written while standing in the cvs cosmetics aisle
Amidst my re-reading of the passage for clarity on the various men's opinions, I caught the conversation of the front desk. They had been talking the entire time I'd been reading, but I didn't mind the filler. I never heard specifics, only descriptors - the old man's endearingly raspy voice engaging a young boy's, the mother, sounding proud. In the back of my mind i imagined a conversation about the young boy's reading voracity, the older gentleman giving encouragement. i I remembered looking at the time, 6:43. 17 minutes before closing. I flipped forward a couple pages to where the paragraphs were halted by blank space, a natural break from where I could comfortably leave. I gauged that 7 pages was doable in 15 minutes, but I was distracted by the front desk's words: now more clear to me than when i was reading. They were talking about who was left in the library. I was aware of people leaving, more than the amount of people entering, but it hadn't bothered me much. Now, though, I heard the front desk talk about how there was no one left - or maybe there was? Upstairs? They were debating without an acknowledgement of me. I was hidden behind a rack of books, my back turned to them in the position I was sitting in, but by no means invisible. I felt embarrassed and I looked again at the time, not quite 7 pm yet. The embarrassment distracted me from the book, though, and I sat up to leave. Instead of exiting through the opening in the bookshelves I instead squeezed through to go directly to the door instead of having to face to desk. I thought about saying "have a good day" to the desk, to replicate the pleasantries I picked up on from other library patrons. They were reciprocated every time from the front desk, and I experienced it too. I had sneezed, and the front desk groveled voice man said God bless. I said thank you, but not sure if I was loud enough for him to hear. I took a quick peek at the desk to see that nobody was sitting there, the employees probably conversing to the side. I faced the automatic doors before I could confirm. I left the library with 11 minutes to spare before closing.
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From my notes app