Lady March - (L.L.)

Chapter 09

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NOVEL-ty Adventures

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A little alone time never hurt anybody, Annie thought as she took a seat in the empty living room with her notebook and pen in hand.

The other girls of the house were busy with their own errands, up and about around the other rooms. Beth, for example, had gone to the library across town to purchase a few musical instrument books. Meg was out with Marmee to the marketplace for a bit, and Amy was busy at her tutor's house. That all but left Jo at home with Annie, assumingly busy writing the next big screenplay.

Or that's how Jo liked her work to be addressed, at least. In the few weeks that Annie had been visiting so far, Jo had directed two theatre plays in front of her. Using her sisters as main actors and Laurie as a close second.

Speaking of Laurie, Annie just happened to realize that she hadn't seen the curly-haired boy in quite a few days. He was a Laurence so it made sense that he was busy from time to time, but it was kind of upsetting that she didn't see him in almost a week. Especially considering the fact that he lived right next door.

She shrugged her shoulders, settling for a cup of tea and began to write on a piece of parchment, a letter to her father, Edgar. He was a hard-working man and maybe that was the reason he had to so suddenly send her to stay at the March household. Though his work-life took a great deal of his day, he never failed to make time for his daughter. After his unfortunately deceased wife, his most valuable piece of family was his one and only child, Annie.

Dear Father,

I do hope you are well. My time at the March household has been going amazingly, and you know I couldn't lie even if my life depended on it...I miss you immensely.

"Fancy seeing you here," she put down her pen and smiled at Laurie, who was leaning against the doorway with an amused twinkle in his eyes.

"As do I, kind sir."

She decided to play along to whatever childlike antic he had put up. Much to her surprise, he just laughed in return. It was lively, something she felt like she could get used to hearing every now and then.

"I want to show you something," he said once his laughter died down a little. "Care to join me outside for a moment?"

She just nodded and stood up from her seat, following close behind as he led her out the door towards his planned destination - which in this case was his home. She was about to question him before he opened up the gates and allowed her inside his extremely fancy abode.

"This is a beautiful place, Laurie," she mustered out, making the boy teasingly smile at her.

"Not what I had in mind, actually," he then led her towards a closed-off area that was surrounded by glass. He opened the door and much to his delight, Annie couldn't stop staring at the place.

It wasn't just a library, it was too ordinary to be classified as just one. There were tons of large wooden bookshelves surrounding the area from all sides. It had -- what seemed to be comfortable -- seating in different corners. The glass outwear just added to the beauty of the area, it almost felt like a safe haven.

For book lovers.

She was at a loss for words, to say the least. It was so vast and open, far from anything she'd ever seen before in the seventeen years of her existence.

He tapped on the wood of one of the bookshelves as if trying to recapture her attention. When she dozed out of her fantasy was when he realized his attempts were successful.

"So, what do you think?"

"It's like nothing I've ever seen before. It's absolutely beautiful, Theo."

He snickered as if he had accomplished something. Though Laurie wasn't one for bragging usually, if at all, he found the sudden urge to show off in front of Annie. To hopefully have her look at him appreciatively.

She glanced at him, the awestruck glimmer still visible in her eyes. "I didn't know you read."

"Well," he mused and practically skipped towards another shelf, a tad closer to where she was standing. "Seems as though there's a lot you don't know about me, Anne."

"I suppose so."

She nodded her head and sent a grin his way. She glided her hand across one of the bookshelves before pausing and carefully taking one out. The cover of the novel read Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë.

"You know, you can come here anytime you want," he leaned closer her way.

Her eyes instantly lit up, making Laurie smile again. However, the twinkle quickly vanished as she shook her head.

"It wouldn't be right," Annie said. "It's not very nice to barge into someone else's home so suddenly."

"It's alright though, I did that at your house earlier today!"

She gave him a knowing look. "-That's because it's you, Theo."

He furrowed his brows in confusion. "And what's that supposed to mean?"

"It's because you're-well, family. And I'm just-"

Laurie looked taken aback for a second before he too shook his head at Annie's unreasonableness. "You're also part of the Laurence family, Anne!" He seemed to notice his odd choice of words and quickly added in, "I mean-as much family as the other March girls are." Still though, he couldn't stop his cheeks from turning bright red.

Just when she opened up her mouth to say something, a harsh clearing of the throat sent both of them to look towards the door. An old, yet wise-looking man was standing by the door, looking at both Annie and Laurie inventively.

Annie guessed the man was probably Mr. Laurence.

"Err...this is my grandfather," Laurie added, "Mr. Laurence."

The man trotted closer to the two teenagers and led out his hand for Annie to shake. She took the man's hand and shook it with a slight smile. "It's very nice to meet you, Mr. Laurence. My name is Annie, I live with the March household."

The man's smile grew wider, causing Laurie to let out a breath of relief. "The pleasure is all mine," he then gave his grandson a knowing look before drifting back to the girl. "Ah, I've heard a lot about you."

Annie glanced at Laurie briefly, but she couldn't help the tips of her ears turning pink. "All good things, I hope," she grinned.

Mr. Laurence laughed and nodded in contempt. "I must be well on my way but," he said, heading towards the door. "But would you like to stay for dinner? We're having roast chicken tonight. I'm sure Laurie would love it, wouldn't you?"

He directed his gaze at Laurie who basically looked like a tomato by now. Before he could reply, however, Mr. Laurence walked out the door assuming that Annie had agreed to dinner.

"He seems really nice," Annie started as soon as it was just the two of them left in the room.

"And he likes to embarrass me..."

"Don't be, it's cute to see you flustered up like that," she sent a wink his way, only arousing his cheeks to go even darker than before.

He followed after her to the dining room, seemingly finished with their small adventure to the library. He only wished that dinner would go by without any more reasons to go flushed again.