W
hen April arrived at the library on Monday morning, Lexi was already there with her head on her desk.
“Good morning, Lexi,” April said.
“Not so loud,” Lexi mumbled.
“Don’t tell me you went out again last night?”
“I did. I’m too old for this. Getting drunk, spending the night in some other woman’s bed.”
“I’ve been too old for that for years,” April said. “And I’m younger than you.”
Lexi looked up at her. “Why are you so cheerful today?”
April shrugged. “Because I didn’t spend my Sunday night getting drunk.”
“No, that’s not it.” Lexi studied April’s face. “No way. Did you get laid?”
April sat down at her desk. “Maybe.”
“I knew it! Was that on Saturday night?”
April nodded
.
“What happened?” Lexi asked. “I thought you left after I did.”
“I was going to, but then I met someone.”
“And?”
“And I went to her place,” April said. “It was a really nice place.”
“Come on, you’ve got to give me more than that,” Lexi said.
“You know how it is. One thing led to another, and…” Just thinking about it made April burn inside. “It was really, really hot. And kind of kinky.”
“Oh? Are we talking ‘furry pink handcuffs’ kinky, or ‘chains and leather’ kinky?”
April flushed. “I’m not going into detail.” Besides, truth was, it was something different altogether. But she couldn’t explain that to Lexi. “Anyway, I’m meeting her again next week.”
“Oh? Like a date?”
“I don’t think so,” April replied. “It sounds like she just wants a repeat of the other night.” And so did April.
“I thought hook-ups weren’t your thing?” Lexi said.
“This is the exception.”
“Good for you. Didn’t I tell you that it’d be fun? You’ve forgotten all about Christie too, haven’t you?”
“Fine, you were right.” April had barely thought about Christie all weekend. And she hadn’t been worrying about all the problems with the library as much as she should have been.
“I’m glad one of us got something out of Saturday night,” Lexi grumbled.
“What happened with the woman you took home?
”
“She was a total pillow princess. I made her come four times, but when it was her turn, she gave up after a few minutes. Who can come in three minutes?”
April had come in three minutes on Saturday night. Well, at least she had the second time. She hadn’t even known that she was capable of orgasming more than once.
She felt so conflicted. She hated that Vicki was able to command her body like that. She hated even more that Vicki was able to get into her head, to turn her into a begging mess. April didn’t beg. She didn’t let others control her. Yet, Vicki had wrested control from her effortlessly. And April had enjoyed every moment of it. All those presumptions Vicki had made about what April really wanted? They were completely true.
April had tasted submission. She wanted more.
But next time, she wouldn’t give in quite so easily. Next time, she’d make Vicki work for it. It was bad enough that Vicki had her on a leash, making April wait over a week to meet her at some club without so much as a phone number.
“Are you still thinking about the other night?” Lexi asked. “You’re not falling for this woman, are you?”
“God, no,” April said.
After she had left Vicki’s apartment and the excitement of the night had faded, April had remembered what Vicki was really like. Cocky. A player. Vicki probably saw April as nothing more than another conquest. She could tell that Vicki’s dominant personality wasn’t limited to the bedroom. April had no interest in a relationship with someone as stubborn as herself. It would be a disaster.
“It’s all just raw physical chemistry,” April said. “We are completely incompatible otherwise.
”
“Well, be careful,” Lexi said. “I know you haven’t done the ‘casual’ thing before, but there’s a risk of one of you developing feelings. It happens a lot, and it never ends well. Someone usually ends up getting their heart broken. Or worse, they end up falling in love and moving in together.”
“You don’t have to worry about that,” April said. She switched on her computer. It was time to get to work.
“By the way, you might want to check your inbox,” Lexi said. “The mayor’s office sent out an email about the town hall meeting tonight.”
The meeting had been called to give the community a chance to voice their concerns about the impact of all the new developments in West Heights. April was planning to attend on behalf of the library, but she had low expectations. The mayor and the city council supported all the new developments in West Heights because of the money that was coming in with them. The concerns of the existing residents were barely on their radar.
“Apparently, a representative from Oasis Developments is coming to speak to everyone,” Lexi said. “It’s probably some PR person whose job it is to convince the locals that bulldozing Oakmont Street to make room for luxury apartments is a good thing.”
April found the email in question and skimmed through it, confirming what Lexi had said. “Maybe this is our chance to make Oasis listen to us about the library.”
“I wouldn’t hold my breath,” Lexi muttered.
April ignored her. This could be April’s last opportunity to save her library. Oakmont Street Library had been struggling for a while now. The library was unusual in that it relied more heavily on private funding than money from
the city. The building itself had belonged to a wealthy philanthropist who leased it to the city for a token amount. But when the owner had passed away unexpectedly, his family had put his estate up for sale.
In the ensuing months, April had scrambled to save the library. Fundraising, soliciting donations, applying for state and federal grants. It wasn’t enough. Property in West Heights was now at a premium. And so, Oasis Developments had snapped up the building.
Now, they had 90 days to leave the premises. Because the city didn’t have the funds to buy or rent a space for the library in West Heights, they would be forced to close their doors. There were no options left.
Unless April could somehow convince Oasis Developments not to tear the building down.
“I’m going to that meeting,” April said. “Whoever this representative is, I’m going to make them understand how important a role the library plays in the community. They can’t just demolish it. They’ve already torn down half of West Heights. Corporations are taking over, people who have lived here for decades are being forced out because rent is too high. I may not be able to save the entire suburb, but I’m not going to give up on the library.”
“Look, I’ll come to the meeting tonight too,” Lexi said. “But do you really think you can fight a corporation like Oasis?”
“I don’t know, but you bet your ass I’m going to try.”
“I know this place means a lot to you, but you have to be realistic. West Heights has already been changing for years.”
What Lexi was saying was true. Fifty years ago, the historic suburb of West Heights had been mostly working-
class families and immigrants. Fifteen years ago, the artists, musicians, and students started moving in. Everyone had quickly learned to coexist, creating a diverse melting pot. But with corporations like Oasis taking over, all of those people would be pushed out, and West Heights would never be the same.
“This is different,” April said. “I’m not going to let West Heights be taken over.”
“Well, no matter what happens, I’ll be there to back you up,” Lexi said.
April settled into her chair. She had to prepare for the meeting. Tonight, April was going to stand before this representative from Oasis Developments and present her case for why the library needed to remain open. She didn’t know if it would make a difference. But one thing was certain.
She wasn’t going down without a fight.
That evening, April left her apartment and headed to the town hall meeting. It was being held in the auditorium of the local high school. She gazed wistfully around at the neighborhood as she walked. This place that she’d called home for so long was changing right before her eyes.
A few people greeted April as they passed her on the street. April had worked at the library for years, so she knew everyone who came in. Most of the community went to the library for one reason or another. To borrow books, to use the computers, to meet up for activities and clubs
.
West Heights needed the library. April wasn’t going to let it get torn down.
When April reached the hall, the meeting had just begun. Mayor Collins was speaking on the stage, and a handful of council members were seated behind her. April was surprised that the Mayor had come in person. She was even more surprised that the hall was packed. She’d been to a few of these meetings before when there were matters relating to the library on the agenda, and the room was usually half empty.
It made sense. The library wasn’t the only thing being displaced by Oasis. Not only had Oasis bought the library, but they had also bought all the surrounding apartments and houses. Even a small park, the only one for miles, was on the firing line. Most of the attendees appeared to be older people who had lived in the area their whole lives. They likely felt even more strongly about the changes taking place in their home than April did.
April scanned the seats looking for Lexi’s black curls, which she always wore piled up on her head. Spotting her, April crept down to the aisle and took a seat next to her a couple of rows from the front.
“What did I miss?” she whispered.
“Not much,” Lexi replied. “Collins is talking about new building regulations.”
Mayor Collins was one of April’s least favorite people. It was clear that she cared more about the more affluent parts of the city than West Heights. She was responsible for the funding cuts to the library over the past few years, and she supported all the new developments that were going up around the city, including on Oakmont Street
.
Mayor Collins seemed to dislike April just as much as April disliked her. They had clashed a few times over the library, even before Oasis bought the building. April suspected Mayor Collins was glad that it was being shut down.
April tried to settle in and listen to the mayor, but she found herself getting restless. After a sleep-inducing explanation of the height limit changes for new buildings on King Street, Mayor Collins moved on to the final topic of the night.
“Now,” she began. “The main reason I called this meeting was to give everyone a chance to discuss the effects of some of the upcoming development projects on the community. I’ve received a truckload of submissions about the proposed development on Oakmont Street, and I thought it could be helpful to have an open conversation about it. I invited Oasis Developments to join the discussion, and they’ve sent a representative to come speak with us.” The mayor looked down at a sheet of paper in front of her. “She’s the Vice President of Project Development. Hopefully, she will be able to address your concerns.”
April frowned. With a title like that, this woman had to be high up in the chain of command. On one hand, it meant that she was someone who actually had the power to change things. On the other hand, she was probably some stuffy middle-aged woman in a suit who earned more in a day than April did in a month. She couldn’t expect someone like that to be sympathetic to the residents of West Heights.
“Ms. Blake, was it?” Mayor Collins looked down toward someone sitting in the front row.
A tall woman with short blonde hair stood up and
walked toward the stage. Her back was to the crowd, her face hidden from view, but the upright, self-confident manner in which she held herself was very familiar to April.
Her stomach dropped. No.
It couldn’t be.
The woman climbed the stairs up to the stage and took her place next to the Mayor. “Please,” she said. “Call me Vicki.”
