19. Chapter 19
Chapter 19
Ryan
A s soon as I arrived home after that bullshit meeting, I changed from the only suit I still owned, to basketball shorts and a t-shirt. All I wanted to do was sit here, drink my beer, and forget we were about to lose the library.
As much as I wanted to be pissed about the bullshit outcome, I half expected it. Small town politics had a tendency of being corrupt. The three council people were good friends with the mayor and the pastor, so I didn’t expect to win them over. Only a few people, and my friends, showed up after the email I sent from the library. Evidently the church also sent out an email and a large number of people showed up in support of the church taking our funding.
Not that the people in this town would care. It’d been this way for, likely, decades. As long as they got to continue to enjoy their personal lives, why would they care if the town had a library or not? The people who would care were children who couldn’t yet vote. The library was only useful when it came to internet outages for the handful of people who managed to work from home. But even then the cafe, which was owned by a council member, had available internet. I was sure they were thinking about the money they’d make selling coffee and treats to the people who needed to use their internet for work.
Losing our funding meant I would need to find some way to keep our doors open. Unfortunately, even if I gave up my salary - which was low considering the position - it wouldn’t be enough to keep the lights on. Even if everyone went volunteer status we couldn’t keep the lights on.
I failed, and it was a hard pill to swallow.
A knock on my door interrupted my wallowing, and I grumpily stood from my sofa while setting my bottle of beer on the coffee table. Opening the door, Trey, Levi, and Preston stood on my front stoop with a case of beer and worried looks on their faces.
Releasing a sigh, I gestured for them to come in and walked back to the sofa where I sat at the end. Levi took the other end, while Trey set the case of beer on the table before sitting in a chair. Preston leaned back in the recliner, looking about as bummed as I felt.
“Do you want to talk about it?” Trey asked.
“It didn’t go well. We’re losing our funding. I knew it would happen but hoped I might be able to change their minds.”
“Okay, do you want help coming up with solutions or do you want to bitch about it?” Preston asked, he had been there today in support of the library since Trey and Levi were booked with estimates to finish.
“I don’t have time to bitch, at the end of the next quarter all funding will stop. I need to come up with a way to save the library fast.”
“You could contact a bunch of authors to raise funds or have them post to their social media to raise awareness,” Levi suggested.
“You should have records of the most popular authors checked out from the library. You could contact them to find out if they’d want to help,” Trey suggested.
“I considered it, but for such a small town where only a portion of the population actually has a library card, I don’t know if the authors would be willing to help,” I said.
“We won’t know until we try.” Preston shrugged.
“So how do we get in touch with authors?” Levi asked.
“Maybe their websites and social media?” Trey shrugged before taking a sip of his beer.
There was only one author I could easily get in touch with, but she wanted to keep her identity a secret. Still, she might have connections and could help me reach out to other authors without revealing who she was here.
Leaning back in my seat, I scrubbed my hand over my face. I had told her the ball was in her court, so I needed to wait until she reached out to me. Depending on her answer, it could make things awkward. I’d have to be patient and hope I could figure out something else for the time being.
While the guys were doing internet searches on their phones and discussing different ways to get funding, I was half planning a job search. I didn’t want to leave, not with my sister, my friends, and Emily being here, but I might not have a choice. I needed to be able to survive.
Despair began to fill me, but I couldn’t give up yet. I’d go down fighting. I wasn’t only fighting for my job, but the life I built here and the life I wanted to build here. Fuck our local politics. I wished there was some way to make it so the library could never be controlled by the corrupt as fuck politicians and religious leaders in this town.
The guys didn’t stick around late after our short brainstorming session. I kept drinking - trying to combat the despair seeping in - and I was regretting the decision. I’d need copious amounts of coffee, ibuprofen, and french fries to get through this day. Unfortunately, I had to wait to get the third item until The Blue Plate switched to lunch. That was something I missed about living in the city - the ability to get anything I wanted at any time.
If I can’t figure out a way to save the library, I might have no choice but to return to a soul sucking job in the city again. Walking into the library early in the morning, I appeared rough due to a lack of sleep. After flipping on lights, turning on the computers at the front desk, and setting the heat, I stepped into my office to set down my things. Maybe I could hide in here all day and avoid interactions with the public.
“Well, don’t you look bright eyed and bushy tailed,” Betsy quipped as she stood in the doorway.
“Betsy, I can’t today. I’ve got too much to do.”
“I take it the meeting didn’t go well,” she said, ignoring my statement.
“No it didn’t and I have to find a way to raise funds to keep our doors open or it’s all done.”
“Well, you have connections. Whether you realize it or not. I’m sure you’ll figure it out.” She turned to leave then stopped and said, “By the way, Emily was here yesterday, and I think she was looking for you.”
My head snapped up, but she was already walking away. Was Emily’s answer good or bad? Would she agree to date me? How the hell was I going to get into a relationship with Emily when my time here might be limited?
Pushing my concerns away, I got to work looking through our records to find out who our most checked out authors were. My focus needed to go into contacting as many people as I could to secure funding to save the library.
Like clockwork, at eight forty-five my eyes lifted from my computer to look at the time. Normally, I’d be walking out of the office so I could be at the front desk to greet Emily when she walked in, except I was feeling like a massive failure. If her answer wasn’t good, I didn’t want to know it yet. It was better to live in ignorance.
Nine o’clock rolled by, and I forced myself to stay at my desk to continue going through our records to find out which authors were popular in our town. I began calling other library directors in some of the larger nearby towns and leaving messages. If I could find out popular authors in nearby areas too, they also might be willing to support us.
A few hours later, Betsy stomped into my office.
“What are you doing?”
Caught off-guard by her stern tone, I answered, “I’m trying to put together information so I can save the library.”
“Emily is sitting in that study room, waiting for you.”
“She is not waiting for me, she’s working.”
“With as many times as she’s peeked up from her computer and scanned the space, I’d say she’s hoping to see you.”
“Betsy,” I started but she raised her hand.
“Ryan, get over your shit and go talk to her,” Betsy demanded, pointing in the general direction of where Emily was.
She left no room for argument. I sighed and stood from my chair then walked out of the office. Betsy followed me down the hall and, reaching the front desk, she moved to sit at the computer while I shuffled my way toward Emily.
As I made my way across the library toward the study room, I avoided looking into the window, afraid I’d see an apologetic expression on her face because she’d reject me. Unable to avoid the inevitable, I lifted my eyes and they met hers. Her eyes glittered, the corner of her mouth lifted, and, suddenly, I wasn’t concerned I’d be receiving any type of bad news from her.
Unfortunately, I had bad news to deliver to her. Guilt overtook me knowing I’d have to reveal that if I couldn’t save the library, there was a good chance I’d end up leaving town. It wasn’t the right time to start a relationship despite my desperation to start one with her.