one?” he inquired.
“That would be Miss Delaney, oh yeah, she’s still with us. You got your eye on her do you?”
“I wouldn’t mind sharing a bathroom with her again. Of course, if that's okay with you?” he said, with a wink.
“Don’t make no never mind to me who shares what, long as I get paid,” she quipped, motioning for him to pick up his bag and follow her. “The room you were in before is now occupied, some accountant staying in there, but you can have the one that the newlyweds were in, just changed the sheets and cleaned it up fer ya.”
“I’m much obliged. When do I get some of that special fruit salad of yours?” he said, lightly tapping her on the bottom as she turned to walk out of the room.
“You devil, teasing an old lady when all you're really after is her fruit salad,” she said, shaking her large, round bottom at him. “Dinner is at 6:30 sharp. See you then.”
* * *
The remainder of the librarian's day passed as most did, kids and adults coming and going from the library. Blanche had instituted a new afternoon reading program for preschool aged children that she was very much enjoying. Throughout the week when she had a few spare minutes, she would browse the children’s section, looking for books that might entertain the little ones, then on Friday afternoon at 3:00 p.m. parents were invited to bring their children for a reading of these selected books. The first couple of weeks the attendance had been limited but today she had to ask Mr. Marcus to bring in additional chairs for the adults and mats for the children. She enjoyed looking out at the smiling, beaming little faces that were just now learning to have a love of literature.
Today she had chosen, ‘The Marvelous Mind of Marlin Marsh’ written by H. Broby. She held the book so the children could see the colorful illustrations as she read each page, exaggerating the key words, and changing her voice to the delight of the children. A sense of accomplishment and joy filled her heart as the young parents thanked her at the end of the session. Telling her how much their children were enjoying these special Friday afternoons. Blanche couldn’t help but wonder if one day she’d have a chance to share her love of books with her own small children.
As she was cleaning up the area, she noted that Marcus was hauling a ladder up the stairs, again heading to the second floor. “Now what are you up to?” she asked.
“Oh some knucklehead has tampered with the alarm on the fire exit door and I’ve got to see if I can fix it before next week. Always gotta be some idiot making more work for me,” he grunted.
“Is it still safe, I mean the door?” she asked.
“Shouldn’t be used at all except for a fire, but the door still works, just has an alarm that sounds when you open the door, but that’s not working till I can see what’s wrong with it.”
“Let me know if you’re able to fix it, otherwise, I’ll need to speak with Ester about it, okay?”
“Sure, I’ll see what I can do.”
Six o’clock rolled around much more quickly than Blanche had expected. Marcus had stopped by the desk shortly before going home for the day, informing her that the alarm was not repairable, and he’d have to order a new one the beginning of next week, but he’d put a sign by the door indicating that it was not to be used except in the case of an emergency. The door led to a small landing on the exterior of the building, with a slide type shoot that extended to the ground below, specifically designed for fire escapes only.
The evening dinner guests were already seated around the table when Blanche walked in the door from work. She tried to slip by without being noticed so she could get to her room and prepare for her evening with Seymour, but she heard Caroline call from the dining room.
“Blanche, that you dear?’ her voice echoed through the empty foyer.
“Yes Caroline, I’m just hurrying up to my room, going out tonight and need to get ready,” she called back, still moving to the stairs.
“Come here for a minute will you, someone here that would like to say hello. We’ll make it quick.”
The annoyed young woman moved to the dining area, leaned in and said, “Hello everyone, sorry to be interrupting your dinner. What was that you were saying Ms. Carmichael?” Then just as the words left her mouth she saw him sitting among the other guests, 'Clueless Wonder'. “You have got to be kidding me,” she thought.
“Mr. Unger has returned for another few days and he wanted to say hello,” Caroline said, awaiting the response from Blanche, as was Mrs. Muir.
“We thought you’d be anxious to say hello as well,” Mrs. Muir included trying not to snicker.
“Miss Delaney,' he said, lifting his hand to wave slightly.
'Hello again,' Blanche managed, without being rude.
'I hope you don’t mind sharing the same floor and bathroom again, even appears we’ll be sharing a wall, hope you don’t mind. I was wondering if we could start off, this time around, on better footing,” Felix said, trying to win her over.
“I guess I don’t mind sharing the bathroom, but could we have a more workable arrangement this time. Would be nice if we could have a compromise,” she said, trying to stand up for herself.
“Sure, whatever you want, you name the time you need the facilities in the morning and I’ll work around your schedule. How would that be?” he said.
“Uh, I would appreciate that and thank you. Let’s say I start at 6:00 and I shouldn’t be longer than 20 minutes. That okay?” He wanted something and she knew it.
“Perfect, then we can have breakfast together at 7:00. You’re headed out tonight?” he probed.
“Yeah, going out with a friend from work, so better get ready. Have a good evening everyone,” she said, as she pulled away from the door jam and hustled up the stairs to the safety of her room.
“That guy just makes me feel like I need to shower,” she thought, as she touched up her makeup, brushed her teeth and ran a brush through her hair. She was uncertain of what she should wear so she left her work attire on, didn’t want to make too bold of a statement on their first real date. She sat on the bed and waited for Seymour to arrive, the words of both Marcus and Mrs. Wood played through her mind, bothering her, “Was nine years too many? Was she robbing the cradle?”
She weighed the answers until she could hear Caroline shouting from down the stairs, “Blanche! Miss Delaney, your young friend is here,” heavy emphasis on the ‘young’ or at least her ears heard it that way.
Blanche took one last look at herself in the mirror, quickly ran her tongue over her teeth, and smiled at the image looking back at her. For one of the few times in her life she was quite satisfied with who was looking back, a more self assured, happy version of Blanche D. Delaney, librarian, daughter and now hot, older girlfriend.
The scene that awaited her at the bottom of the stairs both startled and delighted her. Seymour stood near the last step, looking upward, awaiting his date. Mrs. Muir and Caroline stood a few steps behind him looking the scene over, wanting to see the reaction on Blanche’s face when she saw the handsome Seymour. The young man, an ear-to-ear smile on his face, held a beautiful bouquet, vibrant yellow and orange flowers interspersed with pale pink roses, tightly clutched in his right hand, and a delicate corsage, matching the arrangement in his left.
When he saw his date his face lit up as if it were Christmas morning, “I couldn’t decide which would be more appropriate for a first date, so I got both. Hope it’s okay.”
“It’s more than okay,” Blanche said, one hand brought to her neck, the other to a cheek.
“They call this arrangement ‘Autumn Beauty’, kind of reminded me of you and your hair, so I’m glad you like it,” he said, still glowing, but lost in the beauty that was her.
Seymour stood in a suit that was slightly too small for him, a matching tie that was poorly tied, and a pair of shoes that were a bit outdated, but looked like they’d only been worn a few times. He was remarkably handsome tonight, the dimple in his left cheek made her heart skip a beat.
“I feel a little under-dressed. Should I go change into something more formal?” she hesitated, coming all the way to the bottom of the stairs where Seymour and the old hens were clustered.
“No, no, you look amazing. Don’t change a thing. I just wanted to make a good impression so I pulled out this old thing. Fits a little small but my mom thought I looked good enough, so here I am,” he said, not taking his eyes off Blanche.
“Are you sure? Would only take me a minute. Really, is this okay?” she said, motioning to the cotton shirt and dark slacks that hugged her curves.
“If you were wearing a torn t-shirt and ragged jeans you’d still look just as beautiful, so I’d say we’re good to go.”
“Hope you’re a better student than liar,” she said, finally meeting him on the bottom step. Standing on the
