sudden shrill sound of the bell above the library door. Liz’s heart leapt in sudden anticipation, yet she continued to sort the books in her hands. Could this be Mr. Mysterious? Had he decided to show up at the last moment? She was almost afraid to turn and find out.
***
Max Evans breathed a sigh of relief as he entered the small library and his eyes caught on the petite brunette sorting books in the corner. She was here...and by the looks of things, she was alone. His lips automatically curled up in a smile and his breath caught in his throat as he watched her for a moment. She was standing at the counter, her back to him, as she organised the returned books. He couldn’t help but notice how shiny and smooth her long, dark hair looked as it flowed over her shoulders, and he had the sudden urge to run his fingers through it. It was a good thing she was turned away from him, however, because one glance at those beautiful deep brown eyes, framed by stylish black-rimmed glasses, and he would have been a goner.
With once last glance in her direction, he made his way towards the small alcove where the newspapers were on display. As he sank into one of the three comfortable armchairs in the corner, he pulled off his gloves and shook his head, brushing the snowflakes from his hair. It was extremely cold out tonight, and the forecast was predicting even colder temperatures to come. Pleased to be free of the biting wind outside, Max let out a contented sigh and reached for the morning edition of the New York Times. He pulled it open, with the intention of catching up with the day’s news, but instead found himself discretely peeking over the top of the paper, his gaze directed towards the gorgeous woman on the other side of the room.
As he watched her, careful not to catch her attention, he thought back to the first time he’d laid eyes on her, about two months ago. He had been having an awful day; first, he’d lost a business deal that morning; then his sister Isabel had called him during his lunch hour to complain about the cold weather in Boston (even though it was only September) and then proceeded to chew him out about pretty much his entire solitary existence. By five o’clock, he’d been completely fed up and instead of buying his usual coffee and newspaper from the stand outside his office and taking the subway, he chose to simply walk aimlessly through the streets of Boston, his hands in his pockets.
As he’d walked, he’d used the time to get lost in his thoughts, to forget about the pressures and stresses of his job. In fact, he’d become so absorbed in thinking that he hadn’t realised how far into the suburbs he had walked, nor had he noticed that the weather had turned and the rain was steadily soaking through his suit jacket.
Therefore it was a surprise when he found himself standing outside a small, cosy-looking library housed in an old stone building. To this day, he still wasn’t sure what had made him push open the door and step inside, but the moment he laid eyes on the gorgeous creature inside, he knew it must have been the work of a higher power. He was almost embarrassed to admit it, but the sheer sight of her had been enough to stop him in his tracks, causing him to bump into a revolving display just next to the doorway. He remembered clearly how his face had grown hot when she’d turned her attention from whatever she’d been reading at the counter and her eyes locked briefly with his. For lack of anything else to do, he’d quickly averted his eyes and, spotting the journals and newspapers in a corner alcove, strode over to a comfortable chair and turned his attention the New York Times.
For the next thirty minutes, he’d pretended to be absorbed in the paper, yet all the while sneaking glances at the beautiful girl across the room. He’d found himself taken in by her almost contradicting appearance. On the one hand, she’d appeared every bit the studious, innocent librarian; she was dressed in a simple pale blue blouse and no nonsense knee-length skirt, her long, chestnut hair was pulled back in a neat ponytail at the nape of her neck and her make-up free face was slightly obscured by the rectangular, dark-rimmed glasses perched on her nose; but on the other hand, there had been something about her that made his heart beat that much faster and caused butterflies to flutter madly in his stomach. After several minutes of discretely watching her as she went about her business, he’d come to the conclusion that what was drawing him to her was not only those cute, almost trendy glasses (which he was fast becoming attached to), but the breath-taking, expressive, deep chocolate eyes hidden behind them.
After that night, he’d been hooked; he couldn’t get her out of his mind. He knew he probably shouldn’t be pining after her and he knew better than anyone how impossible it was to even consider pursuing her; yet still he found himself back at this very library week after week. It was stupid, he knew; God, he hadn’t even had the courage to ask her name – he’d only found out when a regular borrower had arrived one evening and started up a conversation with her (oh, and her voice – it was heavenly); but he couldn’t help it.
Eventually, after almost six weeks of simply sitting in the alcove, reading newspapers and watching her from afar, Max realised that he couldn’t take it much longer; he had to do something about this infatuation he had with her. With Elizabeth Parker. So, with the help of Michael, his closest friend and full on ‘get Max laid’ supporter, he’d come up with a plan that would surely give him the courage to approach her once and for all.
After weeks of planning and waiting for the right moment, the time was finally here. Tonight, Max would finally push all his fears and misgivings aside and go after the girl.
TBC…
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