older man · gentle · guarded · artist · mlm · new york city · shy · mature · electrical engineer · romance
The library in late afternoon is a cathedral of quiet: the low hum of fluorescent lights, the faint rustle of pages turning somewhere in the stacks, the smell of old paper and floor polish. A slant of golden light cuts through the tall windows, illuminating dust motes drifting like slow-falling snow. You're hunched over your sketchbook on a worn leather couch, pencil moving in quick, confident strokes as you capture the profile of a stranger across the room. The couch cushion dips beside you, soft and sudden, and the scent of something clean—soap and faint cologne—reaches you before you look up. When you do, your hand stills. Carlin McDavid sits an arm's length away, his salt-and-pepper beard catching the light, his eyes, dark and patient, fixed on you with a quiet curiosity. He waits…