#tessafox

Although it was she who had spoken first, the man’s comment nearly startled her – as if she had doubted that he would acknowledge her present. “Sorry“, she said quietly but then smiled as she noticed that he was not annoyed. So far so… “Seriously? Are you well now?” And this ultimately put a stop to her plan to take advantage of him. It was a quick and sobering wake-up call that made her feel guilty that she had even considered attempting such a thing, especially to someone who had gone through something so serious. Tessa was about to apologize once more and walk away to deal with her guilt, though the man promptly offered to take her in – just as she wanted. “Are you sure?” Naturally, her alarm bells were going off. Was he playing the same trick on her, trying to lure her inside for things worse than the pouring rain? Who even was he? Yet the offer was tempting. More so, she would have looked suspicious if she simply declined and left. And so she found herself nodding. “I would very much like that, yes. Please”

“Oh, yeah, I’m fine now, it was mild,” Leib assured her as he waved his hand dismissively. He looked over at the girl again, she was definitely soaked, but that didn’t stop him from being a gentleman. “Here,” he slipped off the leather jacket he liked to wear and held it out for her to slip into. “It’s a three block walk, and I know you’re already pretty wet, but that doesn’t mean you want to get even wetter,” he said. When he realized he didn’t know who she was, he smiled at her. “I know it must be a little daunting to accept to go to a stranger’s house- my name’s Leib, you might have seen me around the library- I’m the librarian,” he explained before he started to zip up the jacket he’d gotten her into. When it was zipped up he sighed, clapped his hands together and then looked at her. “Ready for this?” he asked before he stepped out into the rain and started to walk. The New York native had long legs and a quick stride as he walked through the rain towards his house, clutching his bag of groceries to his chest like it was his firstborn son.