The Truth About The Many Worlds Of Printed Pages

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This was going to be fun after all, James thought when he saw the pretty, petite blonde stop in front of him and Jake, the driver in the airport.

He didn't know much about the Bibliophiles' Society either, but from what she had said, he was sure that he knew more than she did. Unlike Siena, James had been expecting the phone call and the letter for quite some time, and he knew that whatever the society would ask him to do, should he agree, he would get a partner.

Apart from that, the Bibliophiles' Society was a whale of an intriguing mystery for him, just like the Lochness Monster. The knowledge he had about it came from not perfectly clear bits and pieces of his parents' whisper-shouted, late night conversations, or rather arguments, which he had overheard years back, when he was a child.

From what his imaginative, young boy's mind managed to piece together, James understood that the Society's Headquarters in London, and the business trips, or rather quests, were those places where his father used to disappear sometimes for a few days, other times for a couple of weeks, several times a year. They were the reason why his parents had divorced in the end, and his mum had vanished from their lives.

James was sure that all this mystery had something to do with his lineage. That's why he had been expecting the Bibliophile's Society to contact him ever since his dad passed away two years ago. His theory was now confirmed by Siena mentioning her grandmother... It was all so fascinating.

And so was she. Siena De Angelis. How ever had he imagined his possible partner, it wasn't like this, so petite and delicate looking... On the outside, she was just what he had always looked for in a woman... and the rest of her was yet another tempting mystery to solve.

Taking his eyes off the blurred world behind the glass of the moving car, he looked at the young woman sitting next to him inconspicuously.

She sat turned away from him, looking outside. James could not see her face, only her long, wavy, blonde ponytail... and her legs. Legs so incredibly long for someone as short as her.

He grinned as he recalled her wide smile and the twinkle in her warm brown irises when their eyes first met, as if he reminded her of someone she liked... Right before she put herself in check and started to build this... invisible wall between them. Could it be because of...

"Do you mind my music?" he asked, not failing to notice how she jumped when he put his hand on her knee to get her attention. As if his touch burned her.

James switched his player off after she replied. He observed her looking outside as she tried to avoid his gaze for the rest of their journey, the obscure Society that had summoned him to London from the shores of his beloved loch replaced in his mind entirely by the conundrum of Siena De Angelis.

James was stirred back to reality when the car stopped in front of an imposing, white, Victorian mansion surrounded by a large garden some time later, and he watched Jake coming to open the door for Siena, blinking groggily. Apparently, he had dozed off during their journey and so had she, judging by those brown eyes of hers looking confusedly at him for a few moments, before they focused on Jake as she turned towards the door again and got off the car.

Following her outside, James heard as she asked, "Where are we, Jake?"

"South London, Miss Siena. Richmond."

He walked to the back of the car, wanting to help Jake with the luggage, but the driver called to him, already headed back to his seat, "Just leave everything here, sir. I'll be taking you to your place later."

"Our place?" James asked, then looked at Siena, who shook her head, shrugging, when their eyes met.

He smiled when he noticed how very unconvinced and untempted she seemed by the idea of 'their' place. James offered his arm to her and, quite surprised that she accepted it, led her under a tall, black, wrought iron gate, down a gravel path meandering across the wild, unkempt garden, to a white, wooden door which opened for them before they could knock.