14. Jackson
14
JACKSON
I flopped onto the sofa. It’d been a long day at the library.
After my meeting with Jess about the cafe opening, I’d dived straight into planning the event.
The library was now closed for three days so that the bulk of the building work could be done. With all the drilling and banging, it’d be too noisy and messy to keep it open.
Theo used to work in property development, so thanks to his contacts, he was able to hire a team that could get the work done super quickly so we could officially open the cafe next weekend and start bringing in more cash. But the fast turnaround also meant that I didn’t have much time to get the event organised.
I spent most of the day creating posters and fliers on the library’s laptop so that I could get them printed up and distributed around town.
Then I spoke to Jess’s friend Sarah to fill her in on our plans. She was based in the Midlands and had a full-time job but helped out with the library’s social media whenever she had time, so she’d promised to start plugging the opening online ASAP.
And once Celeste had arrived around lunchtime, I’d met Maddie to discuss the biscuits and cakes we could have for the event.
Luckily Maddie said she’d planned to create some anyway because they’d been a big hit when she’d baked some for the library’s opening.
After that, I’d contacted a company about ordering some library merch, then drafted an email to D.D. Desire and her agent to pitch her visiting the library as part of her promotional tour.
Jess had made it crystal clear that I needed to find a way to bring her here, so I couldn’t let her down. I really wanted to make this library a success. Not just because I needed the job, but because I saw how much joy it brought to the members, customers, Jess, Theo and of course, Jane.
I’d only seen her briefly this afternoon when she came to drop off her copy of Office Delight . She literally handed it to me, then raced out of the bookshop.
Strange.
She wasn’t joking when she said her copy was annotated. There were hundreds of multi-coloured tabs sticking out of the edge of the book. And inside, multiple sections had been highlighted within an inch of their lives in different colours. Actually, it was probably easier to say what hadn’t been highlighted instead of what had.
There didn’t seem to be any notes to say what each colour tab or highlight meant, but I was sure I’d work it out.
Ideally I would’ve wanted to have read the book before contacting D.D. Desire, but luckily Jess was able to tell me what she loved about the book (without spoilers) and from there I was able to write a paragraph that made the email sound more personalised and passionate.
If Jane hadn’t been so busy this afternoon, I would’ve asked for her thoughts too, but every time I passed the hall, she was with a member and I had to make sure the email got sent before the end of the day.
Although I was shattered, it felt good that I was making progress. The role was originally supposed to just be part-time, but since they’d hired me, apart from last Sunday when the library was closed, I’d worked every day.
Obviously I wouldn’t get paid for this Monday and Tuesday when the library was closed, but I still planned to do some stuff in my own time.
Tomorrow was Sunday, so I planned to work on the event and make a shortlist of merch items we could order to present it to Jess next week.
And if I could keep my eyes open for long enough tonight, I’d like to start reading Office Delight so that when I followed up with D.D. Desire’s agent I sounded like I knew what I was talking about.
Just as I was about to think about what to make for dinner, my phone rang.
When I saw that it was Marcus, my heart rate picked up. I’d messaged him earlier to see if he had an update on the video.
‘Hey,’ I answered. ‘How’s it going?’
‘Good, just knackered.’
‘Same,’ I said .
‘Yeah? I thought you just sat around reading books all day and staring into the hot librarian’s eyes!’ He laughed.
‘Not funny!’ I tried to stifle a chuckle. ‘It’s not as intense as working in M&A, but there’s still a lot to do. We’re opening a cafe next Saturday and I’m organising the event. Plus my boss signed off on a silent reading party the following week too.’
‘Whoa. That’s not a lot of time.’
‘I know. But the sooner we open, the sooner we can generate extra revenue, so the builders are pulling out all the stops.’
‘What kind of marketing are you planning?’
‘Social media, posters, leaflets, that kind of thing. We don’t really have a marketing budget, so everything has to be done on a shoestring.’
‘I hear you. Do they have a newsletter?’
‘Don’t think so.’
‘That’s a low-cost form of marketing too. You should start collecting email addresses so when it opens, you can email to let everyone know. And include a special offer or something.’
‘They should already have the members’ email addresses, so I’ll look into that.’
‘And run a competition on social media with a prize—something simple like a book bundle so you can get non-members to sign up and expand your reach.’
‘That’s a great idea! I’ll talk to Sarah about setting that up.’
‘Who’s Sarah?’
‘She’s the woman who does the social media remotely. She’s a friend of Jess’s. ’
‘Got it. So…’ He paused. ‘I put the video live this morning.’
‘Yeah?’ My heart started thumping in my chest. ‘And? How’s it doing?’
‘It’s early days, so not much to report yet.’
‘Have I had any views, followers or subscribers?’
‘It’s not even been up for twenty-four hours yet, so give it time. I’m going to set up a couple of social media accounts to help drive traffic there. Don’t worry. I’m on it.’
‘Thanks, man. I feel bad about you doing all this work for me, though. Especially when you’re so busy yourself right now.’
‘I’m not doing it for you. I’m doing it for your mum. She was always good to me.’
I swallowed the lump in my throat. Mum loved Marcus. She said he was like the second son she never had.
‘I appreciate it. What can I do to make things easier for you and help get this off the ground quickly? I don’t have much time to get the money together.’
‘I know. If you really want to speed things up, there’s two things you can do.’
‘Name them,’ I said as I got up and headed to the kitchen to make a start on dinner.
As I flicked on the light switch and took in the sight of the room, my stomach sank. I hated coming in here. It reminded me of how much work had to be done to this place.
The beige cupboard doors were so dated. Both the wall and floor tiles were chipped and there was damp in the corner by the back door. No wonder this place hadn’t sold yet .
It’d been on the market for a year. When I realised Mum would have to go into a home, how much it was going to cost and that she couldn’t get any financial support, I didn’t have a choice.
I hoped that by selling the house, I could use the money to pay for Mum’s care. But Shamwick had been a shithole when we’d moved here almost twenty years ago and since then it’d only got worse.
It wasn’t like Sunshine Bay, which was the kind of idyllic place that everyone wanted to move to. Shamwick was where you came to live if you were desperate.
So trying to sell a house which needed a lot of work done, in an area which was about as desirable to live in as a sewer, was proving to be a challenge to say the least.
‘First up,’ Marcus said, snapping me out of my thoughts, ‘you need more content. People need to know that your video wasn’t just a one-off. They need a better feel for your brand and what to expect from it. And that’s hard to do with just one video.’
‘Okay, I hear you. The library’s gonna be closed for a few days, so I’ll have more time. I can fit those around my visits to see Mum.’
My stomach tightened. It felt kind of sick that I’d be going to visit Mum, then I’d be coming home to shoot videos of myself dry-humping cleaning tools. But it had to be done.
‘Good. Try and do at least half a dozen.’
‘That many? Okay. And the second thing?’
‘You’re not gonna wanna hear this, but you’ll earn money much faster if you get your dick out.’
‘What?’ I shouted. ‘I thought you said I could earn money without getting naked. ’
‘You can. But it’ll take longer. People will be more willing to subscribe and pay more if they know they’re gonna get to see your cock.’
‘No.’ I shook my head, even though I knew he couldn’t see me. ‘It’s already difficult enough doing this wearing a shitty G-string. Putting my cock on the internet is taking things way too far.’
I knew lots of people stripped for money and that was their choice. Each to their own and all of that. I didn’t mean to sound judgy, but Dad would be so disappointed. Mum too. She didn’t work her arse off, make so many sacrifices or help me get a place at Cambridge so that I could flash my dick online. I didn’t want to let either of them down.
‘I hear you and I respect your decision, but you asked me what would help, so I’m just telling you. Listen, do some more videos with the G-strings and let’s see how it goes. Okay?’
‘Okay. And thanks again.’
‘Thank me when you start earning decent money. I better go. But I’ll update you when I have more news.’
‘Cool.’
‘Talk soon.’
As I ended the call, I blew out a breath.
My head felt like it was being squeezed in a vice. I was under so much pressure.
Pressure to find the money to pay Mum’s care fees.
Pressure to sell this house.
Pressure to help the library generate more income so that I and the whole team could keep their jobs.
It was a lot.
And I didn’t know how to deal with it .
So after I’d set some pasta to boil on the stove, I went into the hallway, reached inside my jacket pocket and pulled out Jane’s copy of Office Delight .
When reality became too much, reading was the one thing that helped me to feel better.
And right now, I needed some escapism more than ever.