Chapter 7
Jeremiah went back to bed after Bailey departed, after kissing Jeremiah lightly on the mouth. “I’ll see you at the library later on,” he’d said before he went out the door. “And we can make plans for our next date.”
“Very well,” Jeremiah had replied simply. Bailey had smiled dazzlingly at him before walking out with a last wave.
The librarian cleaned up the plates and glasses, rinsing them in the sink and putting them in the dishwasher. Then he went and took a shower, before he crawled back into bed and read a book for awhile before he tried to go back to sleep.
He kept thinking about the fact that he was now dating Bailey Sheffield. The whole thing left him bemused. It occurred to him that for the first time in his entire life, he might have a boyfriend. Somehow, it had never seemed possible before this. Who would want to be in a relationship with him? He was an uptight, over serious, disapproving neat freak. Not exactly an attractive prospect for any single gay man. Yet Bailey wanted him so much that he’d kept pushing and pushing to get Jeremiah to go out with him. Why? He simply didn’t understand why the lawyer seemed to want him so much.
He decided, as he lay down and pulled the covers up over him, that he wasn’t going to worry about it anymore. Bailey did want him for some reason. So why should he look a gift horse in the mouth? He just needed to accept it and enjoy it while it lasted. He doubted that Bailey would be able to stand him over the long-term, so he’d just have to take each day as it came and enjoy being with Bailey until the lawyer got sick of him and dumped him as he was sure to do eventually.
With this decision in mind, he drifted off back to sleep. He awoke when his alarm went off, feeling refreshed. He got out of bed and went through his morning routine, as precise and controlled as ever. Then he walked to work, enjoying the early morning and the sounds of birds singing in the trees. He opened the library, catching up on little things like shelving returned books and wiping down the tables and the counter with furniture polish. Very few people came into the library this early in the morning, so he almost always had time to get these kinds of tasks done.
A young woman came up to the desk with a pile of books. She set them on the counter, giving him a wary look. Jeremiah pulled the pile toward himself. Then, much to her surprise, he said in a courteous voice: “These will be due in six weeks. If they are overdue, a fine of ten cents a day will be levied on each book until you return them. Here is a list of your books so that you can keep track of them,” he added, handing her a receipt with the list printed out on it.
“Thank you,” she said, giving him a wondering look.
He gave her the bag of books with a little nod. “Enjoy your books,” he said calmly.
She blinked, her mouth opening a little. Her eyes were rather wide. “Uh, thanks!” she blurted, then scurried out of the library as though somebody had set her feet on fire. He stared after her retreating back, then shrugged silently. He didn’t know what that had been all about, but he wasn’t going to worry about it either.
All morning, Jeremiah was puzzled about the strange reactions he kept getting from people who came up to check out books. He frowned slightly to himself as yet another patron stared at him like he’d grown two heads or something. What was wrong with all of them? It was baffling.
“Hey, Jeremiah!” a familiar voice called, as Bailey sailed into the library a little after one o’clock. The librarian lifted an eyebrow, but merely said: “Hello, Bailey.”
The lawyer grinned as he approached the desk. He folded his arms atop the counter and studied Jeremiah. “You look much better,” he said in satisfaction. “Do you feel better?”
“Yes, I do,” Jeremiah admitted.
“Good, good. So how’s your day been so far?”
“A little strange,” the librarian commented.
Bailey’s eyebrows lifted questioningly. Jeremiah drummed his fingertips on the counter a bit as he explained the odd reactions that people had been having to him all morning. The lawyer cocked his head when Jeremiah had finished. “Well, did you do something different today? Something that caused those reactions?”
Jeremiah frowned. “Not that I know of,” he said.
Bailey glanced around. “Hey, here’s come somebody with some books to check out,” he hissed. “I’ll stand over there and see if I can tell what’s causing people’s reactions. Okay?”
Jeremiah watched him step away from the counter, then a little boy and his mother came up to the desk. The boy had a pile of books in his arms. “Hi!” he lisped. “I wanna check these out!” he said importantly, handing the books up to Jeremiah.
The mother was eyeing the librarian warily. Jeremiah took the books from the boy. “Do you have a library card?” he asked the boy.
“Yeah!” the boy produced his children’s library card, and handed it up to Jeremiah. He took it.
“This should only take a moment,” he murmured, running the card under the scanner.
“K!” the boy watched him eagerly, though the mother still looked wary.
He scanned the books and put them in a bag. Then he reached out and picked up a bookmark with dragons on it, and handed it to the boy along with the bag of books. “These are due in six weeks,” he told the child. “And you can keep the bookmark.”
“Cool!” the boy cried, looking at it. “That’s awesome! Thanks, Mister!”
And there was that look again. The mother was practically gaping at him. Jeremiah’s brows drew down a little in puzzlement as the boy and his mother left the library, the boy skipping and chattering away at his parent as he swung the bag of books in his hand. He stared after them for a moment, then his eyes were drawn to Bailey’s face.
The lawyer was also staring at him, and the expression on his face was one of amazement and (startlingly) happiness. “What?!” he snapped, starting to get angry. Why was everyone looking at him that way?
Bailey shook his head. “Jeremiah,” he began. Then he stopped. “You really don’t see it?” he said.
The librarian glared at him. “See what?” he growled.
Bailey’s lips twitched. His eyes began to gleam. “Maybe I shouldn’t tell you this, because it would be kind of fun to keep you in the dark,” he teased as he approached the desk. “But…Jeremiah, you were NICE. You were nice to that child. THAT’S why everybody’s been giving you weird looks all morning, if you’ve been nice to them. They’re not used to that from you.”
He stared at Bailey in perplexity. He was torn between arguing that he had NOT been nice to everyone this morning, and wanting to argue simultaneously that he’d never been anything BUT nice since he’d started working here. But both arguments dried up in his throat, because he was self-aware enough to know that neither one was true. He hadn’t been particularly nice before this, and he’d been much more…pleasant than he normally was this morning to the people coming into the library. But why? What had precipitated this behavioral change?
Seeing the bafflement on his face, Bailey chuckled. “I’m going to take full credit for this, Jeremiah,” he murmured as he set his hands on the countertop and leaned forward a little toward the librarian.
“What do you mean?” Jeremiah demanded, eyeing him warily.
The lawyer grinned. “You’re nicer today because you’re happy, Jeremiah,” he told the librarian cheekily, tilting his head to the side a little. “And you’re happy because you decided to go out with ME. And that makes me really happy in turn,” he added, his eyes gleaming.
Jeremiah drew in a sharp breath. “That’s ridiculous,” he snapped, scowling.
Bailey winked at him. “Whatever you say, Mr. Librarian. Anyway, I’m gonna go get the Corner ready for the kiddies. I’ll see you a bit later, Jeremiah,” he lifted a hand before strolling away among the bookshelves, leaving the librarian to stare after him with an annoyed cowl still plastered on his face.
Jeremiah was so irritated by Bailey’s conclusion about his behavior that he tried to return to ‘normal’ (I.e. cranky, uptight, and lecturing) for the rest of the afternoon. His success, however, was only moderate. He could tell that by the started and/or amazed stares he kept garnering as the afternoon wore away. He gave Bailey a deadly black look as the lawyer sailed out the door at two-thirty, and Bailey only chuckled and waved at him as he went by. Made Jeremiah want to do something drastic to the little bastard. This was all his fault, anyway. He’d even said so himself.
At five-thirty he closed and locked the front door, then tidied up and walked to the back door. He found Bailey leaning against his car in the back parking lot, smiling. The lawyer straightened up when Jeremiah appeared. “Hey!” he called. “I thought I’d come and pick you up, and we could decide what we’re going to do on our next date. You want a lift home?”
Jeremiah folded his arms over his chest and gave Bailey the patented Super-Mega Dark Scowl, which had its usual non-effect on him. “I do not need a lift home,” he said darkly.
“I never said you did. I’m only offering so we can talk,” Bailey said in a wheedling tone of voice. “Come on, Jeremiah, you know you want to.”
He narrowed his eyes, but at last came down the steps and began to walk toward Bailey’s car. “If it would be all right with you,” he said stiffly,
“Perhaps we could stay in for our next date? I would enjoy cooking you dinner.”
Bailey stared at him. Then he grinned. “That sounds awesome! I’d love that! When do you want to do it?”
“How about tonight?” Jeremiah said.
“Are you sure you’re up to it? You’re feeling okay?” the lawyer asked as he opened the passenger’s side door for Jeremiah.
“I am fine. If you’ll take me to the grocery store I’ll buy what I need for dinner.”
“Sure! A home-cooked meal! Man, I can barely wait!” Bailey called happily as he loped around to get behind the wheel.
Jeremiah tried to suppress a jolt of pleasure that Bailey was so excited about eating his cooking, but he couldn’t quite do it. He was silently annoyed with himself as Bailey started the car. Clearly, deciding to date the lawyer was a terrible idea, and was having a bad effect on him. But there seemed to be nothing that he could do to prevent his own capitulation to Bailey’s dubious charms. Which was the most annoying thing of all…
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