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 Posted: Mon May 10, 2010 2:46 pm
Anthony Darrow was ready for another day at work. He was a bit banged up, and of course there was the whole 'no front desk' thing to deal with, but ultimately things would be okay. He had to have at least one good day among all these bad ones, right?
Right?
They had left a sign on a tarp that was covering the front desk area, where construction was going on. They had to rebuild the whole thing, and didn't want dust filling the whole entryway. The sign said that check outs would have to be handled on the second floor.
Tony was stationed in the periodicals office, which wasn't open like the front desk was. It was a windowed office, where patrons came up like they were ordering food from a roadside fast food joint or something. It made checking out larger books, which didn't fit in the hole, obnoxious.
But at least Tony felt a little safer in there, for whatever reason.
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Posted: Tue May 11, 2010 9:23 am
After her failed attempt to visit the bookstore, there was only one other place Ursula could think of that would have what she needed. At least, she hoped it would have what she needed. She didn't know. She didn't think to call - she was out and about as it was, so dropping by wouldn't hurt, right?
The library smelled of old leather. She hadn't expected it to - well, in truth she didn't really know what to expect a library to smell like. The last one she'd been in had been the one in high school and that one had stunk of the overwhelming stench of mothballs, thanks to the librarian Ms. Crabbits. But the Destiny City Library smelled of old leather, which was highly more preferable over old lady mothballs.
As she made her way past the front desk, eyebrows rose at the sight of the construction. Without a front desk, how was she supposed to...?
"Can someone help me?"
A perturbed library guest was quick to shush her, Ursula having enough decency to be shamed into silence. She traveled around the building (which was far larger than she had expected it to be), but despite her best attempt to browse through the various areas... she had no clue where she was supposed to be.
She wanted nothing more than to ask out again for help, but fearing the reprimand of even more guests, she kept her tongue silent. It was hard to tell who worked there and who was visiting, everyone wearing the same sort of ensemble. Slacks. Sweaters. Button-down shirts. These were the geeks of old, the nerds who would study in the high school library while she was out cheerleading for the football team. Now she was the one out of place, not them.
She studied her surroundings, silently praying she'd be able to recognize a worker. It took a few minutes, but finally, at long last, she discovered a figure lurking behind an office window.
Making her way towards the office, she once again found her voice.
"Excuse me, sir? I was hoping maybe you could help me find something?"
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Posted: Tue May 11, 2010 11:58 pm
Tony looked up when a woman approached the window, offering her a warm smile. He had to force himself not to stand up to greet her. At this window, the desk was low enough that he would look awkwardly tall if he rose, and he would have to stoop to reach the computer. The front desk had been taller, which allowed for him to stand and still use the computer without towering.
Oh, the front desk... he would miss it.
Still, thinking about the desk downstairs, what was, while in this office, the replacement, made him feel like he was comparing a new girlfriend to an old one. That thought, in turn, made him embarrassed about how he was equating the library to his love life.
Shoving these thoughts from his mind, particularly when Carol was lurking close enough that he might swear she could actually hear the wheels in his head turning, he focused on the patron. She looked fairly lost, and stressed in a way. It wasn't the first person who had come up to the window with that look, and it probably wouldn't be the last.
Everyone was out of sorts without the front desk. Another inner sigh from Tony.
"What can I help you with, Miss?" he said, hopeful that he might at least alleviate some of the worry that was in her eyes.
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Posted: Sun May 16, 2010 5:47 am
"I...erm, well, I..."
Ursula wasn't a word fumbler. Ever since her first word utterance, she was a girl who knew what she wanted and she went for what she wanted.
This, unfortunately, did not rank very high on the Want List.
He looked like a nice man. A kind, older gentlemen. He certainly fit in well with his surroundings (she wondered, to herself, if that meant he'd end up smelling of old leather too?) but the fact alone that he was a man left her slightly all the more uncomfortable with her current situation.
Drawing closer, she kept her voice low. "I need some books." Her cheeks lighting up with every word she managed to stammer out, "I need some books... on babies. Do you carry any? Books, I mean. Not babies."
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Posted: Sun May 16, 2010 9:41 am
"Of course, are you doing some kind of research pro..." he looked up at her again. She was not a student, he realized. His mind had been expecting them because he had been helping mostly students over the last few days. There seemed to be a lot of papers going on at the moment. but this woman was clearly not here to write one.
Judging by the color in her face, and the way her tone dropped.
"O-oh," he said, looking a bit bashful, "do you mean... pregnancy books? Like, ah, raising babies?" He chewed his lower lip, not meaning to embarrass her.
Children, in general, was a complicated topic. They were great to have, he was sure of it, and the feeling that came with being a father or a mother must be great. He was envious, really, of those who had enough of a family or home life to bring a child into the world. But the whole 'talking to pregnant ladies' or 'helping them find books on the subject' was not exactly his idea of a good day.
Still, he smiled reassuringly and moved to type something into the computer, running a search for her in an effort to help.
"Ah, yes, I think we have a couple. What... uhm... kind... you know, maybe I'll write down a few call numbers? There will be a lot of books on the same kinds of subjects in the area. You could browse?"
Unless she needed specific help, in which case he would have to get over his awkward, apparent fear of baby conversation and leave the safety of the office to help her. And he would, too, because that was his job and he liked to.
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Posted: Tue May 25, 2010 6:38 am
One hand rose and began to scratch absent mindedly at her neck as her head lowered, allowing her gaze to break away from his. Dark orange hair shifted forward, covering the hand on her neck.
"Y-yes."
Oh god, what could he be thinking? He was judging her, wasn't he? What woman needed books on these things - didn't they have friends and mothers to discuss this sort of thing with?
She could feel him staring and her cheeks flushed darker with embarrassment. She shouldn't have come. She shouldn't have come, she was clearly out of her element here and she was about to apologize and hurriedly make her way back out the front door when he moved to start typing things on the computer beside him.
Leaning over, she ignored the redness of her cheeks (and planned on blaming the warmth of the library, should he, god forbid, ask about it) as she did her best to watch what he was doing. He was fast on the keyboard, much faster than her on a good day, and words flew by in a blur as he typed in his search.
"Call numbers?"
Staring at him blankly, the small surge of hope that had begun to blossom within her quickly began to dissipate. What on Earth did books need numbers for? Organization? "Couldn't you just...show me?"
She caught herself and a hand rose. "I mean, if you're not busy, of course. If you could just point me in the direction, I'm sure I'll find them..."
Her voice died and she forced out a nervous laugh.
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Posted: Mon Jun 07, 2010 8:10 pm
Tony, of course, wasn't thinking any such thing. He didn't even think that she should be getting answers she needed from friends or relatives: in fact, he was certain the library was the best place for answers on any topic. Forever. Or at least, in his perfect world that kept libraries open and people like him in jobs they loved it was.
Matching her in redness, he smiled and tried not to laugh at the baffled way she repeated his suggestion back at her. So, no call numbers, then, he thought to himself. He didn't blame her: a lot of people didn't know what he meant when he tried to explain the library workings to them.
Sometimes, just explaining it got him all jumbled up. So it wasn't her, or anyone else's, fault on that front. He mostly blamed himself when the patron was confused: it was his job to make it clear, and make sure using the library was easy and enjoyable.
"It's alright, I'll show you where they are," he said pleasantly, feeling a bit more comfortable as he approached this as a normal search, disregarding the thoughts on babies themselves. He didn't have any, anyway, so he hardly had any basis to worry about them.
He wrote down the numbers for himself to reference, then made his way out of the office and around to where she was standing, offering her a smile. He always stood a bit awkwardly, unsure of his six foot and change height, and if it was overly intimidating or not. Then he remembered he worked in a library and owned a hamster, so it was fine.
"This way," he said, indicating with his hand for her to follow him, "I looked up some different ones. If these aren't the topic you're looking for, there are some more upstairs."
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