The Librarian, Her Lover, And Everything In-between

2. 3

    I kicked the door open and moved in to the kitchen to deposit the bags I had in my hands, behind me, Jessica came in with another set of bags. "There's still two more bags outside, sit down and make yourself comfortable while I go get them," I said as I moved past her.

      I came in with the last two bags and deposited them on the counter top. Jessica did not sit down, she moved around the sitting room looking at what I had in it which wasn't much. I took out two cups and poured us both full glasses of orange juice.

   "Here," I suggested as I held out the cup to her. She muttered a 'thank you' and began to drink. I looked at the clock, it read 1:41pm.

   "So..."

"What is it, Jessica?" The exasperation could be heard in my voice. I leveled her with a bored gaze causing her to smile. She always found a reason to smile, always.

   "You need help with the library. It's huge, you know. You couldn't possibly clean it all by yourself, or don't you think so?"

     I stared at her for some time. She had a cute face; round, dimpled cheeks, perfectly plucked brows, a straight nose, and shiny pink lips. She reminded me of someone, someone I wished to forget, someone I never wanted to see again.

  "Anne? You there?"

"Yes, Jessica, I'm here. I was... just thinking about something. Anyway, yes, you're right. I do need help with the library. I've called Robby to help me with the grass outside, but I need help cleaning up the entire building."
  I hesitated then asked, "Do you, maybe, have an idea of who can help me out?"

      She grinned and nodded. "Yes, in fact, I have an idea of a lot of people who could help you out. Won't you ask who?"

"Who?"

"Me and my friends. I can gather them to come over whenever you want us to." She paused when she saw my raised eyebrow. "Why are you looking at me that way? I haven't said anything wrong have I?"

   "I'm just wondering why your friend's? Aren't there any professionals in town to do the job for me?"

"There are, Anne, but you see–"

"No, I don't."

"We need some money. And at any rate,"— she continued like I hadn't just interrupted her—" this is the holiday period. We're spending our time wisely by volunteering at the library. We're good at what we do, I promise."

      I could see the eagerness on her face. I remembered begging Aunt Enny to let me work at the library, I could remember how eager I was and how crushed I was when she said no. I was a bit of a loner then, I had no friends and I always buried my nose in books. She refused to allow me work then, promising that if I was able to mingle a bit with friends, she'd let me work next time. That was a few months before I met him.

      "Fine then. Is Friday afternoon–"

"Yes! Yes! Thank you so much. Friday is just perfect," she yelled, came over to where I stood and hugged me, without giving me a chance to complete my sentence. "I promise you we won't disappoint."

    I smiled this time around. That was another thing half done. I made a mental note to check it off my list.

___
D

edication: This page is dedicated to RalphNeutron

Tell me, how do you like this passage?

Anne has told us a bit about herself and mentioned someone else. Who could he be? Who do you think she doesn't want to ever see again? Could they be the same person?

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