“Hey, miss,” Chelle heard a young voice calling to her from the row of computers near where she was shelving a cart of books. “Could you help me?”
“Sure,” she said, glancing toward the empty reference desk before setting down the pile of books she held and going over to the boy sitting at the end of the row. He seemed to be around eleven or twelve, and he was looking entirely dumbfounded at a Word document on the screen. “What’s up?”
“I have to send this essay to my teacher,” he said. “Can you show me how?”
“Yeah, I think we can figure that out,” Chelle said with a smile as she sat down in the chair next to him. “Are you emailing it or do you have to upload it somewhere?”
She helped the boy get his essay where it needed to be, and as she stood up to go back to her shelving, she nearly jumped out of her skin when she noticed that Jack was standing directly behind the two of them.
“What do you think you’re doing?” He barked. He’d been barking at her all week, and Chelle was starting to think nothing she did would ever be up to his standards.
“I was just helping him submit his essay,” she explained, failing to see how Jack could possibly yell at her for that. By the way he crossed his arms under his chest and glared at her though, it was obvious that she was about to find out.
“And where in your job description does it say ‘helping people on the computers’?”
The kid, his task completed, ducked under Jack’s imposing form and dashed away while Chelle shrugged helplessly. “Well, I don’t have it memorized yet since it’s only my first week, but I’m guessing it doesn’t?”
“No, it doesn’t,” he confirmed, but he didn’t step aside so that she could go back to the approved task of shelving her book cart, either.
She tried to duck around him like the kid had, feeling pretty envious of the boy’s ability to run away from Jack, but he wouldn’t let her pass so she threw up her arms in exasperation and said, “Look, I don’t understand what the big deal is. He asked for help and you weren’t around, so I helped him.”
“Did you learn nothing from your training videos?” Jack asked, looking at Chelle like she was the dumbest person he’d ever encountered. “The union is very explicit about job duties, and you just did mine.”
“I’m sorry,” Chelle said, but she couldn’t resist pointing out, “Maybe if you’d been at the reference desk, the kid would have asked you for help instead of me.”
“I was helping someone else,” Jack snapped. “You should have told him to wait.”
“It took two seconds,” Chelle objected. “You would rather make him wait for you just because the union contract says only people with Master’s degrees can help patrons send an email?”
She knew this was the wrong thing to say – all her life she’d been letting her temper get the best of her, particularly when people insisted on things that made no sense, and Jack had been pressing this button all week.
On her very first day, he’d eviscerated her when she shelved some mystery books in the general fiction section by mistake. When she tried to apologize and explain that at the university library they didn’t shelve the fiction by genre, he insinuated – in front of Mira no less – that Chelle was too stupid to read the stickers on the book spines that denoted their sections.
The next day when an out-of-towner came into the library asking to borrow a book of poetry without a Westbrook library card, Jack told them they were out of luck. Chelle, overhearing the exchange, thought he would be pleased with her creative problem solving skills when she suggested that they simply use the Xerox machine to scan the particular poem the person was after. She was completely caught off guard when Jack snatched the book and made the copy himself, snarling at her the entire time for undermining his authority.
She’d tried her best to learn quickly after that and retain everything he said the first time he said it so that she could steer clear of him – which seemed to be the strategy of all the other pages and the other reference librarian who she met throughout the week. Hardly anyone on staff seemed to be friendly with Jack, and they all kept their distance.
So she should have known better than to help the kid with his email when everything else she did infuriated Jack, and she certainly should have known better than to snap back at him when he was being unreasonable. But her mouth worked faster than her brain, and Jack’s eyes went wide with disbelief.
“That’s it,” he said. “I can’t work like this anymore. Come with me.”
“Where?”
“To Miranda’s office,” Jack said. “If you have no respect for me then perhaps a formal written warning in your permanent file will change your attitude.”
Chelle wasn’t particularly affected by the threat, but her heart leapt into her throat at the mention of Mira’s name. She’d seen very little of her all week, and at times it seemed like Mira was avoiding her. Mira had been explicit about the fact that she wasn’t interested in pursuing what they’d begun during the interview, but Chelle couldn’t help but notice the tension that built between them every time they were in a room together. Not that it happened frequently – they would find themselves in the same part of the library and suddenly Mira would manufacture a reason to leave.
So the idea of going into the office where she first tasted Mira’s lips made Chelle’s heart race – even if she was being marched there by Jack to be disciplined.
Jack rapped on the door, then without waiting for a response, pushed it open and stormed in. Mira looked up from her computer, startled at the intrusion, as he barked, “I’ve had it with your questionable hiring practices.”
Mira’s eyes went to Chelle, color coming fiercely into her face. She looked terrified, and Chelle wondered if she thought Jack’s anger meant he had figured out about their kiss. She wanted to mouth something reassuring to Mira to let her know that wasn’t it, but he continued his tirade before she had the chance.
“She’s insolent and unmanageable,” he said, pointing a finger at Chelle, “and I won’t be training her any more until she learns her place.”
“Okay, Jack,” Mira said, standing up. “Let’s all take a deep breath, and then you can tell me exactly what the problem is.”
“Take a deep breath? Do I look like a five-year-old?” He asked, his neck going red around the collar of his shirt.
Chelle thought, no, but you’re acting a bit like one.
Jack put his hands on his hips, puffing out his chest as he declared to Mira, “You’re the director. It’s your responsibility to discipline insubordinate employees, and this one has done nothing but undermine me all week. I told her to stick to her page duties but every time I turn around she’s trying to do my job – things she’s entirely unqualified for.”
“All I did was help a kid send an email,” Chelle objected. She had been trying to hold her tongue, but she couldn’t stand there and let Jack tell her – and Mira – that she was unqualified to perform a basic computer task.
Mira held up one finger at Chelle, motioning her into silence in a blunt way that was a little surprising, and then she turned to Jack. “Fine. I will see to it that Ms. Tate doesn’t overstep her bounds again. Now go man the reference desk before some other page has to do your job for you.”
“Excuse me-” Jack snapped, but Mira came around her desk and ushered him out the door in a manner that said there would be no further discussion.
“I will handle Chelle,” she said as she practically shoved him into the hall.
“You’d better or else you can be the one to train her,” Jack threatened, but Mira was already closing the door on him. When she turned around, irritation was written all over her face.
“It really was just an email,” Chelle started to defend herself. “I had no idea that was something the union says I’m not allowed to-”
“Stop,” Mira said, holding up a hand to silence Chelle again. She went over and leaned against the front of her desk, pinching the bridge of her nose as if to ward off a headache. She looked utterly exhausted and it made Chelle feel awful for piling onto her weariness. Mira added, “I don’t care about that. This doesn’t leave my office, but if it were up to me I’d say you did the right thing. Jack’s right about the union rules, though, so do me a favor and try not to step on his toes so much.”
“Okay,” Chelle said, glancing toward the closed door and wondering if now was the time for her to excuse herself and go back to that forgotten cart of books waiting for her in the stacks. This was the first time all week that Mira wasn’t in a hurry to run out of a room they shared, though, and it felt nice. She said softly, “Your job must be pretty stressful, huh?”
“It can be, yes,” Mira said, those icy blue eyes sending a shiver through Chelle as Mira put her hand down and looked at her. “Especially when certain people spend their whole day looking for ways to stir up trouble. Again, please don’t repeat that.”
“Of course not,” Chelle said. She took a tentative step forward, between the two plush chairs in front of Mira’s desk, and then another. There was less than two feet separating them now, and emboldened by the fact that Mira hadn’t dismissed her yet, Chelle said, “Turn around.”
“What? Why?” Mira asked, her eyes going wide as a twinge of anxiety entered her voice.
“You carry your stress in your neck and shoulders,” Chelle said. “It can give you headaches and make your whole body tense. A massage will help you relax.”
“I can’t,” Mira objected. “That would be so inappropriate.”
But she didn’t move away.
“It’s purely therapeutic,” Chelle said. “I took a few massage classes. I promise it will make you feel better.”
Mira shot her a skeptical look, but then she slowly turned around. “Okay. Just a quick one.”
Chelle took another step forward, her heart leaping into her throat as she brushed a few loose strands of Mira’s dark hair over her shoulder and then put her hands on her. Her skin was warm and soft beneath her fingers, and standing so close to her, Chelle could smell coconut in her shampoo.
She closed her eyes, reminding herself of the promise she’d just made. It’s just a massage. Her hands ran up and down over Mira’s neck and shoulders and the desire to bend her over the desk was building in Chelle’s core. Just a massage.
***
Chelle worked her fingers over the knots in Mira’s neck and upper back, and she had no idea they were even there until she felt Chelle releasing them one by one, putting her into the most relaxed state that she’d experienced in recent memory, probably since moving to Westbrook. Mira melted under Chelle’s touch, all of the tension dropping out of her shoulders as her fingers explored and kneaded every knot.
As Chelle moved farther down, balling her hands into fists and rocking her knuckles under Mira’s shoulder blades, she let out an involuntary moan. It seemed to echo in her ears, reminding her of sex, and she tensed up again as the thought that she should not be enjoying this so much rippled through her.
Then Chelle leaned over her shoulder and as her hands crept further down Mira’s back, kneading at her sides, she whispered in Mira’s ear, “Relax. You’re making my job harder.”
A shiver shot through Mira’s body and she felt herself getting a little wet. Chelle’s breath was hot against her neck and Mira had to reach out and grab the edge of her desk to steady herself. She was glad that Chelle stood behind her so she couldn’t see how flushed her face was, or how embarrassing it felt to be so turned on by a simple back massage. This was definitely getting out of hand, but Chelle was right – it was making Mira feel so much better.
Chelle slid her palms up and down over Mira’s back, and another moan escaped her lips as she melted backward, her body brushing against Chelle’s. The voice in her head that said she shouldn’t be doing this was getting quieter by the minute, and when Chelle closed her hands around her hips, squeezing Mira’s flesh, she let her head fall back against Chelle’s shoulder, closing her eyes. She felt Chelle’s breath again on her neck, and then her lips.
“Mira!”
She jerked her head back upright as Juanita called her name through the door, knocking urgently. Chelle took a step back and Mira spun around, shooting a quick look of guilt at her before calling, “What is it, Nita?”
“I think you should come see for yourself,” Juanita called back. “There’s a news crew here.”
“Oh fuck,” she muttered under her breath, then turned to Chelle as she tucked away the loose strands of hair that had strayed from her bun. Adopting a formal tone, she straightened up and said, “Umm, thank you for that. My neck feels a lot better.”
“You’re welcome,” Chelle said, looking a little embarrassed herself.
“Get back to work, and just try to stay out of Jack’s way,” Mira instructed. “Especially while I take care of whatever’s going on out there.”
“Okay,” Chelle said with a nod.
Then Mira went out of her office, trying to act casual about the fact that she’d only opened the door enough to slip into the hallway and lead Juanita away from Chelle. She was slightly out of breath as she asked, “What’s going on?”
“Channel Five is here. They got wind about the newspaper’s article on the Internet filter and they want to do a story on it, too,” Juanita said as they headed down the hall. “They asked for a quote from you.”
“Nice of them to give us a little warning first,” Mira said. “Well, at least they’re going to get the library’s perspective. I guess unbiased reporting was too much trouble for the Chronicle to bother with.”
When they got to the lobby, though, the news crew was nowhere to be seen.
“Where are they?” Mira asked Juanita. She was mid-shrug when they heard the amplified voice of a woman speaking into a microphone coming from the bank of computer terminals beyond the reference area.
Mira hurried over, Juanita trailing behind her. The reference desk was empty as she passed it and a stone of worry formed in her gut as she guessed that Jack must be with the news crew – he was probably having the time of his life trashing her policies in front of a camera.
But when she found the crew near the computers, Jack was nowhere to be seen. The reporter – a young blonde with tall hair and long acrylic nails – was saying to the cameraman, “We certainly didn’t expect to see the results of this unwholesome policy in action, but less than five minutes after our arrival, this man has come to the library, drawn by its open and permissive stance on pornography.”
Mira’s jaw dropped as the camera panned over to the man standing beside the reporter. He wore stained and torn clothes and his hair stood up at wild angles – he had to be one of the town’s indigent population, although Mira had never seen him in the library before.
“Sir, is it true that you came here today with the express purpose of looking for pornography on the library computers?” The reporter asked, shifting the microphone in front of him.
“Yes, ma’am, I came here to look at porn-”
“Stop,” Mira said, stepping in front of the reporter and pushing the lens of the camera down to the floor. “You can’t do this story.”
“Keep rolling, Jason,” the reporter said, and the camera panned back up to Mira. The reporter asked, “Would you like to make an official statement on your decision to corrupt the town with obscenity?”
“That’s absurd,” Mira said, and out of the corner of her eye she noticed Jack coming over to observe this exchange. He looked slightly flushed, like he’d just come in out of the sun, and Mira thought he must be eating this up. She tried not to glare at him on camera as she said, “The Internet filter was not removed, only reduced, and pornography is not accessible on library computers. The only thing that changed is that children can now get to the websites they need to do their homework. I think we can all agree that education is at the core of any library’s mission, and the severity of our previous Internet filtering policy was doing a disservice to the community. That’s all I have to say, and I’d like you to leave now as you’re disrupting my other patrons.”
Then she walked away, feeling like her heart might explode in her chest as she made a beeline for Juanita. She leaned in close to whisper to her, “Make sure Jack doesn’t get in front of that camera, and when the news crew is gone, get the porn guy out of here.”
Mira walked away then, desperately wanting to get back to her office so that she could sit down while her pulse rate returned to normal. There had been a fair number of catastrophes at WPL in the past six months, but none were quite as bad as this. What were the odds that a patron would show up to look at porn at the exact moment when a news crew came to do a story on it? Mira could count on one hand the number of times they’d had issues with inappropriate use of the computers since she’d reduced the filter, and now suddenly the perverts were coming out of the woodwork for the news camera?
She passed by the empty reference desk and saw Chelle standing near her half-full book cart. She’d seen Mira’s interview, and she shot her a sympathetic look. Mira gave Chelle a helpless shrug in return, then went through the door behind the reference desk, letting out a huge sigh as it swung shut.
She went down the hall to her office and closed the door behind her, then kicked the little mesh trash can beside her desk so hard it bounced against the wall. WPL had done nothing but self-destruct around her ever since she arrived, and she felt powerless to stop it. Liv told her in no uncertain terms that it was up to her to get this situation under control, but Mira was barely able to control her own urges, let alone the entire library.
While she was in her office giving in to the temptation Chelle presented, everything was falling spectacularly to pieces around her. This was exactly what she got for trying to relax, and why she could never let her guard down. Now was not the time to get mixed up with a girl who would distract her from everything that was important – especially not a girl who was her employee.
Now was the time to double down, take control of the library and her career. Her love life would have to wait.