Roommates & Soulmates

Ch152: Tessa's Balence

Reaching up she placed the hard copy of Shakespeare's Hamlet beside Macbeth. Pulling her hand back, Tessa's eyes were drawn down the row as she read the title of his other works written along the spines of the books. The Taming of the Shrew was a funny tale, though maybe not a very modern take on women. A Midsummer's Night's Dream she hadn't read in a while, though Tessa could recall it's focus on enchantments, and an angry Fairy King. Then, of course, there was the classic of Romeo and Juliet.

Moving past her bookworm nostalgia, Tessa picked up the next book to be shelved on the trolly. It was a rather peaceful task, shelving library books. Tessa found it relaxing to look up their index numbers and make sure each one went in its proper place. She'd been volunteering here for quite a few months now, and it had become her quiet 'me time'. At home with two partners and a child there was always someone who wanted her attention, but here in the library - surrounded by books - Tessa was totally and completely at peace.

It didn't mean she loved Will, Jem, or Lucie any less. In fact, it probably meant she appreciated them more. Spending four afternoons a week here had been the best decision she'd made in years. Tessa had even signed up for a couple classes come September. She had dropped out after her third year, so by doing classes part time, Tessa was pretty sure she could finish her Bachelor's in two years which was fine by her. What was the rush anyway? After all, Tessa enjoyed studying English and taking more time to get it done didn't bother her, especially as she had very little idea what she was gonna do once she completed it.

Finishing the stack she had left, Tessa moved away to go fill the trolley once more. Pushing it down the endless rows of books she liked to glance at the titles, and see how many she knew, even if it meant she had to walk slower. Libraries were her favourite place on earth. Behind every book cover was a new world woven with the written word. The very concept often felt like magic to her.

"Finished with those already?"

Tessa looked up from her musing and smiled. The speaker was her co-worker, Sophie Collins. She was a slender woman, with luminous hazel eyes, and dark flowing hair. Sophie had a gentle kind smile, and a shy disposition, likely due to the scar on her cheek. Tessa has not asked where she'd gotten it, though she suspected it had been some kind of childhood accident.

"What can I say," Tessa replied, smiling. "I love shelving books."

"And you're good at it too," Sophie replied. "I just wish we could pay you for it."

"It's okay. I enjoy it," Tessa answered as she stacked more books on her trolly. "It's my 'me time' before I go home to chaos."

"I know what you mean," Sophie chuckled. "I have two kids at home myself, and sometimes it seems like my husband is the third kid instead of a parent. So it's more like three."

"I hear ya," Tessa laughed before taking her now full trolly back the way she'd come.

All her co-workers here knew Tessa had a partner, or common law spouse, and they knew she had a child, but Tessa hadn't quite figured out how to tell them she had two common law spouses. In fact, she hadn't even figured out if she wanted to. Instead, she just used the pronoun 'he' when referring to either Will or Jem, and let everyone else assume she was only talking about one person.

Most of her close friends knew. Tessa's parents had died when she was young, and she hadn't kept in touch with her brother when he started ruining his life, so there really hadn't been anyone else to tell. When she was at home with Will and Jem it all felt normal to her, but out in the world, defining her beautiful three way love affair didn't seem quite so simple.

While Sophie had two kids and a husband, Tessa had two husbands and a kid.

Letting her thoughts fall away with her breath, Tessa focused once more on her task. Instead of the collected works of Shakespeare she now had a pile of cookbooks to shelve. Definitely a less interesting task, but just as peaceful.