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 Posted: Thu Apr 29, 2010 10:41 pm
This was almost a blissful reprieve. The library was quiet. There were no monsters in the parking lot. No hoodlums in the reference section (though, it was in the process of being repaired). His arm wasn't itching him and his sling was actually on right and not pulling at his neck. Carol was no where to be seen, and didn't come down on her lunch break to see him.
Today was very near perfect. Sitting at his desk, feet up on the table, a donut in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other, Tony felt like he was on vacation while at work. Things weren't normally this quiet, but he wasn't going to complain about it. He wasn't going to think about it.
He would not risk jinxing it.
If anyone needed him they could ring the bell at the front counter. For now, he was just focusing on his snack and drink, thinking about all the articles he had been reading in the periodical archives about events like the one he had been in. Monster attacks. Strange happenings. Virgo had said people like her were considered 'terrorists', but he imagined that title more rightly belonged to those she called the 'negaverse'.
There was a whole lot about it that he still didn't understand. Humming to himself, he took a big bite of his donut and chewed contentedly.
He could get used to this.
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Posted: Thu Apr 29, 2010 11:05 pm
She had to time this carefully. Yvette did not want to mess up her first day of work. However, Mommy had asked her to run one errand for her just before heading out. A quick trip to the library to drop off some books and to pick up some new ones. When Yvette asked about what sorts of books to get, all Mommy offered was a simple "Mr. Darrow knows what I like to read."
Yvette was rather familiar with the public library. It was the poor girl's best friend, and when she needed to work on essays for English class, it was the place to go! The girl trotted in quietly, locating the book drop, then scampered up to the front counter. Mr. Darrow was usually right there, ready to help. Purple eyes glanced to the bell, almost uncertain as to if she should really ring it. It wasn't past Yvette to worry about accidentally interrupting some important business the head librarian was obviously tending to.
She tugged up her sleeve from her work uniform and looked over her watch. She couldn't afford to waste time today. With a delicate touch, the girl rang the bell 1 whole time. It was only polite, since any more times than once would be plain annoying.
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Posted: Fri Apr 30, 2010 7:20 am
Tony jumped when he heard the bell, nearly falling out of his chair. But he managed to keep himself up right and not spill his coffee on himself. He had learned that lesson the hard way already. Hot coffee burned.
His donut, however, was not as lucky. It fell from his hand, the one that was supposed to be resting in its sling, and he took a very short moment to stare at it, by his foot, sitting there miserably. If donuts could look a certain way, Tony would swear this one looked betrayed. He bent and picked it up, tossing it into the bin as he wiped his mouth and wandered over to the counter.
"Hello!" he said cheerfully, offering a very warm smile, "how are you doing, Yvette? Your mother? Oh, ah, right. What can I help you with?"
Chatting could commence after he started helping her. He fixed his jacket, it having sagged to one side from the sling on his arm being moved. He readjusted it, looking incredibly happy all the while. He was even humming lightly to himself, like a cat purring, needing to express how perfectly happy he was some how.
It was a good day, after all, and being in a good mood was no crime.
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Posted: Fri Apr 30, 2010 10:57 am
Yvette couldn't help it. When the librarian came up to the counter, arm in a sling, her eyes were immediately stuck upon it. Silently, she was asking "Why are you wearing that? What happened?" but his greeting was enough to snap her out of staring like a child.
"Oh, um... hi Mr. Darrow!" she squeaked out, eyes rising from his sling to his eye level. The dark-haired girl had never been a very loud speaker at all, so her normal talking voice was perfectly fine in the library setting.
"I guess I am doing okay... I just needed to pick up some new books for Mommy to read before I head to work." Yes, Yvette Weaver, 18 years old and still called her mother "Mommy." "Sh-she said you'd know what books to pick for her."
There was a pause as she attempted to come up with an actual answer to his question about how she and her Mommy were doing, and one word came to mind. "Mommy and I have been busy...with Daddy in the hospital, Mommy has been trying to sneak in extra shifts at work, and I had to get a new job. I start today!" It was about this time her eyes drifted back to his sling. She really couldn't help herself.
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Posted: Fri Apr 30, 2010 1:57 pm
Tony looked at her, noting the way she glanced at his sling. Feeling self conscious, he put his good hand over it, tapping his arm thoughtfully. When she started speaking, though, his attention was drawn from the brief moment of awkwardness.
"Ah, of course," Tony beamed at her, finding her quiet voice and the way she called her mom 'mommy' rather endearing. He thought she was a very sweet kid, better than some of the high schoolers that came through the library, and thought it was a shame that she had suffered so much. That 'organ ring', particularly, and then with her father in the hospital... it seemed a shame. That whole bad things happening to good people thing, he supposed.
"Where are you working, then?" he asked, as he went to the back, though he would still be able to hear her. He always had some books back there, on hold for her, and for other people he similarly was familiar with. He liked to take care of his good patrons, the people who generally liked using the library, or had a legitimate need of it.
"Here you are," he said, returning to the front counter. He didn't need ID to check the books out, though he was a bit slower than normal with his arm as it was. Catching her looking at the sling again he smiled warmly.
"I had a little accident," he explained. That wasn't true. It hadn't been an accident, as far as that monster was concerned. It had attacked him on purpose, and destroyed his car in the process. If Virgo hadn't showed up, he would have been killed by it. A torn shoulder and some stitches were the least of what could have happened. She told him about starseeds and people called the Negaverse, and though he hadn't understood it all, he trusted the Zodiac was telling him the truth.
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Posted: Fri Apr 30, 2010 4:38 pm
Why did he have to walk away when asking that question? It was like he wanted her to announce to the whole world that she worked at Elizabeth's Secret. It was maybe one of the most embarrassing places to work, especially for girls who were already pretty shy to begin with.
So it wasn't surprising that the girl literally waited until Mr. Darrow had come back with the books and signaled for him to come closer, as if she was about to tell him a secret. Her cheeks were already a rather rosy color, thanks to the self imposed embarrassment.
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Posted: Fri Apr 30, 2010 4:41 pm
Tony had been wondering why she wasn't speaking. He blinked at her, not getting her gesture at first. Canting his head to the side, he realized she wanted him to lean in, so he did.
"What is it?" he asked carefully, his voice soft and, it seemed, just between them. It seemed she wanted to tell him a secret, so he wanted her to know that he was good with them, at least.
He had to wonder what was making the girl so red, his green eyes noting the color before he looked down at the counter, leaning over so she could tell him whatever she wanted in relative privacy. No one was close enough to eavesdrop, anyway.
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Posted: Fri Apr 30, 2010 4:56 pm
If it was even possible, her voice managed to shrink even more. Yet, she eventually managed to inform the librarian of her new place of work.
"I start working at Elizabeth's Secret today."
Her eyes were already drifting down heavily onto the counter, already attempting to avoid eye contact like she always did when she got embarrassed. It was a really bad habit, and she hated doing it, but the dark-haired girl could never help it.
Eventually, her eyes attempted to look up again, but they simply just seemed to find themselves on his sling again.
"I... I'm s-sorry a-about your accident..." This was apparently the girl's attempt to change the subject. "M-may I ask w-what happened?"
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Posted: Fri Apr 30, 2010 5:28 pm
Tony leaned just a bit closer so he could actually hear her. He didn't think his ears were going, but her very light voice made him think he was much older than he was. Her answer, though, made him smile. He promptly tried to hide it, chewing on his lower lip as he pulled back, regarding her to see if she was kidding or not.
She didn't look like the type to make a joke like that.
"A thing like you at that place? Oh dear, I'm sorry," he said, smiling warmly and trying not to laugh. The poor thing, working in a store she couldn't even say the name of out loud. That was going to be so uncomfortable for her. But he offered her a reassuring look. "I'm sure it will be a good experience for you. First days are always a bit difficult, but just try to have fun."
He caught her glance and he nodded at her question, not seeming to mind.
"It was a bit... ah... strange. I was jumped in the parking lot when I was here a bit too late. My shoulder was cut, so I had to have some stitches and I wear this to keep things in place." He chuckled again, playing it off as no big deal. Tiger monsters, of course, didn't technically 'jump' people: they mauled them and ripped off the tops of their cars like opening a sardine can. All details he kept to himself.
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Posted: Fri Apr 30, 2010 5:57 pm
Mr. Darrow was being honest with her, so she could afford to be honest with him. She first listened to him politely, like a good girl should, nodding her head as she listened to the unfortunate incident that had happened to the librarian.
"W-well..." She backtracked slightly to address why she was working where she was going to start working. "I-it was kinda a last minute job... Mrs. Ortiga is sorta friends with Mommy... and I needed to get a job quickly...it was kinda an emergency..."
Where Mr. Darrow was able to play off things like no big deal, it seemed as if the girl wasn't able to do such. Even mentioning the emergency seemed to dampen her spirits enough that she grew really quiet (then again, when was she not quiet?) and her eyes almost seemed to glaze over from tears starting to well up.
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Posted: Fri Apr 30, 2010 6:04 pm
Tony felt bad for her, knowing that times were tough. He really didn't think it fair that she had to support her family, though he could hardly argue with the necessity of it. It wasn't that he was outraged, but that he found it a shame. Kids should be focused on school and having fun. Not working with such a heavy weight on their shoulders.
"Well, if you don't like it there, there's always a job at the library for you," he said, smiling his warm, honest smile once more. He was a nice guy, all told, despite some minor flaws in judgment and impulse control. He still cared deeply about people, and would do what he could to help, if he had the chance to.
Seeing her getting upset, he reached over with his good hand and pat her shoulder reassuringly. He had the paternal thing down to an art, though he never had any children of his own. He spent his time looking after those that came into his library, and that seemed to be enough for him.
"Don't you worry, things will work out and get better, believe me," he didn't press for information, seeing that it was hard enough for the girl to just think about things, let alone try and talk about them.
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Posted: Fri Apr 30, 2010 6:23 pm
The girl rubbed at her nose, which had started to grow slightly red from a sniffle that was stuck inside of it. Her eyes looked up at Mr. Darrow's when she felt the hand upon her shoulder, and somehow, she managed to find a tiny smile of her own creeping onto her lips.
"Th-thank you, Mr. Darrow..." She rubbed slightly at her eyes, completely thankful that she didn't wear any mascara. It would have probably gotten all messy thanks to her near-crying. She attempted a small laugh, but it fell a bit short of authentic and could easily be classified as half-hearted. "I promised myself that I wasn't going to cry today... I almost broke that promise..."
For a moment, Yvette seemed to remain in that little space of her mind that lingered upon her own thoughts and feelings, before her eyes finally found the books that the man had brought out. "Oh, I'm s-sorry! I d-didn't mean to distract you from your work!" Seeing the library books reminded her that she needed to check the time as well to make sure she didn't miss her bus. Tugging her sleeve up slightly so she could look at her watch, she found that she only had about 5 minutes left.
"Eep!!"
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Posted: Fri Apr 30, 2010 6:34 pm
"Oh!" Tony looked a bit surprised at her sudden 'eep'. He pushed the books toward her, offering her an apologetic smile.
"I hope I didn't make you late for something," he said, putting it together that people didn't normally look at their watch and then make that kind of a sound for good reasons. If she was running late, it was because he kept her to talk. He moved back from the counter, head slightly tilted.
"Say hello to your mom for me, okay? Send her my best wishes. And enjoy your first day at work!" He almost chuckled at the thought. He still could not imagine her in a place surrounded by those things, having to answer questions about them... in his head, things were liable to get very uncomfortable very quickly for someone there.
That's why libraries were safe, he thought.
Save when there were monsters in the parking lot or book shelves falling over.
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Posted: Fri Apr 30, 2010 8:20 pm
"Oh no no no no no! You d-didn't do anything bad. It's my own fault, really!" Yvette Weaver was infamous for blaming herself for even the smallest of issues. Now was no exception. The girl shuffled the books up in her arms and hugged them close to her body.
When Mr. Darrow told her to send his well wishes to her Mommy, she nodded her head and offered a tiny "Kay!" accompanied by a small nod. Before turning to exit, she added "I'll try my best! Hope you're feeling better soon too, Mr. Darrow!" With her small smile tucked away on her cheeks, the girl turned away and began to trot towards the door. She'd make it on time to her bus. Barely, but she'd make it on time.
It was never a good thing to start your first day at work by being tardy.
Never.
[FIN]
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