If you haven’t read January 31 yet, you can do so here.

If you stumbled onto this post by accident and haven’t read any of the other stories, head over to this post to find out more about this project.

With everything she’d been up to with Lalannah, it had been days since Ruby had a chance to get some uninterrupted writing done. She was way behind schedule. Tossing up between hiding in their room for the day and finding somewhere quiet to work, she ended up on deck one in the library. 

She’d just set up her laptop when Cleo came in. At least that’s what she thought the girl’s name was. For a moment, she hoped Cleo wouldn’t see her. When she knew she’d been spotted she plastered on the smile. 

“Hey, fancy seeing you here.” 

“I wanted to get some reading done while we’ve got a free day.” Cleo gestured at the book in her hand. Tolkien.

“Ah yeah, Tolkien isn’t really my thing.”

“No?”

Ruby shook her head. A couple of other women in the little library glared at them. 

Cleo didn’t notice.

“Should we go somewhere else? Stop disturbing these poor women.”

Cleo nodded. Ruby lamented the work she would miss out on. Her favorite chair, right by the window was empty. A rare occurrence. 

She followed Cleo all the way up to the cafe, lamenting her choice not to tell Cleo she had work to do. 

Truth was, Cleo was cute, and Ruby really had enjoyed chatting with her. However, the looming deadline had her feeling a bit stressed and panicky. When she left home, she’d been convinced she’d be able to travel while getting her writing done. Now she wasn’t so sure. 

As they finally reached the cafe, she’d made her decision. 

“Look, Cleo. I’m sorry to do this, but I really need to get some work done today. Is there any chance we could catch up a bit later? Maybe you’d like to grab dinner or something like that?”

“Oh yeah, sorry. Of course you have work to do. I should have thought of that. We can do dinner.”

“Thanks.”

Cleo surprised her by leaning in for a tight hug before heading into the cafe with her book. Without a second thought, Ruby dashed downstairs back to the library to find her favorite seat still free. Settling in with her laptop in front of her and her characters weaving stories in her brain, she finally felt at home. 

You can read February 2 here.

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