Rows and rows of old musty shelves stood in solemn silence. Shadowed in the dreary public library, far from the high ceiling windows in the far wall, books grew in age and wisdom. The big heavy doors to the building were kept shut to keep the warm air inside, a nasty cold front forcing their closure after the bitter chill settled in over the past week. But that still didn't stop an icy frigidness from coming through the exposed glass and cracks between the doors. Tables and chairs littered the only open space in the great hall, frequently used in the summer for last minute exam studies and all-nighter research sessions.

Sabrina tried her best to stay toasty warm while she worked behind the front desk. Working there for three years, this made it her second rodeo with the frigid winter in the Library. Learning from her past experiences, Sabrina both mentally and physically prepared herself. She would rub her hands and have the heater on. She would wear a beanie and a turtleneck, and some heavy winter pants, a cup of tea would always be on tap, fingerless mitts for turning pages of books, and fluffy headphones to play some soft tunes.

Looking at her surroundings, she could quickly judge it would be a slow day; a slow day for the library and a slow day for everyone. Sabrina didn't mind the chill atmosphere, it kept her on her toes while at the same time letting her relax from work.

Barely anyone turned up at the Library on days like this, so the hall should have been a quiet and peaceful place to chill and do nothing.

...

Except there was that infernal pen tapping coming from the far corner of the room.

There was only one visitor to the library and he was really ruining the mood here. Granted, the beat of the tapping was slow enough to fit a tasteful melody, but the hot knife to her butter of silence was the uninterrupted stream of clicks and clacks from that one single odious pen. Sabrina could handle noise, but only when it was background noise. Not when everything is silent except for the one thing.

It really broke the environment's natural order and many unspoken rules. It was a library after all, 'quiet' was practically in the name. Attempting to rid herself of this annoyance, Sabrina tried to catch the visitor's attention multiple times to tell him to stop. However, he seemed too preoccupied with reading a large History Book resting on the table.

It took a little courage, but after five minutes of desperate endeavors to catch his attention (everything short of throwing something at him), Sabrina was going to do something about him.

Walking over to the far corner of the room, she took her stand against the tapping. Approaching the man with the ridiculous orange cap and the obnoxious looking, rage-inducing, fist-clenching, smug grin she wanted to punch plastered over his face, she quietly placed her hands down on the table. Sabrina leaned in and glared harshly at the man tapping away at the pen, quiet and deadly determination fuming from her fluffy earmuffs.

"Stop." She ordered him. "Now."

Nino Lahiffe turned his head and studied the peculiar woman. "Sorry, what do you mean?"

Sabrina could feel her fingers clench around into fists. He seriously had the audacity to insult her like this? How dare he?

Nino looked down at his pen and then back to Sabrina, immediately standing up and removing his orange cap, "Oh! My apologies, M'me. I didn't realize the noise was disturbing anyone." Sabrina felt a little better by his reaction. "I'll stop, post-haste," he said while gripping his hat. "Please don't kick me out in the cold. I have nowhere else to go..."

Sabrina's irritated itch suddenly dropped away once he apologized. She allowed herself a chuckle and an amused shake of the head. "Nobody's going to throw you out in the cold. Just keep the noise down or I might consider it," she said with a devilish grin.

When Sabrina finally had a good look at him, she could see the fellow wasn't all that bad. He appeared to be in his mid-thirties, so roughly around her age. The stubble that shadowed his chin was trimmed and maintained, complimenting his caramel brown cheeks and face. Alongside that stupid grin of his, he had this sense of childish adulthood. It almost felt if he was the owner of a big corporate business that built their entire empire off this one man, and now he doesn't need to work a day in his life. He would spend his days aimlessly finding activities to kill the time, like rock climbing, or improvisational jazz lessons, or going to a random public library in the dead of winter...

Sabrina gave him a sideways look. Maybe...

"What you doing here anyway?" she looked around, "Not too many people come here in the middle of winter, let alone when it's snowing outside."

"Shoot, it's snowing outside?"

"Yep," Sabrina said raising her hand to her hip. "You're going to be stuck here for a little while. What's your name?"

"Nino, Nino Lahiffe," he gladly told her with a bright smile. He held out a hand, "Pleasure to make your acquaintance, Miss..."

"Sabrina," the ginger replied as she placed her hand in his, "last names aren't important unless you're someone famous."

"Ahh, nonsense," he quipped alongside a short laugh, "everyone's important to me, I would love to know your last name."

"Well, then," a small blush gave way and allowed her name to come out, "my name is Sabrina Raincomprix."

"Well, then," he said with a soft smile, "Miss Sabrina Raincomprix, would you care to join me? I have historical figures to mock."

What?

"What?" Sabrina spoke with confusion, the sentence he said not fully registering in her mind.

"I find historical figures to mock and scorn for their countless mistakes," he explained. Nino turned back to the table and sat back down, pulling the cap down over his head at the same time. "It a very humbling experience for humanity to reread their mistakes. It sounds boring at first; studying history. But I've found it to be rather enjoyable and easier over time, to find the mistakes either cost a ruler their Empire, or cost them their lives. Trust me, it gets better the longer you play."

"Well," Sabrina said as she glanced around the empty building, "I think I have at least fifteen minutes to play one round. As you can see, I'm flat out on my feet here with all this foot traffic."

"You say that now," Nino chuckled, "but I bet you're going to play a minimum of three rounds."

Sabrina raised an eyebrow, "Oh, Mr Presumptions, I see."

Nino chuckled as he emphasized the correction, "The name is Nino Lahiffe, thank you very much. I'm rather proud of that name, for your information."

"I never asked for that information, Mr Presumptuous. Wow, two for two, your doing well."

He glanced up and down Sabrina, gauging something in his mind. He leaned forward onto the desk, rubbing his chin as he thought aloud, "You don't go outside often, do you, Miss Raincomprix?"

Sabrina shook her head. "No... I'm pretty much a shut in... I just like to sit around the library and enjoy the peace and quiet." Nino sat back in his chair, a little bewildered he finally met some who has been living under a rock. "And don't call me 'Miss Raincomprix'," Sabrina continued with a jab at his shoulder, "it just sounds yuck and formal. I told you, last names are for famous people and royalty."

"And so you've never heard the name 'Nino Lahiffe' before?" he said probing a little further with his curiosity. "Doesn't ring a bell? At all?"

She merely shook her head.

Nino stared at her, nodding his head with approval, "I think, Sabrina, that you and I may get along just fine."

"That's the third time you've presumed."

He laughed and pulled back a chair next to him, "It will only keep happening if I don't know more about you."

"You're flirting with me?" she said as he raised an eyebrow.

He displayed his hands as if he was saying maybe, "Rather presumptuous to assume that," He said with a smug grin, "but yes... I was."

"Well, Nino," Sabrina said, sliding into the chair he so graciously pulled back for her, "I think that you and I may get along just fine."