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Tabitha squeals. Amelia and I both ‘shush’ her.
“She said she’s very impressed with your application and was just making sure everything you included was factual since, as she put it, ‘this candidate seems a little too good to be true.’ I assured her you’re probably even better than what you included in your application. She said she’d be emailing you an offer right away.”
It’s my turn to be shushed as I blurt, “Yes!” with all my heart and soul.
Several patrons turn to look, and Amelia beams with pride and announces, “Jane has been accepted into library school.”
A chorus of “congratulations” fills the air. For a minute or two, I feel truly happy. This is where I’m meant to be. This is what I’m meant to do. But I also feel like nothing will ever fill the hole Bryan left in my heart.
I walk toward the romance section to record my Book Talk with Byron video, but change direction at the last second and pause in an adjacent aisle so I can be alone for five seconds to regroup.
I rejected the one man in the whole world who loves books as much as I do. And it hurts. I wish that I could celebrate my good news with him. He made this life possible, and I stupidly pushed him away.
I breathe in the smell of actual books, mixed with my book-scented perfume, to center myself. “I can do this.”
I head to the romance section, grab the book of the day, and turn to Byron. “Ready, buddy?”
A few of the people watching me record chuckle.
I power up the robot and move him into the frame. He’s finished his morning shelving, so I expect his bin to be empty. But a dark red book comes up his conveyor belt. It’s oddly shaped. Probably a new children’s picture book I haven’t seen yet.
The robot picks it up with his shelving arm… and pokes me in the chest with it.
“What are you doing?” I demand, taking a step back.
Byron moves toward me.
I take three more steps backward.
Byron just keeps coming at me. He pokes me in the chest again with his shelving arm… and the odd red book he’s holding.
“Is that supposed to happen?” a concerned patron asks as I stumble backwards a little.
“No. Byron, stop!”
Of course, the robot can’t hear me.
I hold out my arms to block him. “What are you doing? Trying to kill me?” I mutter, even though I know it’s crazy talk. This isn’t I, Robot.
“He’s not trying to kill you,” a familiar voice rings out over the crowd, and Bryan walks into my sightline as his robot pokes me again.
My knees go weak and my voice comes out shaky. “What are you doing here? And what’s your robot doing?”
“He’s trying to give you something.”
Byron pokes me in the chest again, and I take the small book and stare down at it. It’s called My Heart Belongs to You. There’s no author name on it.
Being this close to Bryan, my heart races. “Why is Byron shoving this at me?”
“I programmed him to shelve this heart-shaped book in your chest. It’s filled with every passage and line I’ve read in the last three months that made me think of you.”
The crowd ahhs. I swallow hard and stare down at the book in my hands. I flip a few pages, and words like ‘love’ and ‘forever’ and ‘soulmate’ jump out at me before my eyes blur and I can’t read any more.
“I’m so glad I’m recording this,” a kid’s voice squeaks. “This is gonna go viral.”
My cheeks flush, but as soon as Bryan speaks, I forget all about the crowd.
“I’m so sorry I made the robot that took your job. And I’m sorry I didn’t talk to you first before trying to fix it. I should never have sent people to watch your videos.”
