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 Posted: Sun Apr 25, 2010 6:12 pm
Jada never dropped anything. Not as long as he'd known her. If she'd dropped books, he'd never heard of it; if she dropped anything else, she was notoriously discreet. And she'd found out quickly how possessive he was of his chair. So for all her casual attitude, she was being very careful as she finished off her strawberry, watching him go to get the books.
That was normally her job. No longer; not for almost a month more, depending on when her lower back stopped having spasms. "I'm really sorry, Tony." it was silly, apologizing for it. But she was. She couldn't help but feel useless. The library depended on her to help out, and she was almost useless. "I can still push the squeaky-cart around." she gestured at the book-laden cart. The squeaky cart. Even though it never squeaked anymore, she still called it that.
Jada bit her lip, considering what Tony had said. "Is there anything I can do today? Maybe I'll do an hour or so and see how I handle it?" Thank god Tony wasn't flat out telling her to go home. She shouldn't be throwing herself into things the way she was, but she needed to. She needed to feel normal again as quickly as she could. You're ruined. Disgusting.
Only physically. Jada tilted her head, pushed to her feet and beamed at Tony, once again the girl he'd known for the last three years.
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Posted: Sun Apr 25, 2010 6:33 pm
The librarian was already shaking his head before she had even finished saying 'I can still'. Whatever it was she thought she could still do, she was wrong. He looked at her, holding a book in each hand.
"I don't think it's a good idea if you push the cart. Just stick to easy things. You can work the desk, if you'd like. Check outs. I'll handle the physical labor."
He smiled reassuringly at her. He really didn't mind it, since he was used to doing most of it when she or the other workers didn't come in, or were off, or no one had scheduled certain times. Generally in the morning. That was Tony's time alone with the library, mostly, save Carol.
He shuddered a bit.
Brushing the creeping feeling that had slid down his back off, he finished with the books and made to push the cart to the back room. "Anyway, you're better with the patrons most of the time."
That was probably a bit of a stretch. Tony was perfectly nice, and well liked, so he really had no basis for saying that he would do a lesser job than she did. He just thought that since she was closer in age to the students, who made up a good portion of visitors, she was just better suited to the job than he was a lot of the time.
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Posted: Sun Apr 25, 2010 7:28 pm
He shook his head, and Jada's face fell. "Pushing the squeaky cart is easy work. And I have someplace to sit down if I get too tired." she'd never had to beg for anything before. She wasn't starting now. She was debating. Not begging. "I can do checkouts today though." Meeting him halfway, an important part of negotiation.
It did sort of amuse her that Tony said she was better with the patrons. She wasn't going to argue with him. Each of them had their own particular brand of patron they were best with.
Even Carol.
"Let me at least push the cart back. I have to put the strawberries in the fridge."
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Posted: Sun Apr 25, 2010 8:01 pm
Anthony considered her for a long moment. A very long moment. He was scrutinizing her, taking stock of her condition in his head and trying to decide if she was good for it. She looked tired, but that was probably from heavy thoughts and even boredom. Sighing, he relented.
"Okay, you can push the cart, but don't go too fast and don't strain yourself," he warned, looking serious. He backed away from the cart, "and don't rough sort any of them! Some of the shelves are too high: you'll definitely pull something. Just push the cart back, but the strawberries away, and come back."
Even without practice, Tony had 'father' voice down pat. He know how to be stern and strict, and make his tone reflect that. He shook his head, hoping he didn't regret letting her have her way. Even if he was using his best paternal tone, he was essentially just giving in to her. And making himself feel better about it by making orders clear.
He went up to take her place at the counter, to deal with a man who had come up and rang the bell for service. Some people were very impatient. Glancing back at her, he nodded his head one more time, as if to drive his point home.
"Be careful."
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Posted: Sun Apr 25, 2010 9:45 pm
The older man looked Jada over for a long moment. During that moment, Jada felt like she was a horse up on the block, every inch of her being examined for some kind of imperfection that was yet to be determined.
He didn't seem to find it, instead allowing her to push the cart away. "Yes sir." she didn't mock him this time when she said it, face brightening with joy. It was something that she could do. She set the strawberries on the cart, putting both hands on the metal handle. "Thank you, Tony."
Jada smiled at his back as he turned his attention to the library patron. Gave a small smile, wrapping her finger around the handle and pushing the cart towards the back. "It's good to be home." she called it back to him, as she disappeared into the back.
The cart gave one little squeak as it passed through the door.
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