Rene finished checking his emails, responding with particular annoyance to a more aggressive message from his boss. Some assholes were just never going to be happy, no matter how much life blessed them. Rene begrudgingly wrote that he would be ready to go with the annual fundraiser, and explained that all the food, entertainment, and every other minute detail was taken care of and had in fact been for weeks. 

Carl was always breathing down his neck, ready to blame Rene for any mishaps that came their way. And yet, it was he, Rene, who had won the librarian of the year award. He who was being honored nationally with a gala that happened to coincide with a certain fundraising weekend. A weekend that had been moved at Carl’s request. 

Misha always grumbled about Carl. He didn’t like his treatment of Rene, and offered once or twice to say something, but Rene assured him that it wasn’t worth it. 

Down at the very bottom of the email was a short note, congratulating Rene on his win as librarian of the year with three short words. 

Oh, and congrats.

Bitter narcissist that he was, Carl sure had his soft spots. 

Rene stretched and got up out of his chair. Time to get out on the floor. There were books to return and patrons to guide. Katrina would be wanting to use the joint office soon anyway.

He walked out into the hallway, just as Katrina was coming around the corner. She had a beaming smile on her face when she saw him.

“Well, if it isn’t the man of the hour!” She said. 

“Good morning, Katrina.” Rene grinned. “How are you today?”

“I have two rugrats who are draining the life out of me, but for some reason they keep smiling at me, so it’s impossible to abandon them in a box on the street. Jason was up for three hours last night with colic! Luckily, Jacob sleeps like a rock, or I’m afraid I’d have ripped out my hair by the end of it.”

“Jeez, how are you standing right now?” Rene asked. He couldn’t imagine having 4-month-old twins. Getting up with Emory when she was a baby had been exhausting enough. 

“My husband took over for me right about the time I started crying, so I actually managed to get a femtosecond of sleep. I’m already on my second coffee though, and daydreaming about my third, so the day does not bode well.”

“You are superhuman. There’s no other explanation for it,” Rene insisted. “I’m in awe, honestly.”

Katrina snickered as she walked into the shared office and put her coat on the back of the chair and her coffee cup next to the computer. 

“Are you excited for this weekend?” She asked.

“Equally excited and nervous. Misha is just happy to have an excuse to dress up and get out of the house. Emory will be having a blast at her mom’s, I’m sure.”

“We’re so lucky to have you here representing us. You’re like a local celebrity now. Your picture in the national paper and everything. Such a treat!”

“It only happened because you nominated me. Without you, I wouldn’t even be a blip on the national librarian radar.”

“Ah, but you are. And there’s a reason I nominated you. And I now realize I’m holding you up from your duties, so please get your lovely face to work so we can get our day started because I will chat all morning given the chance.”

Rene grinned and headed away as Katrina plopped down in the office chair with a sigh. He headed down to the reference desk to check on his coworkers, Julie and Charlie, who were plugging away. They both greeted him and waved good morning, but didn’t have time to chat as they had several people waiting to get computer time and check out books. 

Rene grabbed the return cart full of books, and rode the elevator to the second floor where he began to put them away. The sun was shining in through the high windows now, half blinding him as he worked his way along the aisles. He pulled down the occasional book that had been reshelved improperly as he went along and replaced them in the proper spot. This was one of his favorite parts of the job, as he got to move around, organize everything, and for the most part be alone. 

“Hello sir, is there anything I can help you with?” He looked over to see Katrina standing near the stairs talking to a patron in a turquoise peacoat who was looking in Rene’s direction. It was the man who had been walking on the sidewalk outside when he drove in to work. The man glanced at Katrina and smiled kindly. 

“I’m looking for the gentleman who won the librarian of the year award. I’m here to do an interview with him.” His voice was soft. Almost a purr. He glanced from Katrina to Rene and back. 

Katrina beamed as she pointed to Rene and said, “There’s our winner right there. Rene, this gentleman would like to speak to you.”

Rene set down the book he was holding, his stomach squirming at the thought of having to do an interview. Before he could even approach the man, the gentleman had crossed the room and was holding a hand out, ready to shake Rene’s. Rene heard Katrina retreating down the stairs. 

“Are you Rene Bloom?” The man asked, looking right up into Rene’s eyes with such an uncomfortable intensity that Rene almost took a step back. He struggled with the eye-contact, that fleeting skill he’d managed to reserve only for family and very close friends. 

“Uh, yes, that would be me,” Rene said. “And you? You are?” The sun was so bright that he could see the vibrant green of the man’s eyes, a color he hadn’t expected as the man’s complexion and hair lended him a Northern African appearance. His skin was olive colored, and his hair curly and black.  

The man looked him in the eye for one long moment, then seemed to snap out of some sort of reverie and smile, “I’m Khalid Anwar. You can call me Khal, if you like.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Khal.” Rene pulled back from the handshake and dropped his hand to his side. He was immediately aware of how awkward it was standing there with his big dumb arms just hanging. He went to cross them, then thought that would be too standoffish, so he dropped the right one down and absently scratched his head with the left hand. 

“Sorry, you’re probably wondering why I’m here.” Khal said, clenching and unclenching his hands. He seemed nervous too. How awkward to be human, Rene thought. “I work for the company that is giving you the award this weekend. I’ve been tasked with writing an article about you and all the brilliant ways you’ve helped make things better for this library and this community.”

“Oh, I didn’t realize there’d be an article.” Rene admitted. “They took those pictures for their publication and to talk up the gala where I’ll be accepting the award. They got a quote or two, but I thought that was it.”

Khal nodded, “Well, they sent me because they do like to do a full spread. The photoshoot was definitely more for the gala. And the fact that they moved it all the way here to this little town for your benefit speaks volumes of what you’ve done for your community. I saw-I saw your picture for the upcoming gala. You looked great. So confident.”

“Thank you.” Rene said. He was feeling flush. He was sure his face was beet red. He didn’t even realize they had moved the gala to his little town for his benefit. It hadn’t even occurred to him that it wasn’t normal for the company to not host it in the town of the winner.

“Are you alright?” Khal asked. 

“Hmm?” Rene forced himself to focus. The tux he was renting for the weekend suddenly didn’t seem like it was enough. Misha would probably relish having to go shopping for some nicer shoes.

“Don’t freak out. Lots of winners get a little nervous. I’m just here to get your story. To see what kind of person you are. I have no ulterior motive other than letting our readers get a glimpse of you, the real you.”

“How-how much do people really need to know?” Rene asked, clearing his throat and wishing he had a glass of water in hand. 

“Only what you’re willing to share.” Khal said. “Would you care to set up a time for our interview? We could do it at a coffee shop, or at your house, whatever you’re happy with.”

“My house,” Rene murmured, not so much declaring it as repeating it in mild confusion.

“That sounds great!” Khal said. “Here’s my number. Text me and we’ll set up a time to meet.”

He passed Rene a card with his information on it. 

“I look forward to getting to know you.” Khal said. 

“Thank you,” Rene said, looking at the card, which he flipped over in his fingers, then flipped back again. He wondered if he was coming across as rude, or just awkward. He also was beginning to regret accepting the award at all. All of this attention was too much. 

He forced himself to look back up and saw Khal looking intensely at his face, as though studying him. In that moment, the look in Khal’s green eyes struck him as so familiar, like he’d definitely seen it before. 

“Where are you coming from?” Rene asked. 

“Coming from?” Khal repeated. 

“Sorry. I just, you just…you look familiar. Are you on national news or?”

Khal laughed, “Oh no. Not little old me. I’m as far from a star as it’s possible to be. Just a journalist who works for the Librarian Periodical and occasionally freelances.” 

“Do you do a lot of these interviews?” Rene asked. 

“Actually, this is my first one for this paper. I was happy to take on the assignment. After what I heard you did for your community, for those people, well I knew you’d be fascinating to interview. I feel lucky to have the chance.”

Rene felt himself blushing again. Dammit. 

“So please, shoot me a text with a good time to meet up. I’d love to meet your family too, but only if you’re comfortable with that. Get their opinion on the man of the hour.”

“I’m sure my husband would love to talk your ear off.” Rene said, glancing down at the card again. He was feeling more comfortable with Khal. It was unusual for him to straight up admit he was married to a man. The amount of verbal and sometimes physical abuse he’d sustained in the past at letting others know he was gay had kept him so guarded. But something about Khal seemed so familiar. Inherently, Rene knew that Khal didn’t care about his sexual orientation. 

Rene flicked the card with his finger, “I’ll text you by the end of the day. I promise.”

“Thank you. I look forward to hearing from you.” Khal held out his hand again to shake, and Rene took it. Khal was such a tiny little thing. 5’7″ at the most. Soft and quiet like a mouse. His hands were so warm and delicate. His eyes were stunning. Emory would be fascinated by them. She was obsessed with eyes. She loved to try and figure out what a person was like just by gazing at their eyes. Rene was curious what she would think of Khal.

“It was a pleasure to meet you.” Rene said, letting go of Khal’s hand. “Please let me know if there’s anything else I can help you with.”

“It was a pleasure to meet you too, Rene.” Khal smiled. “I’ll talk to you later.”

They hesitated for a moment, then Rene remembered all the books he needed to be shelving, and he gave a friendly nod before turning and heading back to the shelves to continue working. He glanced back to see Khal walking down the stairs, the turquoise peacoat eventually disappearing from view. When he could no longer see Khal, he glanced down again at the card in his hand, repeating in his mind to text Khal, text Khal, text Khal. If he didn’t repeat it, he was likely to forget it. 

Finally, Rene put the card in his pocket, and got back to work on shelving the books. By lunchtime, the shelves were all set, all his morning tasks were done, and he’d managed to stop two teenage boys from fighting over the computers and actually gotten one of them to check out a book on the Krakatoa volcanic eruption of 1883. Of course, Rene had strongly emphasized the over 36k deaths caused by the volcano, and the utter destruction from tsunamis. And who could forget the loudest sound ever recorded in human history? A sound that made ears bleed for miles around. He’d watched with amusement while the young man’s eyes had gotten wider in excitement at learning the gory details. Teenagers were so funny about death and destruction. 

At lunchtime, Rene was sitting in the staff room, munching away on the contents of his bento-box, when Katrina popped into the room. 

“Sooo, how’d it go with Mr. Interviewer?” She asked. “Did you give him all the juicy details of your life?”

Rene finished his bite of sandwich before he spoke, as Katrina chuckled in amusement. 

“We haven’t had the interview yet. We’re going to set up a time to do it at my house. He’s gonna talk to the family too, I guess. Do you see what you’ve gotten me into?” Rene shook his head with an embarrassed grin. 

“Oooh, I wish I could be there when he meets Misha. Your golden retriever husband won’t let him get a word in.”

“Yeah, that should be fun.” Rene nodded. 

“I’m so proud of you. You deserve it.” Katrina said. 

“I don’t know about that.” Rene took another bite of his sandwich as he looked down sheepishly at the table. God, he hated this attention. 

“You literally saved lives, Rene. How is that not worthy of an interview in a national magazine? You went above and beyond where others wouldn’t, and people are alive today who would not otherwise have been after that blizzard. You’re a Rockstar, and I’m gonna keep saying it, even if it makes your face so red that you look like a Christmas decoration. I think your family would agree with me.”

“Well, at least we can make something good from it. Hopefully we’ll have some record fundraising this year. We’re due for some repairs, and without that extra cash, I think Carl would rather stab an orphan than get the ceiling fixed in the reading corner.” Rene said.

“I mean, Carl would probably rather stab orphans anyway. Sounds like his kind of relaxing hobby.” Katrina said. 

They both broke into laughter. 

“I’ll let you get back to it,” Katrina said, gesturing at Rene’s lunch. “Good luck with your interview.”

With that, she walked away, leaving Rene thoughtfully chewing his food. 

Chapter 3

2023 Writing Challenge Chapter 3 – Family Night