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When the waiter comes over, I order a breadbasket to nibble on while we wait for our mains: roasted salmon for myself and grilled chicken for Wren. I add on sides of sautéed new potatoes, wilted baby spinach, and broccolini, and order us a bottle of white wine. When we were younger, chicken was about the only meat Wren would eat.
I pour us both a glass of water from the carafe on the table and then thatch my fingers beneath my chin. “So, what have I missed?”
“Nothing much.” Wren sips his water. “I finished my undergraduate degree and then did a masters. I interned at the British Library while I was studying and then applied for a full-time job when I graduated.”
“A masters? That’s impressive. At Cambridge?”
He nods.
Wren was always far smarter than me. He was smarter than anyone else in our school. Our teachers did everything they could to stretch him. It was our English teacher who convinced him to apply to Cambridge because it has the best Library Science course in the UK.
“What classification did you get?” I ask, though I can guess.
“A first in my undergraduate degree and a distinction in my masters.”
“Congratulations.” I hadn’t doubted what his answer would be for a second. Wren is brilliant. “Do you live close to the library?” I know he gave me his address, but I didn’t have a chance to look up where it was, and I didn’t recognise the street name.
“God, no. I couldn’t afford to live in central London. But it’s around the corner from King’s Cross, so I can get the overground train from where I live.”
We pause our conversation as the waiter brings a basket of rustic bread as well as bowls of black olive tapenade, hummus, and butter curls.
“I’ve got to ask,” I say as I use a knife to put hummus on a slice of bread. “But what do you do all day?”
Wren laughs. “You mean aside from putting books back on the right shelves?”
“Yes. There has to be more to the job than that.”
“There is. I do most of the cataloguing. When new books, DVDs, CDs, journals, etcetera, arrive, it’s up to me to add them to the library’s catalogue. I have to record information about each one and decide what it’s going to be classified as. The better I describe a resource, the easier it is for someone to find it later. People don’t just search for books by title or author. Often, they’re looking by subject matter. But when deciding which resources to use, they don’t need to know how relevant it is to their needs, but also what type of resource it is and how up to date it is. Once I’ve catalogued something, I also have to classify it.”
“Which means—?”
“Deciding where it’s going to get shelved in the library and what its Dewey Decimal System number will be.” He covers his face with his hands. “Oh, god, I’m probably boring you to tears. I’m so sorry. You should have told me to stop talking.”
“You’re not. Hearing about what you do is fascinating. I’ll admit I thought all you did was sit behind a desk telling people to be quiet all day.”
Wren laughs. “No. It’s not like that at all.”
“I know that now.” I smile. “Thank you for educating me.”
Wren lowers his gaze as he blushes. “What about you? What have I missed?”
“I think I’ve told you the important highlights. I did well in Harlequins Academy, and when I aged out of it, I was selected for the main squad. I’ve been playing for them ever since. I hope one day to be picked for the English squad one day, but that might be a pipe dream.”
“Why? I don’t know anything about rugby, but you always looked amazing when I watched you play.”
“I think you might have been biased.”
He chuckles. “Probably. I was only watching you. You had a gorgeous arse in those white shorts you used to wear. But Harlequins are a good team, right?”
“They’re one of the top teams in the premiership.”
“So, they’re one of the best teams in the country?”
I nod.
“That means you must be a talented player. If you want to make the England squad, I think you’ll work hard to make it happen. I believe in you, Rip.”
My heart swells at his words, and I can’t help but chuckle at him using that name for me, even if it is a little ridiculous. I was right. Hearing it makes me smile. “Thank you. But there are many great players out there, and only a small number of them will ever get a sniff at the England team. You have to be the best of the best. I’m just happy I get to do what I love every day.”
