Page 35 of Love in the Stacks
I echo her sentiment and let my mind drift for my last few minutes at the reference desk. On Monday, Adam texted me a meme with a picture of a loaded baked potato and the caption:
“If you’re not happy single, you won’t be happy married. Happiness comes from eating potatoes, not from relationships.”
I texted him back: “Especially in tater tot form.”
Our earlier ease is back, and I’m relieved that I didn’t ruin our working relationship with my idiotic moment. Technically, I’ve known Adam since I started working here, I guess. But over the last four months of working together, I’ve seen another side of him. And he has seen other sides of me, too.
I inwardly cringe, remembering our embarrassing encounter after Soapbox a month ago. I don’t even know what came over me. I don’t want to kiss Adam. Do I? Yes, he’s handsome. And funny. And sweet. But I don’t want to date anyone. And if I did, I wouldn’t date a coworker who so obviously has a crush on me. My heart skips a beat and my stomach flutters. Of course, it’s silly to think about.
Just then, Samantha arrives to relieve me at the reference desk. I run to my office to grab my phone and then walk to the restaurant in time to meet Ashley.
We’re eating at a kitschy pub about a block from the college, popular with both tourists and locals. The pub is housed in what was once a home built in the 1800s in the Florida cracker architectural style. It’s supposedly haunted by the late owner who died of a broken heart when his wife, for whom he was building the house, left him for another man. At night, the pub is rowdy, but during the day, it’s a decent place to get a burger.
I see Ashley waiting for me on the front porch of the pub, and she smiles. We hug awkwardly, and she says, “I’m glad we’re finally doing this.”
“Me too,” I reply. When I met Ashley at Soapbox last month, she said she’d email me, but I hadn’t really expected her to follow through. I’ve had trouble making friends since moving here. Most people, I’ve found, are already pretty happy with the friends they have and aren’t eager to add more. I figured Ashley was just being polite.
But she did email, and we’ve been chatting back and forth for the last couple of weeks. She’s the one who pushed for us to meet up in person, and I’m grateful.
After we order and start talking, I find that Ashley is also not a fan of small talk. We launch right into a fairly deep discussion of the history of the pub and other ghost stories from around St. Anastasia.
“Have you ever been on the ghost tour?” she asks. I shake my head. “It’s fun! The tour guide is in character as a ghost, and the group walks all around downtown, learning about different spooky sightings and stories. We should go sometime! My fiancé, Paul, loves it.”
“Oh,that’s right!” I remember. “Adam said you were engaged. Tell me about Paul.”
“He’s dreamy,” she says with a goofy smile on her face. “We moved here together after I got the job at Harkness. We met in D.C.”
“And when’s the wedding?” I ask.
“This summer.” She grins. “I’m not teaching any classes, so lots of time for wedding prep.”
“What does Paul do?”
“He works for a tech company. He can really work from anywhere, which is nice. His job’s really flexible.” She pauses. “What about you and Adam?” she asks casually. “Are you together?”
“Oh no,” I quickly protest, my pulse speeding up. “We’re just friends. Well, coworkers. Friend-type coworker people.” Ashley gives me a strange look. I sigh. “I had a bad breakup a while back,” I explain, “so I don’t really date.”
“That’s too bad.” Ashley frowns. “Adam’s a really great guy.”
“Yeah, I know.”
Ashley looks at me skeptically. “You wouldn’t start dating again, even for a guy like Adam?”
“It’s complicated.” I shake my head.
She shrugs. “If you say so.” Then, after a few minutes, she hints, “You know, Adam might like the ghost tour too.”
“Maybe,” I allow. “I mean, no, he would definitely love that. But we’ll see.”
Before I’m ready, it’s time to head back to work. I still have a lot to do to get ready for the launch party in two days. Before partingways, Ashley and I exchange phone numbers and promise to do this more often.
I run into Adam again on my way back into the library. He’s alone, so his mom must have left already.
“Where’d you take your mom for lunch?” I ask him.
“The Seville Café,” he responds. “Do you know it?” I shake my head. “You know the old hotel building a couple of blocks from here that they turned into a museum? When it was a hotel, it had this huge indoor pool. The bottom of that pool is now the café dining room. It’s pretty cool.”
I gape at him. “That sounds amazing.”
