14. An Unexpected Meeting

Well the libraries had most of what I needed, I chose to go check out this massive bookstore downtown. Seriously, this place had like five stories. The history and philosophy sections were on the fourth floor, along with the life and sports sections. Who was the one who made that decision?

Anthony had some more estate stuff to do today, and all my siblings were doing their own things, so I thought I might take the opportunity just to enjoy myself before diving into my research back home. And by "enjoy myself" I mean get some more books. What can I say? Once a student, always a student. Plus I once told an English grad school back in undergrad that I thought I had too many books. He laughed and said "all the best book collectors always have more books than they'll ever read". I don't think I have enough books to be qualified as a "collector" yet, but I have the sneaking suspicion he's right.

Walking around, I perused the English and history sections first, winding up in philosophy last. I had a copy of Plato's dialogues and Peter Pan with me. The dialogues were for research; the J. M. Barrie novel was for fun. Now in the philosophy part of the store, I was looking for more entertaining material to read. And yes, I know Plato's dialogues technically are philosophy, but I wanted something more…. Eastern let's say. I've always found Eastern mythology and religion to be fascinating. It's my goal to read the Mahabharata and the Journey To The West one day. That's one day- definitely not today. If you know how long these texts are, you'll understand my reasoning, especially with a Masters dissertation to finish. And yes! I know I've inconsistently read the mammoth works of War And Peace, Anna Karenina, and The Brothers Karamazov- let's move along!

What I was particularly interested in today was something to do with Taoism. I adore the Taoist concept of Yin and Yang cause frankly, it makes perfect sense to me. That's the complex spiritual symbolism and meaning; not the pop culture definition you might see on Twitter. All of this is to say that I was at the Asian part of the shelf. I reached down for a copy of the Art of War, only to slice the tip of my finger on its razor-sharp cardboard cover edge. Immediately I yanked my finger back and began sucking on the now-bleeding wound so not to stain any of the books. I don't believe in signs but I took that as an omen to find something else. Again, I know that's a contradictory sentence. I just cut my finger- give me some slack.

Instead, my attention turned upward to the religious texts- or at least philosophical, depending who you ask. Beside a copy of the Tao Te Ching- great book, I read it once every year- was another book I make sure to read annually. Though my copy was currently in Brussels. Taking my finger out of my mouth, I stretched up my other, non-injured hand to try and reach the Tao of Pooh. Unfortunately I'm not the tallest person in the world and the shelf it was on was too high. Why would they put books on unseemly high shelves? What if short people, like me, want to read them? This store really could use a layout makeover.

But, as luck would have it, I didn't need to be tall enough. In what I can only describe as a real life meet-cute, another hand rose up, plucking the exact book I was reaching for off the shelf. I blinked alarmed and surprised beside me, only to see…. Simon? Simon?! My jaw dropped.

The duke, who was much more composed than I, simply smiled, glanced down at the text in his hands, then back up at me. "Was this the one you want?" He asked with such casualness. I couldn't stop staring completely dumbfounded at him. "S-Simon! W-What are you… doing here?!" "I've come to pick up a few things," he showed me the book he'd had under his arm. My eyes grew wider, if that were possible. "Boxing?" "Mmhmm, I'm a boxer," he nodded. "Oh… Oh! You're doing research!" My fingers snapped in realization. He laughed. "Well, I'd hesitate to call it research. Just perusing, seeing if I might come across something useful," he said before holding the Tao of Pooh out for me to take. I held up my forefinger in that "wait a minute" pose.

"Wait, I have to take care of this first." Simon watched curiously as I took off and set my backpack down. I shuffled through its contents in the front pocket until I found a fresh bandage. He quickly figured out what was going on once I revealed my still bleeding finger. "Ah, you cut yourself, clumsy," he noted, kneeling down beside me on the floor. "Yeah, on one of the covers," I explained while struggling to unwrap the bandaid with one hand. Shaking his head a tiny bit, I blinked startled when he took the unopened bandage from me. "Here, let me," he opened it, holding the sticky part out for me. Simon! My heart skipped a beat. I placed my injured finger onto it, where he proceeded to wrap the whole thing around my finger's base. All the while he was careful not to let our hands touch- an act I much appreciated. I was already blushing so hard, I don't know what I'd do if we held hands again. We shouldn't do that anymore; it makes my heart beat too loud.

He'll hear it.

Simon dropped his arms at his sides and grinned at me. I, of course, smiled back at him, unaware just how red my cheek were sizzling. "T-Thank you." "No trouble," we both straightened back up in unison. The duke picked up my book and inspected it this time. His grin only grew while reading the title. "The Tao of Pooh? Doesn't sound like Medieval history." "Not everything I read is about history. I have many interests, your grace. Eastern philosophy- or any philosophy- happens to be one of them." "Obviously," he held it out for me again; I took it with my newly bandaged hand. Simon's eyes then scanned over the whole shelf in a sort of amused, detached way. I watched him, curious as to what he would say next.

"I simply don't understand how all of this doesn't put you to sleep. History's boring enough, but philosophy…." "Oh, but it's not! And hey! History's most certainly not boring," I frowned- playfully, of course. He responded to this frown with his signature side-mouth smirk. "I've never read a history book which hasn't put me to sleep." "Textbooks don't count," was my witty reply. He shook his head. "Well, nothing compares to philosophy. Endless prose of complicated, dull, impractical theories. It's a wonder anyone reads that material at all." Sensing a chance to be bratty again, I decided to run with it and play along. I even nodded my head for emphasis. "Mmmmmm, you're probably right. Lots of this stuff is complicated; I bet most people wouldn't understand what it's talking about. I mean, I understand, which explains why I think it's so fascinating, but I can't blame you if you don't find it interesting."

Oh, you should have seen the look Simon gave me just then. It took everything I had not to smile like a total idiot. His shouldered shifted more in my direction in a posturing manner. "Are you implying I'm too unintelligent to understand the dialogue of these books?" "Oh, no! No, I would never… say that. But there's no shame in being confused. I had to re-read Descartes Meditations three times to grasp what he was talking about." Simon's eyes narrowed onto me. My face muscles hurt so much, I was suppressing them that hard. "Listen here, Miss Bridgerton. I'll have you know that I am fully capable of understanding the content behind each one of these books." "I know." "Don't forget, I graduated from Oxford- the top-ranking university in the world." "I know you did," oh god, this was fun. "So if anyone can understand the dribble these texts are spewing, it is I." "Of course you can," too much fun. "It is not a matter of my lack of understanding, as you seemed to be so confused about. It is rather, I find these theories simply boring and banal," he declared with finality. I had to bite my tongue to keep myself from laughing, this was way too much fun. "Well then, a hundred pages on a banal theory. Makes sense," I did have to cover my mouth with my hand at that one; it was too cheeky, even for me. Simon appeared both impressed and frustrated at this. Still, to save face he forced himself to relax his posture and smirk again.

"Ok, Daphne. If you're so smart, prove me wrong. Find a theory that isn't banal and obvious, though I think it unfair to assign you such a daunting task," he added under his breath sassily. I shook my head, still grinning ear to ear. "For someone who went to Oxford, I'm very disappointed in your lack of philosophical awareness. What'd they teach you there? Latin and nothing else? I should have thought university to be an expanding experience, but since that doesn't seem to be the case, I'll take you up on your challenge." Simon's eyebrow raised and I held up my copy of the Tao of Pooh. He patiently waited for me to continue; anxious to see where I was going with this, I think. I beamed like the sun, awaiting to shine onto him. "Let me read to you from this and see if I can change your mind." "That? Really?" He didn't sound impressed at all. But I merely nodded my head up and down. "Give it a chance. It definitely changed my way of thinking, and if it doesn't do anything for you, I'll admit defeat and accept that it's all banal."

Taking me on, we found two cushion chairs in the corner surrounded by a panel of windows. It was raining outside but the little patter of rain droplets against the glass sounded nice. We sat down, getting all nice and comfy. I pulled out my pink water bottle cannister, took a few gulps, then opened the book to page one. I cleared my throat as Simon continued to eye me sceptical. "Chapter One: The How of Pooh. "You see, Pooh" I said, "a lot of people don't seem to know what Taoism is….." "Yes?" said Pooh, blinking his eyes. "So that's what this chapter is for- to explain things a bit."

What should have been a brief reading turned into much, much more. In the beginning my voice was haughty and arrogant. But by the time I had reached chapter four, it had morphed back into its soft, gentle tone. I learned two things during that hour we spent together in those two chairs in that bookstore. One, that Simon had likely never read an actual philosophy book in his life; and two, it's incredible how one can become so emersed into something…. Something which you originally thought would take no time at all.

For Simon's part, he underwent a sort of transformation as I read out loud to him. He went from sitting there, acting bemused and uninterested, to passively paying attention, to actively paying attention, to sitting there in a pure state of contemplation. How do I know this? Cause from time to time I'd glance up from the pages, so to give my eyes a rest and see what he was up to, only to find Simon staring out the window with his mouth resting in the palm of his hand. The sight almost took my breath away; it was that profound and impactful.

He wasn't bored or ignoring me- far from it. I could tell by the way his eyes stared off into the distance that the duke was deep in thought. And not in a bad way either. It was like he was hearing all of this for the first time and it was honestly a little overwhelming. That's partly on him for thinking that philosophy was banal in the first place. But I suspect it was more of like being in a state of awe than confusion or disillusionment. The way his chin planted so perfectly in his hand; the way the rain glinted in the reflection of his eyes; the way he so relaxed sat back in the chair; his legs, his feet; even the flash in his throat as he breathed. They were all my spies, and they told me he was undergoing an inner metamorphosis. I'd never seen anything like it before, and it honestly made me want to cry. But I carried on, reading until I would lose my voice and have to have a drink of water.

I didn't have a clue how long we'd been sitting there like that for, but that unknowing was rectified when a security guard suddenly approached us. "Miss? Excuse me, Miss?" It was being thrust out of a totally different plane of consciousness and crash-landing back into this one. And I wasn't the only one who felt that way. Both Simon and I flinched like we forgot we weren't the only two people in the store. The nice security guard seemed surprised by this but was adamant. "Sorry, Miss, but you're going to have to leave. The store's closing." "It is?!" My eyes grew in utter shock. A quick check of the time on my phone confirmed it- it was six o'clock. "Oh my god… We've been reading for over an hour!" I gasped, floored. Simon's expression was equally as flabbergasted as mine.

The security guard escorted us to the front counter where we paid for our books. Then we exited the shop, being the last patrons to do so. It had stopped raining by then; the skies clearing up. For a second, neither of us said or did anything, just standing outside the front door staring off into space. My mouth was first to open. "How'd….?" "I don't know," Simon replied, not looking at me right away. Eventually though we glanced at each other.

I blushed a bit, not really sure how to feel or even what to think just then. "W-Well! That was a nice afternoon; sure went by fast!" God, I sounded off-kilter. If Simon caught this, he was polite enough not to bring it up. "I can't believe we were in there for over an hour…." He exclaimed, more to himself than me, I think. But I still nodded in agreement. "I know. It just… sorta happened," which is weird cause nothing like that has ever happened to be before. Sensing my shyness over the whole situation, Simon's casual grin returned, if not somewhat forced for my sake.

"Oh, that reminds me. I owe you an apology." "An apology?" I blinked over to him surprised. His eyes lowered onto me. "That was anything but banal," his voice was tender just then. It took a moment for this to sink in for me, but when it did, I met him with a glorious smile. He enjoyed it; he really enjoyed it. That felt better than being right. That made me happier than anything could have this afternoon. "Good, I'm glad," was my sweet, soft reply. We smiled at one another yet again; we seemed to do that a lot recently.

"Which reminds me! Thank you for the flowers. We all loved them; mine were so beautiful. They're still blooming in my room." "You keep them in your room?" He sounded surprised by this. I blinked puzzled. "Yes? W-Why not?" "Oh, no… No! It's nothing like that! I just… I'm so happy you like them. Your sister did say roses were your favourite." "And you remembered…"

There was this natural pause which fell over us. The wind was getting chillier, blowing all around us and sending a shiver up my spin. I guess that was our cue to take off. But before then, Simon's lips parted a sliver. "Are you going home now?" He asked me. My own mouth opened but I nodded my head instead of saying anything. His head also nodded. "Me too. Do you….. Is… Is Anthony coming to pick you up? Do you…. need an escort to take you home?" "Oh….. Oh, no! No, don't worry! M-My brother's coming to get me. He always does." "Mmmmm, good. I don't want you walking around the streets by yourself at this hour," he said with such ease and naturalness. This made me blink, as well as himself; I don't think he expected to be so… forthcoming with me.

To save face, he straightened up his back and cleared his throat as if to banish away whatever… well, whatever he just said meant. "A-Anyway, your brother shouldn't be long. I'll wait here until he arrives." "Simon, I…." I began, hesitating for minute before continuing. He was looking at me now. "Erm, I mean… you don't… you don't have to worry about me. My brother…. What I mean is I already have a lot of people looking out for me. And even when I'm back in Europe… I'm careful. You don't…. I'm really…." His eyes narrowed in a bit. "Don't worry about you? Well, I'm sorry; there's no "off-switch", Daphne. I can't just…." He paused. "But you don't have to," I pressed gently. "It's not a choice. You're my best friend's little sister, and I…. I…." He was reluctant to go on. My lips opened, taking their time to say anything. "You?" I managed to say soon enough. Simon looked at me; his eyes soulful and sincere. His mouth opened, only to close again. We stared at each other for I don't know how long, but finally his grin returned. His soft, soft grin… I don't know why I liked it so much when he smiled. I just did, for some odd reason; I doubt I'll ever be able to figure it out.

Simon's eyes lowered. "I don't know why it's like this, but let's just say it's easier this way." "Easier?" My eyebrow raised. And the gorgeous smile of his widened so deeply in the corners.

"It's easier for me to care about you now, than not to care….."