37. Perception (1/2)

37 - perception

ben couldn't think of a place he wanted to

be less on a saturday morning than at the city of palo alto public li

ary, helping his mother

look up information on divorce law. but he'd promised.

"we shouldn't be here too long, honey," she

said as if reading his mind. "i really appreciate your help on this. there's just a couple of things i want to learn more about

with this whole thing."

"don't worry about it, mom." ben pulled open

the front door.

they entered the li

ary and navigated their

way to the section that held all the legal books. his mother spent the first

fifteen minutes at the online catalog station, writing down the call numbers of

various books. she handed him a card. "can you look for these for me, please?

the catalog says they're all checked in."

"sure." ben took the card and headed into

the stacks. he found three of the books, but the fourth wasn't in its place on

the shelf. he went back to the li

ary table where his mother sat, and put the

books down. "the last one isn't there."

"but they said it was. that's the main book

i wanted. can you ask at the information desk for me?"

"yeah." ben went to the information desk.

the lady at the desk looked up the book in

her computer and pronounced it "in," which ben already knew. "it might be

waiting to be shelved. you may want to ask at the front desk to see if it's on

the cart."

"thanks." this is starting to feel like a

wild goose chase. ben walked toward the front of the li

ary. a group of

people were already waiting to be helped, so he got in line.

then he saw felicity across the room.

once his eyes landed on her, he couldn't

look away. she was dressed in jeans and a lightweight shirt, with her hair in a

ponytail. she was talking to some old lady. and smiling.

ben felt his heart squeeze. he'd seen her

iefly last night at the beach, and it felt like months ago. he'd gotten too

used to seeing her every day.

he saw her shake hands with the lady and

turn to leave with a wave goodbye. he watched until she went out the door and

he couldn't see her anymore.

"are you in line, sir?"

ben jerked to attention and looked at the

man standing impatiently behind him. "yeah. sorry." he

approached the desk and asked about his mother's book. it turned out to be on

their cart, after all, so he took it and left the line.

the old lady was still standing across the

li

ary. burning with curiosity, ben crossed the room. "excuse me. that girl who you were just talking to. why was she here?"

the lady pushed her glasses up her nose and

blinked owlishly at him. "oh, she was checking on her piece for the display,

dear."

"display? what display?"

the lady waved a hand behind her. when ben

moved to examine the room dividers standing there, she trailed along. "the art display. it's running all weekend. do you paint?"

"no, that's her thing," ben laughed

ruefully, more to himself than to the lady.

"oh, everyone's a bit of an artist, dear.

that's the nice thing about it. art is a universal language." the lady eyed him

over the top of her glasses. something about her expression made ben fidget

where he stood. "why don't i show you her work?"

ben was too curious to refuse, so when the

lady led him around the corner of the display, he went. she gestured to a