“Shut the door, please. It appears, Dana, that you continue to have difficulty adjusting to the new policies and protocol Ive implemented here.”
“So, Sandi raced right up to tattle that I was actually reading a book. Of all the horrors to commit in a public library.”
“Your combative attitude is only one of the problems we have to deal with.”
“Im not going to stand here and defend myself for skimming a couple pages of a book while I was working in the stacks. Part of my function is to be informed about books, not just to point the patrons toward an area and wish them Godspeed. I do my job, Joan, and my evaluations from the previous director were never less than exemplary.”
“Im not the previous director.”
“Damn straight. Less than six weeks after you took over, you cut my, and two other long-term employees, hours and paychecks nearly in half. And your niece gets a promotion and a raise.”
“I was hired to pull this institution out of financial decline, and thats what Im doing. Im not required to explain my administrative decisions to you.”
“No, you dont have to. I get it. You dont like me, I dont like you. But I dont have to like everyone I work with or for. I can still do my job.”
“Its your job to follow the rules.” Joan flipped open a file. “Not to make and receive personal phone calls. Not to use library equipment for personal business. Not to spend twenty minu
tes gossiping with a patron while your duties are neglected.”
“Hold it.” Baffled rage spewed into her throat like a geyser. “Just hold it one minute. Whats she doing, making daily reports on me?”
Joan flipped the file shut. “You think too much of yourself.”
“Oh, I see. Not just on me. Shes your personal mole, burrowing around the place digging up infractions.”
Oh, yes, Dana thought, when enough was enough you definitely finished it. “Maybe the budget here has had its ups and downs, but this was always a friendly place, familial. Now its just a drag run by thegestapo commandant and her personal weasel. So Ill do us both a favor. I quit.
Ive got a weeks sick leave and a weeks vacation coming. Well just consider that my two weeks notice.“
“Very well. You can have your resignation on my desk by the end of your shift.”
“Screw that. This is my resignation.” She took a deep breath. “Im smarter than you are, and Im younger, stronger, and better-looking. The regular patrons know and like me— most of them dont know you, and the ones whove gotten to know you dont like you. Those are some of the reasons youve been on my ass since you took over. Im out of here, Joan, but Im walking out of my own accord. I lay odds that youll be on your way out before much longer, too—only youll be booted out by the board.”
“If you expect any sort of reference or referral—”
Dana stopped at the door. “Joan, Joan, do you want to end our relationship with me telling you what you can do with your reference?”
Her anger carried her straight down to the employee lounge, where she gathered her jacket and a handful of personal belongings. She didnt stop to speak to any of her coworkers. If she didnt get out, and get out fast, she feared she would either burst into hysterical sobs or punch her fist through the wall.
Either option would give Joan too much power.
So she walked out without a backward glance. And kept walking. She refused to let herself think that this was the last time she would make this trip from work to home. ,It wasnt the end of her life; it was just a corner turned.
When she felt the angry tears stinging her eyes, she dug out her sunglasses. She wasnt about to humiliate herself by crying on the damn sidewalk.
But her breath was hitching by the time she reached her apartment door. She fumbled out her keys, stumbled inside, then simply sank down on the floor.
“Oh, God, oh, God, what have I done?”
Shed cut her ties. She had no job. And it would be weeks before she could reasonably open the bookstore. And why did she think she could run a bookstore? Knowing and loving books didnt make her a merchant. Shed never worked in retail in her life, and suddenly she was going to run a retail business?
Shed thought she was prepared for the step. Now, faced with stark reality, Dana realized she wasnt even close to prepared.
Panicked, she leaped up, all but fell onto the phone. “Zoe?Zoe … I just—Ive got to… Christ. Can you meet me at the place, the house?”
“Okay. Dana, whats wrong? Whats the matter?” “I just—I quit my job. I think Im having an anxiety attack. I need… Can you get the keys? Can you get Malory and meet me there?”
“All right, honey. Take a deep breath. Come on, suck one in. Breathe easy. Thats it. Twenty minutes. Well be there in twenty minutes.”