Chapter 1
Hallie Robinson arrives with an iced mocha coffee in her hand, keys to her library, and the smell of fresh books. She is the local librarian in East Knoxville, Tennessee. It was a beautiful Monday morning. The sun hitting the windows just right and the world sitting quietly in her own world. She saw several new book order arrivals and her mind remembered from the night before that Roxie Hart would be releasing her latest A Little Bit of Hope with characters Ariel Dixon and Isabel Cox. A sapphic romance that she had waited for, for about three to six months because Roxie Hart doesn’t slow down when it comes to releases.
Hallie puts her iced mocha coffee down at her desk with her favorite little cup holder that she installed when she got hired in. She headed over to the new book arrivals and saw that Roxie had only five books sent to her, which was odd. She usually had stacks. Then she saw a small poster at the bottom of the box.
Roxie Hart is coming to Strawberry Plains Public Library by August 7th at 10am to 5pm for book signings and to talk about her latest release. Extra copies of A Little Bit of Hope will be heading in for the next three months.
Sign,
Roxie Hart & team
Hallie squealed with joy and looked over the small stack for now. That means, she would have to make a proper order for more because people in her area know about Roxie. It is going to be a huge turn out for her library. Then her mind slowly reeled in the fact that if Roxie is bringing books to sign then she only lends out what she has with hopes no one actually wants to buy them because some readers are known to do that. She will have to mark them as borrowed only, not to buy and that they would have to go through channels to buy on their own.
Hallie took the books to the desk then stamped them with borrowed only and then went to place them on the shelves next to Roxie’s other books. She went back to the box to put the poster on the board in the entrance way. Then she settled back at her desk signing in and organizing for the books that were returned while enjoying coffee. She knew that she had to stay calm. Before she could get through her whole stack of returns, her co-worker friend Joan Davidson comes in with Alice Myers with both side-eyeing Hallie with looks of curiosity.
“Girl, you look like you could burst. What is going on?” Joan asked in her polite way.
“Yeah, why are you so giddy and unable to sit still?” Alice asked with a raised eyebrow.
Hallie tried to take a deep breath to calm but she couldn’t.
“Roxie Hart is coming to our library!” Hallie replied with a squeal in her voice.
“Out of all the Indie Authors they had to choose her.” Joan said with a roll of her eyes.
“Seriously? Hallie, you need to find a new obsession.” Alice said in a harsh voice.
Hallie slumped her head down feeling deflated. She knew they wouldn’t understand. She knew them as those that prefer smut, spicy romance type lovers for stories while she adored sapphic romance. It wasn’t her call to cancel Roxie to come here but she felt it must be done because why would a sapphic author come meet her? That is a delusion most know never happens. The hardest part would be explaining to her literary agent why they couldn’t take Roxie. Their is no perfect explanation for a gut wrenching decision.
“Hallie, I’m going to politely ask you to remove Roxie Hart’s books from our shelves and her poster down. We will find a new Author to celebrate. After that you can take the day off or the week off until you are stable minded.” Joan said in her sweet authority voice.
Hallie accepted it. Going back to the books that Roxie and other sapphic romance authors, she knew it was time for her love of books to be removed. It hurt. It stung. She was just trying to help grow a more ideal reader base. She took them out to the trash bins and disposed of them then went to grab the poster by tearing it up and tossing it out. That is when one final time she went back to her desk and wrote a sincere apology to Roxie’s agent then let all her favorite people know that she is being removed from working. She grabbed the rest of her iced coffee, gave Joan the library keys, took off her badge with an empty lanyard, and headed out to her car with tears streaming down her face. Hallie lifts her head to see the library that she loved so much over the past few years. It was her home. Her safe reading space. It isn’t simple to leave a home you know so well. She wiped her face and tried not to let the hurt, hurt more than it already has.
