My feet felt heavy as I trekked to Professor Alvarez's office. The library was in the farthest part of campus, meaning that it would take me extra time to get there, especially after lunch when there was rush hour. The campus wasn't particularly cluttered after lunch since most students took the early morning classes, but that meant that there would be a rush to get through halls and to lockers, particularly with the law students.

Kathryn and I agreed to meet after my work was finished, mostly so she could gush about Lazareth Noir. Despite having a boyfriend, I didn't understand what made Kath so infatuated with him. I didn't bother to look up a picture of him but based on her descriptions, he sounds to be a young, handsome man in his twenties.

Or, I could just be making a wild assumption and he's an old, fifty-year-old guy with a goatee, I grumbled to myself, clutching my books closer to my chest. The hardcovers pressed through the loose fabric of my shirt and against my skin, grafting. I felt the small notebook I carried around with me slid against my chest, but I ignored it. If it fell, I would just pick it up. Or, hopefully, someone else would pick it up for me.

Unless chivalry is dead, I thought, snickering to myself.

As I reached the library, the hallway began to clear. There weren't many classes by Professor Alvarez's room, anyway. Nobody wanted to be within six feet of the cold professor, at least, nobody who didn't have classes with him.

"Hey, Walker!" Mike's nasal voice echoed in the hallway. Footsteps clicked in a rush behind me, and I swallowed a groan. I had hoped he would have gone to his day job already, but clearly, I was wrong. Either that, or he purposefully stayed behind to stalk me.

"What do you want, Michael?" I snapped, turning slowly on my heel to face his cold green gaze. Forget Professor Alvarez. Mike's eyes were ten times scarier when he was angry.

"Where are you going?" He asked, ignoring my brisk welcome. He leaned against the pillar beside my head. Brown, curly locks of hair brushed his haughty cheekbones, smirking with his lips.

I rolled my eyes. "Why do you care?"

"Because you're my friend, obviously!" He clutched his heart. "How cruel, Walker!"

"I don't see anything cruel about a question, Keating," I scoffed. "And why do you keep calling me by my last name? You know my name's Adrienne."

"I do, but I prefer to annoy you," Mike shrugged. "Your face scrunches up when you're annoyed. It makes you look cute."

I wrinkled my nose, taking a cautious step away from him. "Um...thanks, I guess? But seriously, Mike, what do you want?"

"Where are you going?" He repeated, shuffling his feet.

"I'm going to see Professor Alvarez quickly before I head to my job," I sighed, resisting the urge to roll my eyes at him. "Why? Where are you going?"

"Why are you going to see Old man Alvarez?" Mike sneered, ignoring my question again. "You got detention with him?"

"We aren't in middle school anymore, Mike," I growled. "No, he asked me to do him a favor--!

"Ooh. Are you fucking him for good grades?" Mike interjected, his eyes sparkling cruelly. "Damn, I never pegged you as that type of gal, Adri."

"No, I am not," I snapped, feeling a fire igniting in my chest. "It's a professional favor, Mike, and it's none of your business."

He raised his eyebrow, challenging. "Is it?" He purred. He stared at me for a few moments, then, in a rush of air, I felt the papers Kath and I spent all night working on being snatched from my hands.

"Hey!" I jumped up to grab them, but Mike was faster. He pushed me aside and I stumbled against the edge of a classroom window, just barely being able to collect myself.

"Give those back, Michael! They aren't yours," I demanded. A raw fire burned around my heart, climbing up my throat.

"What made you inspired to become an entrepreneur," Mike mumbled to himself, holding me firmly at arm's length. His blazing green eyes scanned the page, then met mine.

"Are you interviewing Lazareth Noir?" He asked.

I glared at him. "As a matter of fact, I am," I answered coldly.

"God damn." Mike threw the stapled packet of papers at me. "Fuck him while you two are alone in the cafe, 'kay? He's one hell of a catch."

"What is your problem?" I asked sharply, shoving the packet into my books. I strode closer to him. He smelled like alcohol. "Why do you always antagonize me? Why can't you leave me alone?"

"Geez, Adri, what's with all the questions?" Mike sneered. He leveled my glare back at me, and suddenly, he seemed more frightening.

"J-Just answer them," I ordered, my chest heaving.

Mike scowled. "I would think you would know why I'm not leaving you alone," He spat. "But then again, it still amazes me as to how you got into GreyHorn Uni--what with that insect-sized brain of yours."

I gaped at him. "Insect sized brain? Excuse me?"

He smirked. "You heard me, Adrienne. You may be the superstar girl of campus and Professor Hayne's favorite doggy, but you'll always be the same, bitchy whore you and I both know you are--!"

"Ahem." Professor Alvarez's sharp cough brought both Mike and my eyes towards him. His cold grey orbs icily glowered at Mike. "Is there a problem here, Mr. Keating?"

Mike's jaw clenched. "Of course not, Prof!" He smiled. "I was just catching up with my best friend."

His words were like venom spewing from his lips. His arm around my hip was tight, as though he was trying to squeeze the life out of me.

"Shoo." Professor Alvarez waved his hand. "Catch up with your best friend in your free time, Michael. I'm sure Miss. Walker already told you, but we both have some important matters to work into."

"But--!"

"Leave." Professor Alvarez's voice held no room for debate. He glared at Michael, who hastily pulled away from me and scampered down the hallway. I smirked to myself. Mike may pretend to be a big-shot, but even he couldn't stand up to the wrath of Professor Alvarez.

"Miss. Walker," he nodded towards me, leading me into his office. "I presume you and Miss. Kathryn, had a ball brainstorming questions for Mr. Noir?"

I flushed, fumbling for the packet. "Uhm, yes, sir. We came up with a few." I handed him the packet, bending my head.

He took it from me, grunting every now and then. I didn't look up to see his reaction. I wasn't even sure if I wanted to. Criticism given to me was poorly handled by my anxious brain.

"This is all very good," he murmured, handing the papers back to me. His cold grey eyes assessed me, thawing ever so slightly. Professor Alvarez, with warm grey eyes and a silly black mustache and vampire pale skin.

"Is there anything that needs to be changed?"

"No. Just pick five that you feel you will be most comfortable asking Mr. Noir tomorrow," he requested. "You may leave if you have no further questions."

"Yes, sir."

I practically bolted out of the room, the papers flurrying around me. I needed to get to work. Picking five questions could wait. All I had to do was pick the simplest ones, after all. That would make my life and Mr. Noir's life much easier. After all, why would he want to stay in the same room with a measly college student for longer than an hour?

My phone pinged with a text from Kathryn. She was already at her job as a personal trainer. I suppose that explained why she was so fit and I was as soft as a dumpling.

I like my softness, though, I giggled. Most girls my age were insecure about their plump bodies. Why should they be? It was their body, and they only get one life. Live it the best you can. My mother always told me never to pay heed to what others thought about me, and I took her words to heart...except when it came to my writing.

Enough with the TED-talks already, Adrienne, I scolded myself. My phone buzzed once again, vibrating in my pocket. I paused at a crosswalk to read the text.

KATH: What did Alvarez say?

I smiled. Once a reporter, always a reporter. I put my books in my bag to text her back.

ME: He said I'd have to pick 5 questions to ask Noir tomorrow. Which ones do u think I should pick?

KATH: The JUICY ones

ME: Kath!!!

KATH: Kidding, kidding. Ask easy questions. The ones people want to know answers to.

The easy questions? I scoffed. Well, that would certainly make my work much easier. But would it really be worth the time to ask him boring questions that everyone else wants to know answers to? I mean, I'm sure he'd be bored with the regular, "How did you become so successful?" And won't people be bothered with the "pity story?" If he even had one.

I ran my eyes over the list again. It wouldn't hurt to ask the core questions, but maybe some funny ones too? I had never interviewed anyone before, and certainly not someone as popular as Lazareth Noir, despite the fact that I had never heard of him before.

He's probably big to anyone who works in business, I thought. I slipped into one of the outdoor campus bathrooms to change into my work uniform. Recently the library in my town had adopted a rather...strict uniform ever since one of the employees was caught having sex with a visitor.

The blouse with a small book logo was a snow-white color. It went well with my light jeans. Kathryn despised jeans. She was just like Vincent. He didn't like wearing jeans either. Gryffin didn't mind jeans, though, so at least I had someone to model with.

I ran down 6th avenue towards the towering library. Another strict rule was that we had to be on time. Thankfully, it was something my step-dad had accustomed me very well to, especially when it was to run alcohol refills for him.

"Adrienne! At least someone is on time!" Madame Doniya rushed to greet me before I was able to even get my ID out. "All of these other imbeciles don't understand that romance needs to be restocked! I've already ordered them too!"

I raised both of my eyebrows, looking from Madame Doniya's pleading blue eyes to my co-workers, Oliver and Laurel. They both looked away, shuffling towards the Agatha Christie shelf.

I sighed. "I'll shelve the books. I don't think I had anything else on my agenda today anyway, apart from marking DVDs."

Immediately, a smile popped onto Madame Doniya's thin lips. Her hard arms wrapped me in a rich jasmine hug. "Thank you! Thank you so much, darling!"

She led me quickly towards the rack where the glimmering, sharp spined books sat, twirling away to go read over the shoulders of college students using the library computers to satisfy their sinful pleasures.

"Thanks a lot, Madame," I grumbled, dropping my backpack beside Laurel and Oliver's before setting about my task to put the call numbers onto the spines of the books. Then, I looked for books similar in alphabetical order and shelved the newer versions.

So focused was I on the tedious task that I didn't even recognize where I was going, or where I was putting my feet. As I shelved Dark Lover, I felt a silky back bump into mine.

"Oh! I'm so sorry!" I apologized immediately. I placed the book I was holding hastily onto the rusty cart to face the man.

He was very young and very handsome. He looked around a year or two older than I was. His hair was a dark blonde color and quite bushy. His eyes reminded me of a lion. They were black. Pitch black. I wasn't even sure if I was looking into his pupils or his orbs!

He also looked rich, based on the Gucci suit he was wearing. He had an Alpha watch and one of the Apple phones. I wasn't sure which one.

Smiling, the man knocked his head to the side, cute dimples popping on his cheeks. "Don't apologize. I should have looked where I was going."

His voice was slightly hard but he didn't sound aggravated. He sounded like a lion--king of the animals.

"I'm also partially to blame. I should have watched where I was going too," I shrugged. "Do you need help looking for anything...?"

"Uh, Laz," the man supplied. "That's my name. And, no, I was just...browsing, I suppose you could say. It has been a while since I journeyed around a public library."

"Oh...um...okay." I wasn't sure exactly what to say. What person has never been to a public library? I guess unless you're a rich person, which Laz definitely looked like. At least he didn't have slicked-back hair.

"Actually, do you know where the romance books are?" He asked, rubbing the back of his neck. "I have been...quite lost for some time."

I beamed. "You're actually in the romance aisle. Most of the books here are old literature if you're interested in sweet candy romances. If you're looking for the spicy ones, those would be further down, closer to the teen's section."

"Odd place to put inappropriate romance books by that age group," he mused, starting to walk towards the bookshelf.

For whatever reason, I followed him, discarding my work to see to his personal needs. "Well, that would be my boss's doing. She thought it would benefit the caretakers who bring children here, although I can see your point."

Laz laughed. It sounded like a trumpet. Loud and proud.

"I am seldom wrong, Miss..." he squinted his eyes at my nametag. "Walker."

"Oh, just Adrienne is fine," I waved. "Miss. Walker makes me sound old. Only my teachers really call me that."

"Teachers?" Laz fingered a thin-spined book. "Are you a college student?"

"University, actually," I corrected impulsively. I blushed. "I go to GreyHorn Uni. It's just a couple of blocks down."

"Ah, it is a very good school," he murmured. His gaze dropped to mine, and once again, I felt as though a lion were stalking me through the thin, yellow blades of the savannah. Watching. Waiting.

"Adrienne!" Madame Doniya spoiled the mood, shouting my name from across the children's play area. "Stop dawdling and get back to work, girl!"

"Y-Yes, Madame Doniya!" I hissed back. "I'm so sorry about tha--!"

The man...or Laz, I guess, was already gone, taking the thin book and my many questions with him.