11 #2
When Nora turned a corner at the graphic novels, she bumped into MC, who’d forgotten to move.
“Jesus,” Nora said, putting up her hands. “Are you stalking me?”
“What? No.” MC cleared her throat, not sure if that was strictly accurate. “Nice costume.”
“I thought you had an Explorations meeting to get to.”
“Yeah. In an hour. Just finishing some work first.”
Nora strode off to her desk.
MC wanted to retreat to her table, but she heard Joe’s voice in her head, encouraging her to be bold.
“I actually need help finding some books,” she said. “If you have a minute.”
Nora took off her hat and ran a hand through her hair. “Use the catalogue.”
“I’m searching by subject.”
“There’s a field for keywords.”
“Nora!” Lois called from circulation. “Do your job!”
Nora took a breath. “What subject?”
“Uh... the Byzantine Empire.”
Nora walked off to the stacks, MC trailing behind her yet again.
“Just some light reading?” Nora said.
“It’s research. For my novel.”
Nora stole a look at MC over her shoulder. “The novel that’s about getting some things off your chest?”
“Right.” MC swallowed. “I’m using history as a lens.”
“Uh-huh.”
“There’s this empress—”
“Theodora?”
“Yeah, exactly.”
“I should warn you, a bunch of authors have already taken her on.”
“Like Rebecca Sloane?”
Nora’s pace slowed. “You’ve read her?”
“I’m writing a response. So to speak.” MC gestured wildly with her hands. “Like, trying to do the emotional stuff, and the history, more realistically.”
“Why?”
“Because accuracy”—she gave Nora a significant look—“is important.”
“Not in fiction.” Nora slipped into a row in the back of the study wing.
“Okay,” MC said, a little hotly. “That’s your opinion.”
“I’m aware.”
“What do you think of her? Rebecca Sloane?”
Nora was too busy scanning the shelves to look at MC. “I think she’s maudlin.” She put her finger on a spine. “But her sex scenes are good.”
“I only wish they were, like, ten times longer.”
MC couldn’t believe she’d just said this out loud.
But it got Nora’s attention. Her eyes narrowed.
“So,” MC said, needing to regain control of the situation, “did you like Theodora’s Concubine ?”
Nora shrugged. “It wasn’t as good as The Vapors at Delphi .”
“Not even close.” MC leaned a shoulder against the shelves. “ Vapors had more of an equal power dynamic between the two women. In all her other stuff, it’s too predictable.”
“The princess or the general’s daughter has the upper hand,” Nora said, “but then the tables turn at the midpoint.”
“And it’s like, well, we know where this is going.”
“Right.”
“Whereas in Vapors they’re actually stuck in the same situation, even if their backgrounds are totally different.”
For once, MC seemed to have caused Nora to consider her response.
“That row down there is early Byzantine,” she said at last.
“Great. Thanks.” MC knelt to look at the spines, pulling out the first one and pretending to read the back cover.
“There’s also this one,” Nora said. “Though it’s more of a travelogue—”
The next thing MC knew, there was a sharp pain in the back of her head.
“Oh god,” Nora said, dropping down to her knees, “I was trying to pull one and another slipped out.”
MC gritted her teeth, staring down at an ancient tome about the Bosphorus strait, splayed open next to her foot. “All good,” she wheezed.
“It helps if you...”
“What?”
Nora reached out and took MC’s head between her hands, massaging the part of MC’s skull that was almost certainly shattered.
But after a moment or two, the pain dulled, the hurt lessening as it spread.
“Any better?” Nora asked.
MC relaxed into her touch. “Yeah.”
Nora kept rubbing. Her fingers were deft. Experienced.
“I’ve never heard of this technique,” MC said.
“I learned it in BJJ.”
“BJJ?”
“Brazilian jiujitsu.”
MC deepened her voice and did her best Neo: “You know... jiujitsu?”
“Stop trying to hit me,” Nora replied, a perfect Morpheus. “And hit me.”
MC’s heart skipped a beat.
And suddenly Nora’s expression softened, made her seem like a teenager again. Like the two of them were just lonely dorks who thought they understood the universe.
Nora must’ve sensed the slip, because a moment later, her hands were gone and her voice was brisk. “You’re fine.”
MC wasn’t fine. Not even close. She’d already known she was on dangerous ground, emotionally, with Nora. She’d already known that she found Nora attractive.
But in that moment, longing for Nora’s touch like it might complete her, MC realized she had it much, much worse than she thought.
“Everything okay back here?” said Lois, appearing at the start of their row.
“Yeah,” MC said quickly, just as Nora said, “I dropped a book on her head.”
Lois frowned.
“She did help me find what I was looking for,” MC said, casting a quick glance at Nora. “So, thanks for that. And sorry to not be seeing you at Explorations .”
“What’s Explorations ?” Lois asked.
“Nothing,” Nora said, just as MC said, “The literary magazine we did together in high school.” She cleared her throat. “There’s a meeting today. I’m filling in as the advisor for a little while, to help my brother out. I thought Nora would be a good resource.”
Lois looked to Nora. “Why can’t you go?”
“Because I work?”
“We’re closing early. Go help some teenagers.” Lois waved a hand. “And the girl you just gave a concussion.”
“I really wouldn’t be much use—”
“I think you would,” MC said. “The magazine was your baby.”
“Take care of your baby,” Lois said, then shuffled away.