Page 23 of Love in the Stacks
I laughed. “Oh, no. I’m not telling you anything else. Until,” I allowed, “there’s anything more to tell.”
She chuckled and took my hand. “Okay, fine. Just tell me this. Is she the type that will get you out of the house? Who won’t let you miss out on life?”
“Yes,” I murmured, the word tumbling up in the breeze floating out to sea.
I meet Nicole in her office on Wednesday, the order list for the graphic novels in hand. I tell her that I placed the order already and the costs were pretty close to what we estimated in our original proposal.
“That’s good,” she says absently, focusing on her computer screen. She’s gotten her hair done in the last couple of days, I note. Still lavender, but the color is refreshed in stark contrast to the area around her eyes, which looks more fatigued than before.
“Yeah,” I continue. “The books should start coming in next week and then I’ll be able to catalog them.”
Nicole’s quiet, the usual light in her eyes dimmed. She droops in her office chair, her neck bent and shoulders sagging.
“Hey,” I prod. “Is anything wrong?”
Her eyes snap to mine. “No, of course not.”
“Are you sure?” If she deflects again, I’ll let it go.
“Okay,” she admits, her eyes trained on her computer screen. “I guess I’m a little down, a little lonely, after spending the long break with my family.”
“That’s hard,” I say gently. “It sounded like you all had a lot of fun.”
“We did.” She sighs wistfully. “My sisters can be a pain, but they’re my best friends. It’s hard being so far from them all the time.”
I stay quiet, hoping she’ll continue opening up. But instead, she shakes her head, her hair swishing back and forth, and affixes a fake smile to her face.
“Anyway,” she says. “How long will the books take to get here?”
Barriers back up. I let it go and answer her question.
“I placed the order today, so they should start trickling in next week. None were backordered, so they shouldn’t takelong to arrive.”
“Great!” she says. “As they come in and you work on the cataloging, I’ll continue talking to faculty members about plans to incorporate the graphic novels into their courses, and work on plans for marketing and programming around the collection.”
“For faculty members, does anything seem promising so far?” I ask.
“Yes, actually. I’ve talked to two different instructors who are pretty excited. Dr. Calder in the art department wants to do a whole unit in one of her courses about comic art, having the students look at examples from published works before they try it for themselves.” Nicole’s eyes sparkle as she talks, and I’m relieved to see the light returning to her face.
“That sounds amazing,” I say. “We could see if any of the students in her course are interested in displaying their finished comic art in the library—sort of an exhibit to go along with the collection.”
“Yeah, great idea. I’ll talk to Dr. Calder.” Nicole jots down a few words on the notepad in front of her. “I think that’s it for today, then,” she finishes, looking up at me.
I stand to leave, and to my surprise, she stands too, walking with me toward her office door. At the doorway, she places a hand tentatively on my arm.
“Adam?” she starts. She’s quiet for a moment and I wait for her to gather her thoughts. Finally, in an earnest voice, she quietly says, “Thank you.”
I meet her eyes. “Anytime,” I promise.
That afternoon, I check upstairs for Dr. Parker. His office door is open, and as usual, Beans is lounging near the desk.
I rap out a knock as I stick my head through the doorway. “I wasn’t sure you’d be here today.”
“Well, I try to get here every Wednesday, if I can,” he answers. “How was your Christmas?”
“Quiet,” I reply, taking a seat. “I visited my mom in Naples. How was yours?”
He chuckles. “Not quiet. All three kids came with their spouses and the grandchildren. We had a full house. Christmas morning was glorious! Toys and wrapping paper and chaos everywhere.”
