A Library Romance

Chapter 4: Secrets

Just like Monday night, Lily isn't there when I come in at 5pm today. But Jace is, and from the way he's sat in the community service area, legs crossed and a serious look on his face, it's very obvious that he wants to speak to me. I swallow down the fear that he's going to fire me and sign in, walking over to him.

"Good afternoon," I say.

"Hello Milo, take a seat. I want to discuss something with you," Jace says. Fuck, that doesn't sound good. Is it against protocol for a community service worker and a staff member to have relationships? We're not dating or anything, but maybe he knows about our lunch date. Although Lily herself said she only wants to be friends, so if that's the case, I at least have a valid response.

"Sure, what do you want to talk about?" I ask, sitting down.

"Well, I've noticed that you and Lily have become quite buddy buddy with each other. You took her to lunch yesterday, right?" he asks. I nod.

"Yeah, just as friends. And I would consider us friends, but I've only known her two days," I say.

"You've been looking after her for a lot longer than that, though," he says. Shit, how did he know I've been watching her?

"I'm not a creep, I swear. I just find it fascinating how much time she spends at the library, so I'd been doing a little experiment to see how often she's really here," I explain.

"She's here all the time, I can tell you that. But anyway, I don't care about you watching her, nor do I intend to say anything about it. This is about you two being friends," he says.

"It's not inappropriate, is it? We still do our work, and we hang out outside of scheduled hours," I say.

"No, nothing like that. You've done nothing wrong, Milo. I want to discuss an offer with you," he says.

"What kind of offer?" I ask.

"Well, I noticed in your files that you're doing this work because you can't afford to pay off a speeding ticket because you're unemployed, is that correct?" he asks.

"Yeah, I got laid off and I just haven't found a good replacement job yet. My parents have been letting me stay with them and helping me out financially," I admit.

"Well, how about a job here? We have a position open, our other clerk quit a few months ago, and we've been trying to find another clerk so that poor Lily isn't the only one processing the books," Jace says.

"But what is a clerk exactly? Like what's my job?" I ask.

"Well, you'd be working with the books. Each book we receive needs stamps to show ownership to the library, as well as encoding so that they can't be stolen, and some require extra work with book jackets and whatnot. It's really easy, and you get benefits even at part time. You also get a fixed pay and a flexible schedule."

"I'm just not sure that it'd be for me," I tell him.

"Look, I know it doesn't seem like it's much for a job, but Lily could really use the help. Plus, I've noticed how you've gotten her to speak more, and I think this could be a great thing for her. She needs to break out of her shell so that she can better herself. Would you at least try it out and see if you like it?" he asks.

"What about my community service hours?" I ask.

"You'll be able to pay off the ticket a lot faster with this job. You wouldn't need to do anymore community service and you'd still continue to make money afterwards that you can keep for yourself," he says.

"Under one condition," I say.

"What would that be?" Jace asks.

"I want the same schedule as Lily," I say. Jace smiles.