Page 27

Chapter Twenty-Six

Kinsley

Waiting on the front steps of the newly renovated building, a strange sense of belonging washes over me. The last time I was here I kept my head down and eyes on the books I wanted to borrow. I used the self check out and didn’t engage with a single soul; it is surreal just how different this is from the last time I was here.

I shuffle impatiently on my feet. The library opens at 9am, when I glance down at my watch I see the time is 8.57, she should be here to open up any minute now. Moments later I see her, Sophie walks towards me with surprise written all over her face. She unlocks the large glass doors and tries to awkwardly hug me whilst I have a takeaway coffee in each hand. She is dressed in blush pink slacks and a white shirt, her short black hair styled in waves with the left side tucked behind her ear.

“What are you doing here?!” she exclaims.

“I brought you coffee — I thought I could follow you around and chat when you’re not busy being, Miss Librarian. I’ve been a shitty friend lately, well at least I think I have. I don’t really have any other female friendships outside of work to compare this to.” I give her a shy smile, holding out the coffee in offering.

“Kins, we don’t need to talk daily or catch up weekly for you to be a good friend. Life gets busy, I get it.”

I sigh with relief as she ushers me into the building. Glancing up, I see the library now spans across two floors. I assume the second floor mainly houses books, maybe a conference room or two. Sophie’s office and an information desk sits off to the right, a vase full of wildflowers brightening the space. Over to my left, there is another new addition – a small cafe, welcoming you with the comforting aroma of coffee. The space offers intimate lounging areas for people to read. My mind begins to drift, picturing myself curling up with a book.

Soph bumps me with her elbow. “If you’re going to show up with coffee and keep me company at work, you’re welcome to guilt yourself into feeling like a bad friend more often.”

“Noted.” I giggle, before taking a sip of my coffee. “So, what does one do at a library all day?”

“Well, today,” she says with a grin. “We gossip and drink coffee.”

We settle into the couches near the front of the library and Sophie keeps an eye out for anyone who might enter, meaning she will need to actually do some work.

“Okay, me first. I need to know why you and Jesse friend-zoned each other!” I shuffle closer to her. “I am very selective of the women I send his way, so come on, spill the beans!”

“We — we instantly hit it off like a house on fire; laughing, chatting and felt like we had known each other for years, you know?”

I did know, all too well. Jesse has this vibe and when you connect on that level with him it’s instant.

“It was more a best friend, brother and sister vibe. There is honestly nothing wrong with him and I will happily join you in the recruitment process for potential women from now on.”

We both burst into laughter.

“Okay, okay,” she says, composing herself. “What about you and Tanner? That seems to be going well?”

I give her a run down on how things are progressing with Tanner and the fact he dropped the girlfriend bomb when introducing me to his sister, which I’m still yet to bring up with him. This conversation leads into me staying at Jesse’s for the past three nights and the reason why; someone has been following me.

“You’re telling me someone has been following you, taking photos and could potentially be the same person who broke into the bar?” Sophie stands, throwing her arms in the air. I quickly tug on her arm, urging her to sit. “— and you’re just walking around by yourself? Wait until I see those boys, I’ll give them a piece of my mind!”

“Soph, shh. You’re going to make a scene!” I whisper-shout, smiling over her shoulder and giving an awkward wave at the cafe owner who is opening up for the morning.

“I’m not letting you leave here alone, what are your plans from here — for the rest of today?”

“Again, I am fine. Thank you for caring but honestly, I can look after myself. I have an opening shift this afternoon. I was planning on leaving here after your lunch break and going home to change, before making my way into work.”

She drums her ruby red nails on the side of her coffee cup. “I will take you home on my lunch break. I need to know that you’re safe and no other surprises are waiting for you when you get there.”

I roll my eyes. What’s that saying, my wife wanted a cat, so we compromised and she got a cat? Yeah, well that’s about how I feel at this moment.

People begin to filter into the library and I take a cart of returned books, setting off to put them back on the shelves. I pick up one of the remaining books left on the cart and instantly recognise the cover — Tomorrow, When the War Began by John Marsden — the first series I ever read as a pre-teen. Glancing between the beanbags at the end of the aisle and back to my returns cart, I decide that I’m not being paid for this anyway and if I want to sit and read, I can, right?

What feels like only minutes later, Sophie clears her throat. Only moving my eyes, I look up at her. “Do you need something?” I huff, “I’m mid page here.”

She laughs. “You’ve been missing for an hour and a half, I’m ready to take lunch. Do you want to check that one out, or?”

I stand, letting the pages fall together, closing the door on Ellie and her friends, leaving them to fight the war alone. “Oh, this? No, I have it at home, I just haven’t read it in so long — it missed me; we were getting reacquainted.”

A smile graces Sophie’s lips and we walk in silence, out of the library and to her car.

* * *

“See? Perfectly safe. No surprises here. I bet if you wave at that security camera.” I point to the one directly above the front door “Tanner will magically appear,” I say, throwing my hands in the air and spinning around in a circle.

“Why don’t I doubt that for a second,” she says and we both burst into laughter.

I place the two containers of Pad Thai, along with the plastic cutlery, down on the coffee table. We eat the takeout, which we picked up on the way here, and Soph harasses me about staying vigilant.

It’s not that I don’t feel threatened by what’s going on, I just feel as though we have enough precautions in place to keep me safe. Maybe my relaxed state of mind has something to do with the fact that I am looking for these guys, and if they want to place themselves in front of me, make my job easier, then so be it. I want to find them; to understand what happened to my dad and Kyle, and to seek my own justice for them both. Jesse disagrees. He wants to get the police involved as soon as we have enough evidence, but me? I would be happy to go all dark and twisted, and deal with them however I see fit.

Giving Sophie a brief hug, something I have had to come to terms with in our friendship, I promise to not stay in my apartment alone any longer than I need to be; then we say our goodbyes.