Love & Late Fees
Romance Short Story
By Indigo Lanee
Lena adjusted her cardigan sleeve and tucked a loose curl behind her ear as the old brass bell above the library door chimed. She didn’t need to look up to know who it was.
“Let me guess,” she said without glancing away from her screen. “You forgot to return the books again, Mr. Carter?”
“Just call me Ethan. And yes, but I bring coffee as penance,” the man said, holding up a peace offering.
She smiled despite herself. “You know library policy doesn’t accept bribes.”
“But what if it’s a very sincere bribe? Made by a very tired man who swears he’ll never return books late again?”
Lena sighed dramatically and stood to accept the coffee. “You said that two weeks ago.”
“I meant it then, too.”
He leaned on the counter as she scanned in his long-overdue stack—mystery novels, cookbooks he clearly never cooked from, and this time, a beginner’s guide to plant care.
“Going domestic?” she asked, tapping the screen.
Ethan shrugged. “Trying to keep a cactus alive. Figured it was time.”
She laughed. “It’s always the cactus that gets you.”
They'd danced this dance for months. He’d wander in with another set of overdue books, and she’d pretend to scold him, always secretly delighted to see him. Ethan was charming in a laid-back, flannel-shirt, sarcastic-comment kind of way. And Lena—well, she’d always had a thing for men who read.
This time, she slipped a pink sticky note onto the last book he was returning. He didn’t notice until he got home.
“Still waiting for you to check out something other than books –L.”
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The next day, Ethan arrived on time—early, in fact—with no late books. Just one new one. And a grin.
“I’d like to check this out,” he said, sliding a copy of Modern Romance across the counter.
Lena raised an eyebrow. “Excellent choice.”
He leaned closer. “Thought I’d do some research. I have a date this weekend.”
“Oh?” she said, keeping her tone even.
“Yeah,” he said. “She’s brilliant, knows the Dewey Decimal system, and has this way of pretending not to care about late fees while secretly loving the chaos.”
Her mouth opened slightly in surprise.
He tapped the sticky note in his hand. “I think she’s into me.”
“Well, she may consider waiving your fines... if the date goes well.”
Ethan grinned. “Challenge accepted.”
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They met that Saturday in a tiny local café two blocks from the library. Lena wore a sundress with book-printed fabric, and Ethan brought her a bookmark he’d made out of an old card catalog entry.
Conversation flowed as easily as if they’d been doing this for years. They talked about favorite novels, worst movies, childhood dreams, and the odd comfort of library silence.
By dessert, Lena’s cheeks hurt from smiling.
“You know,” Ethan said, folding his napkin, “I think I owe that cactus for turning things around.”
She laughed. “Did it survive?”
“Barely. But if it hadn’t started turning yellow, I wouldn’t have gotten the book, and I wouldn’t have gotten your note.”
Lena looked down at her empty teacup, feeling her heart do that fluttering thing again.
“I guess I should say thank you to the library’s overdue section.”
“Hey, those late fees paid for this coffee,” she teased.
He leaned in. “Then I’d happily pay them again.”
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