Since my last post was about Reedsy and all of its wonderful benefits, I took my writing prompt from their collection. Enjoy!
Angie tapped her fingers against the desk, staring down at the librarian in boxy glasses who slowly typed at her boxy computer.
“Well?” She asked, impatience creeping into her voice. “Has it been returned yet?”
The librarian looked up, her own exasperation evident. “No, dear. It has not.”
“And are you going to buy a new one?”
“It hasn’t been long enough to justify, and the Denton County library budget is as big as you New York people are used to.”
“Well, I’m going to cancel my hold. I can’t wait any longer.”
The Librarian rolled her eyes. “Certainly dear.” She pushed her horn-rimmed glasses back up her nose and began slowly typing away once again.
Angie couldn’t justify standing in front of the librarian any longer, but her anger hadn’t yet subsided. This text was essential to her research, which was essential to her master’s program, which was essential to getting her out of this godforsaken small town and back to the city she loved.
But someone here had the audacity to hold on to the only copy four weeks past the due date.
Just as she had rapped on the dark-wood counter one last time, preparing to turn away, the library doors opened and a young man stepped in.
He had sandy hair, long and shaggy around his ears. He wore a loose, green and blue flannel over a white t-shirt and brown corduroys. His boots looked dusty as if they genuinely saw the earth, not just a sidewalk.
And the librarian lit up at the sight of him. “Don! You sly rascal. I was beginning to think you’d never turn back up.”
He winked at Angie before gently sliding into her place, leaning his arms on the counter and grinning at the librarian. “Howdy, Mabel. You missed me?”
“Oh kid, you know I did.” The librarian, apparently named Mabel reached up to take a book from him, which is when Angie realized she had been staring. Then she registered the title of the book and immediately stepped back up to the counter.
“Ma’am, that’s the book! I would like to check that out please.” Even though she had just learned her name, Angie didn’t feel comfortable using it. It was too familiar, and she was anything but with this place.
Don looked at her, his casual posture unaffected by her sudden closeness. “You read philosophical treatise?”
“And you horde them?” She shot back.
“Mabel knows I’m notorious for holding onto books too long.” His grin could be described as infectious, but Angie wasn’t inclined to return her own smile. “By the way, doll, how much do I owe you this time?”
He pulled a wallet out of his pocket, just as hard used as his boots.
Mabel looked up from her clacking keyboard. “Oh, Don. You don’t have to worry about that.”
“You know I’ll pay. Gotta help you keep your job.”
She turned back to the computer, her eyes narrowing. “Well, I’ll have to check. It will take a minute. This new-fangled system is so gosh-darn slow.”
“Can I at least check it out so I can go…” Angie tried, but Mabel cut her off.
“You’ll have to wait. I need to check it back in first.”
Don rolled over so only one arm rested on the counter. He looked at Angie with the narrowed eyes of curiosity, his tongue pressing his bottom lip. “I don’t know you.”
“You don’t know everybody.”
“I do here.”
Angie rolled her eyes. “I’m a student. At Denton University.”
“You come from somewhere?”
“Everyone comes from somewhere.”
Don threw back his head and laughed. “You’re difficult, lady! I’m just trying to be a gentleman. You look like a big city girl if it helps. I know you’re from somewhere far, far away.”
Mabel chose that moment to add to the conversation. “She’s from New York, Don. Leave her alone. She bites.”
Angie scowled. “If I could just get my book, I’ll be on my…”
“Ah, ah, ah…” Don cut her off. “New York huh? They make ’em pretty on the east coast.”
Angie blushed, despite herself. She didn’t think anyone looked pretty in the fluorescence of taupe and brown scheme libraries. This one hadn’t been updated since the sixties, and thirty years of dust and book glue and seeped into the air, probably making Don hallucinate.
Angie had brown hair that she kept in a long bob with bangs. Her tights hid her legs under a patterned skirt, and her brocade vest and green turtleneck hid her upper half. She wasn’t dressed to impress. She had to meet with her professor in an hour to discuss why she needed an extension again. Professor Embry had accused her of asking for extensions because she liked the town. No one could like the county seat of Denton. It had two restaurants, a bowling alley, and a one-screen cinema for entertainment.
Why the greatest philosophical mind had decided to squirrel away his research here, she didn’t know.
Don gave her a quick once over. “How long are you here for?”
“Until I finish my thesis and Professor Embry says I’m released from the program.”
“Embry? That’s your professor?” Don whooped like he was watching a hog race. “Good ‘ole Embry. He’s my godfather!”
“You don’t say.” Angie looked at him again. She hadn’t taken him for Catholic. Who else had godfathers? Lutherans? Presbyterians?
“I’ll have to come visit you at the university sometime. I’ve been meaning to get enrolled but,” he shrugged. “Too much work to do.”
Angie nodded. He was very nice. More than that, he was nice to look at. She refocused on watching the Librarian type the book’s barcode one digit at a time. She felt hot. Had it gotten hot in here? Oddly, she couldn’t think of a thing to say.
Then Mabel stood up, book in hand. “Don, you owe seventy-five cents in late fees.”
He tossed two dollars down on the counter. “Keep the change.”
“Sweet boy.” She swept it off and into a cash box before turning around and walking away.
“Uh, excuse me? I want that book!” Angie nearly jumped over the counter.
Mabel lifted the counter at the opposite end and walked out. “You don’t have a hold. I have to shelve it, it’s protocol.
Don nodded. “Mabel is very serious about protocol. It’s why she won’t go out with me.”
Mabel chuckled. “Oh Don, you’ll get me in trouble.” When she saw Angie again, she frowned. “You have to give everyone else a chance to get it from the shelf too.”
Angie huffed, aware that Don was chuckling at her behind her back. “Well, then I will just go with you.”
“Me too!” Don pushed off the counter. She was relieved he could stand by himself with no support. Then he rested a hand on her shoulder as he walked past; “Don’t take Mabel too seriously. She hardly likes anyone.”
Mabel’s voice cut through their stare. “Hello, Jack! How are you doing back here? Can I get you anything? I think the break room still has coffee.”
“No, Mabel, I’m fine, I’m fine.”
Don nodded, his eyes mischievous. “I guess she hardly likes anyone who isn’t nice to her.”
“I wasn’t mean!” Angie protested. “I just asked her to do her job.”
“That was probably your problem. New York manners probably. You’re all a rougher crowd out there. But here? We’re friendly. We don’t ask people to do their jobs in a rude way.”
Angie started walking again, headed for the philosophy section where she assumed Mabel was hiding the book. “I’ll keep that in mind if I’m ever in town again.”
They walked together, passing Mabel on her way back. She gave Angie a withering stare, which she was starting to feel bad about. When they made it into the stacks, she reached for the book at the same time he did, their hands brushing. She wasn’t sure if it was the shock from the contact or the surprise at seeing his hands there, but she pulled her hand back into her chest like she’d been stung.
“What are you doing?” She asked.
He flipped open the book and glanced over a few pages. “I’m thinking about checking it out again, I didn’t get to finish it.” Then he glanced down at her face and shut it quickly passing it to her. “I’m only joking. I was getting it down for you.”
Then he leaned over and kissed her cheek, his barely-there stubble sending shivers down her spine. “I’ll see you around.”
As he disappeared around the stacks, Angie felt her heart flip. Something had just made Denton County a little bit more interesting.
Author Renee Savage 
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