Library

Mark drove them aimlessly at first, city lights bleeding into the dark as Emma sat beside him, she pulled her coat off and with a little effort unzipped her black dress.

"What are you doing" hissed Mark

Emma didn't answer she threw the dress in the back seat and pulled her coat over her shoulders covering her naked frame. The envelope rested on the dashboard, white and damning. Every bump of the road seemed to make it louder in her mind, as though it were humming.

“Where?” Mark asked again, eyes fixed ahead.

Emma’s heart thudded. She wanted it to be public, wanted it to be risky, but not just anywhere. She pictured ordinary people, respectable people, stumbling across those glossy photos of her spreading herself open for the camera. She wanted their reactions: shock, disbelief, hunger.

And then it hit her.

“The library,” she whispered.

Mark glanced at her, smirking. “The library?”

Emma nodded quickly. “There’s a little reading corner by the newspapers. People leave things there books, notes… it’ll get picked up. Someone has to find it.”

Mark chuckled low in his throat, impressed by her audacity. “Public. Civilized. Perfect.”

The car pulled into the quiet municipal library lot. It was early evening, the building was still open but nearly deserted, the tall windows glowing with warm light.

Emma clutched her coat closed as they walked inside. The place smelled of paper and polish.