Binnie had always been a quiet girl.

As a child, she would sit in the corner at school with a large box of 54 crayons her mom had given her on her birthday and work away on her coloring book. She always stared at the floor when she spoke to her classmates. When it was her turn to pick out the picture book the teacher was going to read, she always picked a fairy tale.

As a teen, Binnie spent her lunch in the library reading. Sure, she had a few friends, but she always preferred to spend time by herself. When there were group projects, she always ended up doing most of the work. Her classmates assumed that since she read all the time, she must be smart. But in reality, she spent so much time reading instead of paying attention to her teachers that she barely scraped by with passing grades.

As an adult, Binnie was a librarian who was content with her life. She lived in her own apartment with her pet cat and spent her weekends taking walks through the park. After high school, she had lost contact with most of her high school friends. She was a little bit lonely, but she had everything she needed. Wasn’t that all that really mattered?

Mimi had always been a lively girl.

As a child, she had been rambunctious and her curiosity always got her in trouble. She’d wrestle with the boys and come home with tangles hair and muddy clothes and a bright smile on her face. She would run up to kids in the playground by themselves and excitedly invite them to play with her until the entire playground was playing games together.

As a teen, her head was always in the cloud during class. She’d doodle idly in the margins of her notebooks and sprint out of the room the second the bell rang. Her homework was left undone in favor for going out to the karaoke with friends and running around at the mall. During group projects, she was always the one who broke the ice and made everyone best friends by the time the due date rolled around.

As an adult, she was diligently working on her photography. She carried her camera on her neck everywhere in case she ran across a picture perfect moment. Her big break had yet to come and most of her contracts were for boring articles about politics and stuff, but that didn’t deter her at all. Her time was coming, she just had to stay determined.

One weekend, Mimi had be assigned to take photographs for a news article about reading to children and how it helps their development. That lead her to the local public library. It was a dusty old building with a soft atmosphere that made everyone felt welcomed even if they weren’t big readers. However, the library wasn’t nearly a quiet as one would think.

The first section when you entered the building was the children's section. You could hear the kid’s high pitched voices the second you entered. Mimi followed the sound, hoping it would lead her to the pictures she needed for this assignment. She weaved her way through the shelves killed with thin, colorful books until she came to a small area with a bunch of tables and chairs for people to sit and read for a while.

A cute young woman around Mimi’s own age sat in a chair with a small group of children at her feet. She had a gentle, sweet air about her and she smiled as she read a picture book to the kids.

“Miss Binnie, Miss Binnie!” A girl tugged on the woman’s skirt with a distressed expression. “But if the princess is asleep how is the prince going to marry her? It’s true love! They have to get married!”

“He’s going to shake her and tell her breakfast is ready,” A boy rolled his eyes like it was the most obvious thing in the whole world. “That’s what my mom does.”

The woman, Binnie, giggled as she turned the page. “Let’s keep reading and find out, okay?”

Mimi froze up and found herself hiding behind the shelves. Nerves ran through her and she felt unusually shy all of a sudden. Without really understanding why she didn’t just approach the group and join them, Mimi watched them read the rest of the book.

After the Princess woke up and fought the evil dragon with the prince so they could live happily ever after, Binnie closed the picture book and the children’s parents began to take their children home. But Mimi still hid behind the shelf.

She had totally failed to get any pictures at all. All she had to show for her time in the library was flushed cheeks and nerves that refused to let her move from her hiding place.

Binnie walked over to a shelf and ran her fingers across the spins of the books before sliding the picture book back to it’s home. None the wiser to Mimi, Binnie began to walk away from the children’s section.

Mimi closed her eyes and gathered up every bit of courage she had before running after her.

“Um, Ma’am?” She shyly spoke up when she caught up to Binnie.

“Yes?” The librarian smiled at her with a helpful expression.

“…” Mimi froze up. She hadn’t thought about what she wanted to say.

Binnie gave her a confused expression but continued to smile. “Can I help you?” She prompted.

“Oh, um, sorry!” Mimi looked down at the ground. And blurted out the first thing that came to her mind. “I’m-I’m  photographer! And I’d really like to take pictures of you! I-I mean, of Librarians. W-Wait! Let me start over that sounded really bad!” 

Binnie had this adorable expression on her face like she was trying not to laugh at Mimi and it was really not helping her nerves.

“I’m helping a news reported get pictures for an article about how reading to kid’s help their development as they grow. I was wondering if I would be able to come to one of your story times and take some pictures of you reading to the kids?”

Binnie flushed and brought a hand up to cover her face. “You want to take pictures of me?”

“Yes!” Mimi blurted out. “I-I mean, if it’s okay. F-For the newspaper…”

Binnie thought for a nerve-wracking moment before nodding. “I’d be okay with that.”

“Really?” Mimi beamed, some of her normal confidence coming back to her. “When can I come by and take them?”

“I have another story time on Tuesday at 3, if that works with you?” Binnie offered shyly.

Mimi quickly nodded. Even if it didn’t, she’d make it work. “That’s perfect!”

“See you then?” Binnie tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.

“See you then!” Mimi bowed gratefully before running off giggling.

It felt less like she had asked for a photoshoot and more like she asked her on a date. 

Mimi couldn’t wait until Tuesday.