A Small College Town

As always, Alban Cohen seemingly woke up before anyone else in Pennsylvania. Outside, it was a still night and even the birds had yet to stir from their early winter slumber.
Alban went to the kitchen, sawed a blueberry bagel in half and popped it into the toaster. He turned on the television and sat down in front of it, flipping through several channels of infomercials before landing on the Bloomberg Report. The market was its same sad self, going up one day, down the next. Alban flipped to a local channel and watched it instead.
The morning show hosts were up as well. It was, after all, just beyond 4:30, so someone must be up and stirring about. Alban buttered his bagel, ate it. He looked out his front window, where a thin layer of frost still blanketed the ground. He opened the front door and stepped outside. It must have been below zero outside. His nostril hairs froze wetly as he inhaled a deep breath. He went inside and put on his heaviest jacket and tucked a scarf around his neck.
Alban gathered the last of his things and soon he was ready to go. His baby blue Karman Ghia sat in the garage, waiting to be stirred to life. He turned the igntion and quickly started the old reliable engine. He drove down Diley Road to County Road 35 and finally turned onto Park Street. Buildings sat quiet and dark in the field, with a few kids going to and from places unknown. Alban pulled into his parking space and got out of his car. Just up the sidewalk sat the Law building. He went to the door and unlocked it before securing it behind him. Just down the hall, the lights from the law library shone into the dark hall.
Alban peaked inside the door, only to find Elizabeth Persinger organizing books on the shelves.
"Hey Liz," he called out.
"Oh, hey Alban," she said.
"It's kind of early isn't it?"
"I should ask the same of you."
"But I am always here early. The library doesn't open for another 3 hours."
"Semester is almost over, so I am just doing some things so I can leave when the students finish their finals."
"Well, if you're hungry, I brought a few bagels. Just come on down and steal one or two."
"I just might take you up on that, if I have the time."
Alban and Liz traded smiles then parted company. In addition to Alban, Liz had her selection of gentlemen suitors from every department and every major. She, on the other hand, was firmly affixed to a certain Congressman who lived 70 miles away in Harrisburg.
She wheeled her stepstool around and unloaded stacks of books from each shelf, dusting the shelf before replacing the books, pulling them to the edge of the shelf for proper presentation.
In fact, since it was finals week, students were merely returning books today and there wasn't even a need for a student librarian to assist her today. Shortly after noon, she had finished stocking and facing the shelves. All she had to do now was check-in the remaining books and wait for 6 PM, when she could lock up the library until next semester when class was back in session.
Her cell phone vibrated on her desk and she ran to retrieve it. She looked at the faceplate, and saw a familiar name across the display. She flipped the phone open and answered. It was Jennifer, Alex Sullivan's administrative assistant.
"Good afternoon, Liz."
"Oh. Hi," she answered.
"Alex is still at a business dinner, but he said he'll be back a little later. He wanted me to call you and leave a number."
"How late did he say he'd be?" asked Liz, her voice a little drained.
"He said to call him after 8 pm."
"Okay," answered Liz.
"He said to make sure you called him, so don't let him down."
Liz sighed. "I'll call him. I promise."
"Good," Jennifer answered. She gave her the number and hung up. Liz tossed her cell phone into her purse and closed it up. She turned around and looked at the empty library. All the work was done three hours early. She wondered what to do now. She could go see Alban, but didn't think she'd make good company right now. She might just break down and cry right there in his classroom.
Instead, she locked the doors and went down to the student union, eating a fast food dinner, disappearing in a sea of students ready to go home for winter break.