Corinthia had to interrupt the mutual admiration session by clearing her throat.“Looks like it’s still on order.Would you like me to put a hold on it for you, so you’ll be first in line to get it when it arrives?”
“Please.”
“Can you put a hold on it for me, too?”Stevie asked.“After Drew, of course.”
“Of course,” Corinthia said, wondering how people managed to flirt so easily.She’d dated a bit, but almost always on a setup from a mutual friend, and even then the matches never managed to ignite.“Did you want this one?”She held upAlien Space Lesbians.
“Nah,” Drew said.“I memorized it.”
“I’ll put it back for you then.”Corinthia finished checking out Drew’s books and stood up.Suddenly, a great crash arose from the stacks.“Excuse me,” Corinthia said, and hurried out from behind the desk in the direction of the noise, carryingAlien Space Lesbiansas she passed through the low bookcases of the reference section.
Local sculptures marched across the top of the bookcases.Corinthia particularly liked the pelican, the sea turtle, and something that resembled a multi-headed sea worm.Corinthia had spent a lot of time thinking about what that one might mean; looking up its actual meaning would have possibly been a disappointment, so she chose to remain in contemplative ignorance.
She rounded a corner of the shelves and found the woman in blue surrounded by a flock of fallen books.
“I’msosorry,” the woman said.“I was trying to carry too many, and…” Her hands fluttered.
“Not a problem,” Corinthia said, immediately stooping to gather books.She had to setAlien Space Lesbianson a shelf first to free both hands.
When they had both straightened up, the woman in blue picked up the sci-fi romance and admired the cover.“How lovely!”she said.She looked at Corinthia.“You’re alibrarian, aren’t you?”
She said it with the kind of solemn admiration people usually saved for doctors, the Peace Corps, or the clergy, and Corinthia’s cheeks warmed from the unexpected admiration.“Yes,” she said, unable to come up with anything more clever to say, or to flutter her eyelashes as Stevie had.
The stars in the woman’s eyes sparkled.“And didyouacquire this particular book for the library?”
“Yes,” Corinthia lied, helplessly.The county office made most of the purchasing decisions, but under the woman’s gaze Corinthia could not help but grasp at the halo of her approval, while secretly entertaining a shy hope that her own approval of sapphic romance would speak for itself.
“How lovely,” the woman repeated, as with one elegant finger she traced the contours of the cover art, and Corinthia somehow felt the touch run down her spine.“What’s it about?”
Corinthia looked down at the cover, hoping for a hint to help her brazen it out.There was the purple alien with scaly skin—and, Corinthia now noticed, a tiny set of delicate horns—and she held in her embrace an attractive but clearly human woman.There were stars all around, and they both seemed extremely happy.
“It’s a story,” Corinthia said, “of two women from very different worlds, who fall in love despite the odds.”She met the woman’s gaze, which was unfortunately like falling into a plunge pool where her feet couldn’t touch the bottom.She thrashed her way back to self-mastery and librarianship.“Did you want to check it out?”
The woman leaned in slightly, and whispered as if sharing a delightful secret: “I can’t.”She followed this up with a wink, which left Corinthia completely at sea.“I’ll just read it here.”
Stevie bounded up behind Corinthia.“I just came to see if you needed any help,” she said.“By the way, I’m Stevie!And this is Corinthia.It’s nice to meet you…” She looked at the woman in blue expectantly, and Corinthia had the vague impression that Stevie had not in fact come to help pick up the books but to help with something else entirely.
“I’m Rosemary,” the woman said.
“What an unusual name,” Stevie said, clearly satisfied by her own introduction ploy.“Isn’t that an unusual name, Corinthia?”
“No more so than ‘Corinthia,’” she replied, hoping Rosemary would not be offended.
“Then we have something in common,” Rosemary replied.“Nice to meet you, Stevie.”She paused, reserving a smile full of secrets for the librarian of Shadow Ridge.“And you, Corinthia.”
2
AfterRosemarydisappeared,Corinthiaand Stevie returned to the circulation desk.Stevie took a seat and bounced up and down in her chair like an overenthusiastic kangaroo.“Did youseeher?Did you see how she looked at you?”
Corinthia’s composure wrapped her like a weighted blanket.“I don’t flirt with patrons,” she said.“It’s not professional.Besides, don’t you have a snake to keep company?”
“Come on, Corinthia.She likes romance novels.You like romance novels.This isn’t difficult.”
“Romance novels aren’t real.”
“They sure are.I’ve seen the bookshelves at your house.”
“Yes,” Corinthia replied, severely.“Because books don’t disappoint.People do.”
