I dodge the potholes, not wanting to break a heel, and as quickly as I can, I head into the library, hearing raised voices as I get through the first door. An older gentleman, who I’ve spoken to a few times before, pushes past me, his face pale. “I’ll come another day.”
“Goodbye, Mr Wilkins,” I call out.
He doesn’t give me a reply. I head inside, finding Nora facing off with Marlene.
“It doesn’t tell me I have to find the books for people in my contract,” Marlene snaps. “It’s not my fault you are too lazy to look.”
“It’s called customer care. Look it up,” Nora snaps back, crossing her arms over her chest.
Rita hobbles over to me. I run my gaze down her khaki three-quarters, seeing no injury to her leg, but when I take a look at her ankle, I notice swelling. Her arthritis is playing up again. Before I can tell her to go home, she speaks up.
“Everyone bar the people in the café have left. Those two bickering for the past hour has driven them out. I’m going home, and if I were you, I’d close up early or you might risk losing visitors from coming inside ever again.”
I wince. “That bad?”
She rolls her eyes. “No manners at all, that one.”
“Rita, she’s a child. Well, a young adult,” I gently scold.
“Not the young’un. I’m on about that trollop you sit at the desk. Why she ever came back is anyone’s guess. Then again, not many jobs let you watch Netflix on your phone whilst customers are waiting to be seen.”
I nod, understanding the deeper meaning she’s telling me.
I have to fire Marlene.
It will be sad seeing her go, but a lot easier without her. I spend a majority of my days fixing her screw ups.
I bite on my lip as I watch them squabble back and forth. Maybe I could invite Uncle Max here.
Or Hayden.
I won’t need to fire her and hurt her feelings then.
Nora steps toward me. “You should fire her arse. I’d work here after school and on weekends if it meant saving the population and little kids from seeing her face.” She bounces on the balls of her feet as she comes to a stop in front of me. “And I’ll get to see you more.”
“Fire me? She can’t fire me. And if she does, I’m leaving right now, and with how you are dressed, and seeing that Rita has just left, you’ll need me.”
I sigh at the bite in her words. I was warned before going into this business or any business that there would be hard parts. And this is one of them.
For months now, I’ve been trying my hardest to help her fit into her role and with those around her. I’ve forgiven and let transgressions lie, knowing some people just need a chance. From her very first week I’ve had people tell me to let her go.
I should have listened.
I could have made it easy and invited my uncle or cousin to do it. They wouldn’t even need to tell her she’s fired. By the time they were finished, she’d beg me to let her leave.
“If you walk out before a shift ends or before your notice, I don’t need to pay you your contracted hours. It’s in the contract you signed.”
I had it put there after my last receptionist walked out and then expected to be paid for it. When she received the wages for the hours she worked, she was livid and it went to a mediator. In the end, I paid for those hours but made sure I put it in the contract for when I hired the next receptionist.
“You need a reason to fire me.”
“I have plenty. You sit at your desk doing nothing but looking at your phone, doing your nails, or reading magazines. I’ve tried for a long time to get you into the ropes of things around here but you’ve chosen to ignore them. Strike one,” I tell her softly. I don’t like upsetting people, don’t like hurting their feelings or being hard on them. “Strike two is your lack of customer care. Last week a mother complained because her daughter got a pair of your nail scissors.”
“That kid shouldn’t have been messing with my shit.”
“Your shit, as you eloquently put it, should be in the staff room in the back and not at your workstation.”
“It’s a bloody library.”
“And whilst I’ve just heard you confirm that this indeed a library, then you should know not to leave unlidded drinks near books or near the computer. I’ve told you multiple times not to drink with them close by. Strike three.”
She bares her teeth. “Then you can take this as my two-week notice.”
I beam at her and clasp my hands together. “To make it official, I need it in writing.”
She huffs, slamming down into her chair. She pulls herself closer to the desk and seconds later, she begins typing away.
Nora watches me with wide eyes. “Dude, you are a badarse.”
I lift my shaky hand out of Marlene’s view. “I’m trembling like a baby right now.”
She chuckles. “You did good.”
“I just hope I wasn’t too hard on her.”
Her lips twitch. “Nah.” She waves me off before glancing over her shoulder, smirking at the curse coming from Marlene. When she turns back, her gaze holds excitement. “Does this mean you’ll hire me? I could use the money since Dad won’t let me work.”
I bite my lip. “If your dad doesn’t want you—"
“It’s not that he doesn’t want me to, it’s just that he wants me to concentrate on school. And what better place than a library to do my schoolwork. I could do it here and still do everything you need me to. It’s not like I have tons of stuff I have to do at home.”
I think it over for a minute. “If your dad agrees, then you’re more than welcome to work here.”
She pumps her fist into the air. “Yes.”
I glance over her shoulder at Marlene, and when she meets my gaze, I begin. “We are going to shut the library early today. Finish with whatever you’re doing and then begin to close down.”
“But you said—”
“You’ll still be paid since it’s me closing.”
I don’t want to admit she’s right. With Rita gone, there is no way I can trust Marlene on her own. I had been surprised when she came back, especially since a body was found. But she didn’t seem to mind and found it easy to speak to the press, who had come in to ask questions.
The press aren’t the only ones who have come to the library. People have begun to use the place as a tourist location. We have mediums, ghost hunters and other forms of people checking the place out. After the first week of reopening, we told them unless they were here for books, they needed to leave. After that, our murder/mystery and true crime for sale section sold out. The café has thrived too, and we had to hire part-time staff to cover the traffic coming in and out.
A whistle followed by a cat call pulls my focus back to the present and I turn to Harriet and Olivia heading toward us. “Girl, you look hot.”
I run my hand down the forest green dress. “Thank you.”
For the first time, Nora takes in what I’m wearing and grimaces. “You have the wedding today. I forgot. I’m sorry.”
“It’s fine. And I’ve got plenty of time.”
“That’s not what I’m sorry for. I’ve met his family.”