The Stacks

Chapter 10: Interrogation

Song: "Story Of My Life" by One Direction

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I was late for work Monday morning ; it's a good thing no one saw Harry dropping me off at the curb or I would have never heard the end of it. When I walked in, Gabby noted my delayed arrival by glancing at the clock, but she didn't say anything. I had only been late one time before, in all the time I had worked there, so I wasn't too worried about the security of my job. Still, I made up a fib to throw her off. "I'm sorry. I was out with my sister after the Lions game last night. I guess I didn't hear my alarm."

"Mmhmm." That was the only sound she made and it wasn't accusatory; more like a mumble of I don't care now get to work.

I hardly expected Gabby to notice, but I knew I'd have a hard time hiding my smile from Beth. She didn't know much about Harry, apart from seeing him in the stacks and then when he came to the front desk to say thank you. That was it. She didn't know yet that he had rescued me from the drunk and that I had spent the day with him after that. I had no idea what she would say when I told her that we kissed.

I took care of the book return and re-shelving and I was back at the front desk by 10:30, which was pretty impressive for the fact that it was a Monday and I had been late. But I was more excited about today than usual, not only because of my fantastic time with Harry the night before, but because it was Halloween. We had all sorts of activities going on throughout the library today, one of which was pre-school story time. I ducked into the bathroom to reapply my kitty cat make up, and then I donned the cat ears. I hadn't had enough time to do it before leaving my house, so I had thrown everything in my purse on the way out of my apartment.

When I tried to leave the bathroom, I collided with Beth. "Hey!" She gushed. "You look adorable."

"Thanks, so do you," I smiled. Her face was painted light green and she had a fake wart on her nose. Topped with a black pointy hat, she was the perfect library witch. We had decided on minimal costumes so that we wouldn't scare the small children who would be crowding our halls today.

"Did you see the game yesterday?" She asked.

"Of course," I stated. "Just because I don't like football doesn't mean I don't pay attention."

"You're weird," she said.

"Yep," I agreed and left her to do her business.

Preschoolers filed in to the children's section just before 11:00. Beth and I helped them to find places to sit on the floor so they weren't all crowded together and so the taller ones were near the back so the smaller ones could see.

I welcomed the kids and sat on a small chair so I was close to the ground. I started by reading It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown; always a classic. Then I read Goodnight, Goon, a parody of Goodnight, Moon. Finally, I read a Clifford Halloween story. Those three selections seemed to entertain everyone present, but by the time I finished, the kids were ready to move. Beth showed them the various crafts at different tables and I showed them the reading corner where there were plenty more Halloween books to choose from.

Once the kids dispersed, a tiny girl by the name of Madeline came up to me. She had been at story times before, and I couldn't help but admit that she was my favorite. Today, she was dressed as Madeline, the book character; that made her double my favorite.

"Look at you!" I gushed. "You make the perfect Madeline, Madeline!"

"Thank you, Miss Regan," she said, but not being able to pronounce her r's, it sounded more like Miss Wagon.