Page 74 of Love in the Stacks
Her eyes fill with tears again, but the smile on her lips steadies the thumping of my heart.
“Adam … Iamthere. I do … I love you, too.”
I lean down to kiss her—a slow, soft kiss I feel all the way down to my toes. Lifting my head, I grin at her.
“So, we’re agreed? Whatever happens, no matter what happens, we’re in this together. Partners?”
She lets out a giant breath of relief, her eyes shining. “That sounds perfect,” she whispers. Then, with a teasing expression, she adds, “You know the lyric is ‘where you lead’ not ‘if you leave’?”
I shrug. “Yeah, but my version fits better.”
We spend the next two weeks preparing for the hearing. I write up all my data as talking points. Nicole contacts faculty members who incorporated the graphic novels into their spring term courses or ones she’s already been talking to about their fall term classes. Amazingly, despite many of them being out of the office for the summer, five instructors offer to attend the hearing to speak about how the graphic novels are helping their students learn.
With a week until the meeting, Nicole, Herb, and I all sit in Herb’s office, each working on a different piece of thepresentation before we discuss fitting them together. I’m collating spreadsheets, humming quietly as I work.
But not as quietly as I thought because Herb glances up with a puzzled expression and asks, “Are you humming ‘Eye of the Tiger’?”
“No,” I lie, my face flushing.
Herb chuckles and shakes his head before turning back to his computer screen.
Listen, preparing for this hearing is as close as I’m ever going to come to aRockyThreemoment, and if I need to hum “Eye of the Tiger” to get pumped up, that’s what I’m going to do. Just maybe only when I’m in my office by myself.
Herb looks up from the computer again. “I do feel a bit like Rocky, though,” he says with a sheepish grin. “Training on the beach with Apollo Creed.”
Nicole stops what she’s doing and stares at him. Then she glances at me and frowns. “Who’s Rocky?”
I groan and remind myself that though Nicole is only a few years younger than me, her parents are an entire generation younger than my parents.
“It’s a movie,” I tell her. “A movie series really. About a boxer. We’ll watch it.”
Nicole grimaces. “We don’t have to.”
“Uh-uh,” I retort. “If I have to watchGilmore Girls, you have to watchRocky.”
“You loveGilmore Girls,” she returns, smirking.
Herb laughs and Nicole’s eyes go wide. She forgot he was here. I did, too, to be honest.
“Sorry,” we say at the same time.
Nicole clears her throat and takes a long drink from her water bottle. Herb looks at her sharply. “Are you okay?” he asks.
“Yeah, fine. My throat’s just been a little dry.”
By the end of that week, we have our talking points ready to go. I play the role of the board as Herb and Nicole rehearse a few times. Nicole’s voice sounds a little scratchy from all the talking, but otherwise she’s amazing. There’s no way she doesn’t convince the board and leadership of the value of the graphic novel collection.
I work the weekend and head home on Sunday evening feeling confident and optimistic. That feeling goes right out the window when Nicole texts me.
Nicole:
My voice is gone. I have laryngitis
Adam:
What???
Nicole:
