7 Chapter 7: Back At It Again

“Maryanne, how was your time off,” Jessica inquires, stacking some of her paperwork on her desk.

She tries to smile, but the stress and pain of the last week has almost been unbearable and the idea of explaining it all has a headache forming. She even experienced a nightmare last night that Riley got out of her bedroom and fell down the flights of stairs. She shudders even imagining it now.

“It was, um, eventful,” she says softly. She avoids eye contact as she unzips her jacket and places it around her chair.

“Did you party too hard,” another librarian chuckles from across the room.

Maryanne looks up, cocking her brow, “Not really, Shelley.”

There is a soft silence spanning throughout the library as Maryanne sits down and sighs, staring at her desk.