Between the Lines

Chapter 11

The text she received from Harry while she was walking to the library made the infamous smile grow on her face. She couldn't seem to stop smiling, actually, because Harry's messages made her whole morning a little bit brighter. And to top it off, they had been talking for basically two days straight, and the thought alone made Sutton feel nervous, yet excited at the same time. 

After a seemingly short walk to work, Sutton quickly settled into her work space. She shared a desk with James, although in actuality he took up about 75% of it. To the right of their desk are shelves of books that are available to buy, and the rest are only for check out's. After she set down her things, Sutton started working. She roamed to the books that were accessible to purchase, and straightened them up. She put books back in place, she even started sweeping the corners of the large room that never seemed to be touched. She checked her phone time after time, responding to Harry when she received a text from him. After she ran out of things to do, she sat back down at her desk, and started copying the names of over due books into the system. She was half-way through the list when James approached her after shutting the entrance door quietly. 

"Hey Sut," he says quietly as he sets his things on his desk.

"Hey! You're a little early," Sutton observed, her eyes going back to the list of names. 

"Eh, Ellie had work early this morning and I was bored. Thought I mine as well come," he says with a smile. Sutton smiles and rolls her eyes at her boss. 

"So, any leads on those note-passing lovers?" Sutton asks curiously. The letters were all still in place, exactly how she had left them when she checked this morning. Sutton had a feeling they were old and unused as of today, but the idea of them still made her heart flutter. 

"Nope, nothing" James says. "I'm not sure we'll ever find who's secretly passing notes to each other unless we see them drop it off in the box." 

"Or if we see someone check it!" Sutton says.

"Yes, exactly. I told you, you're the first to know if I see anything." he says.

Sutton's phone goes off, distracting her from James, and she smirks as she reads Harry's cheeky response.

"What are you smiling at?" James asks with a glint of amusement in his eyes, and Sutton visibly blushes, making a weird face as James tilts his head.

She shrugs, and lets a slight laugh slip past her smiling lips as James rolls closer to her and leans forward. 

"Sutton..." he says, and she laughs again. 

After an argument which seemed to go on longer than necessary, Sutton finally explains the reasoning behind her happy mood. She explains her night with Harry to James, telling him some of the things her and Harry did. Honestly, Sutton didn't really have anyone else to tell, so she was seizing her opportunity while she could. 

"I can't believe that!" James said shaking his head. "How fun, two mates getting off." He laughed quietly. "Are you sure we are talking about the same Harry?" He joked, and Sutton rolled her eyes. 

Not a while after did Sutton's shift end, and after waving to Mrs. Welscher (a lovely old woman who came to the library almost every day), she began her walk home. And Harry continued to text her. Their conversation seemed to be never ending, every stopping point always leading to something else. And after countless hours of conversation, Sutton found herself getting in the shower. She was going to Harry's to watch movies, or drink wine, or do both. If she was being honest with herself, she was pathetically excited to see him again. 

Harry sat on his living room couch, his hands running vigorously through his hair, something he seemed to do routinely when he was stressed. His thoughts were jumbled, and he decided he needed to hear an outside voice. He was tired of being unsure, so, with hesitation he dialed James' number.