Chapter 3

The pause probably lasted about a minute but Catherine thought it lasted eternity. Finally, the other woman broke the silence. "Probably you did not expect to see another person here at this hour" she grinned cunningly. This caught Catherine off guard. At first, she thought it was her imagination. The look on the other woman's face persuaded her that it is not. She heard her own stammering: "Yes, you are right. It is just… This is not the first time I stay so late in the library and I always leave it last. I'm sorry if I made you feel uncomfortable". The other woman flashed her a weird smile and said, "It is OK, and it did not bother me at all. Just FYI". Catherine responded with a smile and looked down at her paper.

While looking through her notes Catherine could not feel easy since she felt someone glancing at her. She rushed to finish her reading and taking necessary notes. Then she stood up, put on her trench coat and went towards the doors taking her papers and bag before she left. She was glad that she left since she did not feel comfortable in the library. This was the first time she felt so uneasy. Before this evening, she never saw anyone who would stay so late but it was not just it. The woman in the library was strange and unreal. Either she was figment of her imagination or she was someone unpleasant.

Once she was outside of the library building, she stopped, raised her head up a little bit, and exhaled. She wished to be back at home as soon as possible and have a hot bath. Suddenly the sound of door opening made her come to herself. She felt someone walking from behind and stand next to her on the right. Catherine turned her head to the right and saw the woman in the library.

Before Catherine could do or say anything, the woman said, "I like New York evenings. They are so magnificent. Evenings in this city are not indicator of the end of a day". Catherine noticed a little bit of accent in her talking and immediately responded by asking, "So you are not from New York?" "No, I am not," said the other woman. Then she pulled a cigarette pack from her pocket. She wanted to pull a cigarette from the pack but stopped right away. She looked at Catherine and passed the pack to her but Catherine rejected:

- Thanks but I do not smoke.

- So do I. This is something I use from time to time as a tool for relaxing.

- Quite unhealthy tool it is. I always thought people who do not smoke regularly but carry a pack of cigarettes with themselves try hard to look cool.

Catherine flashed a smile at her with intention to put her in her place and finalize the conversation. However, the young woman did not seem offended at all and responded immediately.

- Cigarette and being cool? Well, I never saw a correlation there but believe me; I have passed the phase of trying to look cool long ago.

- Aren't you a student?

- Yes, I am. I am studying for a PhD… but not at this university.

- Then which one?

- Columbia University.

- Oh, that sounds great. Then what are you doing here?

- I work as a part-time instructor at NYU. In the department of Sociology. Therefore, I come here from time to time to work on the reading list for the courses I teach.

She caught Catherine off guard. It was the second time during the evening. Catherine looked at her once more. She was young and tall but shorter than Catherine was for an inch or two. She did not look like a professor but more like a TA. The woman took a cigarette from the pack and lit it.

- Pardon me; it is hard to believe. You are so young.

- I get that a lot. By the way, I'm Alexandra Slonim.

She smiled and held out her hand. Catherine introduced herself while shaking hands with her.

- Nice to meet you Professor Stark. Right?

- Yes. I teach at the department of Psychology.

- Nice… I love Psychology. I minored in Psychology when I studied for BA in Sociology and used the knowledge of those approaches for my own researches.

- Great to hear that a Sociologist finds Psychology useful. You guys always undermine its importance.

Catherine smiled at her. The conversation was getting interesting but it was almost 12 a.m.

- It was nice to meet you, Professor Slonim. It is getting late and I should go home before my dog gets worried.

- Pleasure was mine. I should also rush home; it has been a long day. However, the next time you see me please call me Alexandra.

- How do you know if we are going to meet again? We are in different departments. Probability of us meeting again is quite low.

- Believe me. We will definitely meet again. Good night, Professor Stark. Greetings to your dog.

She turned away and moved towards a parked motorcycle. Catherine moved towards her car and when she was inside of the car, she saw in the rare mirror Alexandra sitting on motorcycle and putting on a helmet. She laughed and said to herself, "And she does not try looking cool." While turning the engine on, she thought she already came across the name Slonim but she did not remember where.