“You don’t even know, do you?” April said. “Someone found the photo of us and posted it on social media, and everyone is calling me a liar, and a hypocrite, and worse for being in bed with you.”
A look of horror crossed Vicki’s face. “I had no idea. Are you all right?”
“Of course I’m not all right! I needed you. I needed you and you weren’t there.”
“I’m so sorry,” Vicki said.
April crossed her arms. “It doesn’t matter. What matters is that I trusted you. You promised me that you wouldn’t let the library get shut down.”
“I tried to stop this. I got into an argument with the CEO that almost got me fired!”
“Seriously? I’m supposed to care that you almost got fired from your cushy million-dollar job?”
“That’s not what I meant.” Vicki let out an exasperated groan. “What I’m trying to say is that I did everything in my power to stop this from happening, but it wasn’t enough.”
“You promised me,” April said quietly.
“I’m sorry. Really, I am. And I messed up by keeping this from you. I’ll do whatever I can to help.”
April shook her head, her eyes clouding with tears. “It’s too late, Victoria. You’re too late.”
April turned and walked back toward the library. Mercifully, Vicki didn’t try to follow her. Lexi was waiting by the front door. The man had left.
“What happened?” Lexi asked.
“It’s over. The library is shutting down and there’s nothing we can do about it.”
Lexi cursed quietly. “You and Vicki?”
April shook her head. “You were right about her. You were right about everything. I should never have trusted her.”
“I’m sorry.” Lexi wrapped her arm around April’s shoulders. “For what it’s worth, I really hoped I was wrong about her.”
“So did I,” April said.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Over the course of the next seven days, April, Lexi and the other staff packed up the library. Everything was going into storage. Although the building would be reduced to rubble in a matter of weeks, the sudden nature of the Oakmont Street building’s closure meant that the city hadn’t officially shut down the library yet, but it was only a matter of time.
The somber mood in the library weighed heavily on April. It didn’t help that everyone who worked there had heard about April and Vicki. Although Lexi had gotten the photo and the nasty comments taken down, word had gotten around. Lexi assured April that none of the staff held it against her. They all knew she had fought harder for the library than anyone else. It did little to make April feel better.
April grabbed a handful of books from the shelf and slipped them into the box at her feet. She looked down the almost empty aisle. Once they were finished with these last few shelves, there would be nothing left.
This was the end of Oakmont Street Library.
“Are you all right?” Lexi asked April.
“Yeah. It’s just sad to see all this go.”
“You never know,” Lexi said. “Oasis might pull through with that old building they originally offered to lease us. It’ll be better than nothing.”
“I’m not holding my breath,” April said.
After giving the library the eviction notice, Oasis had gone back to radio silence. April hadn’t heard from Vicki about the library or anything else, but she was too mad to speak to her, anyway. Lexi had taken over trying to get in touch with Oasis, but she’d been informed that Vicki was “no longer working on the Oakmont Street project”, and she had a hard time getting through to anyone else.
April wondered why Vicki wasn’t working on the project anymore. April hadn’t heard from her since the day they had fought outside the library. She shouldn’t have been disappointed that Vicki had washed her hands of April and the library. She’d shown her true colors in the end, after all. As far as April was concerned, the two of them were done.
Yet, whenever April thought about her, she felt something pulling in her chest. She’d shown Vicki a side of herself that she had never shown to anyone else. If it wasn’t for Vicki, April wouldn’t even have known that part of her existed. She would never have come to accept that the April who fought fiercely for those around her could coexist with the April who craved the freedom that came with vulnerability.