So Sweet a Changeling: A Novel of the Terribly Acronymed Detective Club (Book 6)

Chapter Twelve: Al, Monday

Lauren changed the plans on the day she visited the library. She informed him over text, quite sensibly, that the itinerary should be reversed. Al only had a forty-five minute lunch break. Why spend the first part of it doing research with her when Lauren was perfectly capable of doing the research herself? All he needed to do, she said, was point her to the shelves where the old phone books were, and she could feel her way around. The research itself could run overtime, depending on what she found. Why risk wasting an opportunity to revisit their favourite room in the whole library? They could do that first and then look for the phone books, and if they were still doing research by the time Al's lunch break ended, she could continue on while he went back to work.

Al loved her brilliant mind. 

He wasn't on a desk schedule like staff in a public facing department, so he could take his lunch whenever he wanted, although he ate a granola bar at his desk so he wouldn't be starving later. He waited for her text to indicate she was finished visiting her counterparts in library management. 

Finally, near two o'clock, his phone buzzed.

I'm in. Come up and knock three times.

He bolted from his desk, remembering his toiletry bag and towels. He ran to the staff elevator, but found there were other staff waiting there. He didn't want to talk to anybody while he was in this state of high arousal, so instead he took the staircase. He'd taken the stairs before, it was healthier than taking the elevator, but he couldn't remember ever taking them so fast. He nearly tripped a few times on his way up because he wasn't paying enough attention to his feet. The last thing he wanted to do was injure himself right now, not when he'd soon be expected to perform.

He emerged on the seventh floor, panting, gasping and sweaty, and actually in need of a shower to freshen up. He took a second to compose himself and act nonchalant as other staff passed him by. He took the long way around, passing by the staff gym, from where he'd emerged the last time he and Lauren had done this, and he'd had to act like he didn't know her; that had added a thrill of its own, as if they were two strangers who'd just decided to hook up.

He had to wait until a guy in the IT department cleared the corridor in front of the accessible staff bathroom before he felt comfortable enough to knock on the door. As it unlocked, though, and it opened from the inside, another staff member was rounding the corner, and when Al caught her eye, he could tell she'd spotted something odd, so he closed the door behind him as quickly as he could and locked it.

He put a finger to his lips, and Lauren saw the urgency in his eyes as he put his ear to the door. He couldn't hear anybody outside, no inquiring voices. Maybe he wasn't busted. 

He waited another minute, and in that time he heard the water turning on, then the shower curtain opening. When he felt confident enough that they were safe, he turned around and found Lauren already naked and glisteningly wet, slicking her hair back and beckoning him in. Apparently she wasn't as worried as he was that they'd be caught.

Later, squeaky clean from using a lot of body wash, they left the bathroom one at a time, making sure the coast was clear first. Al led her through the shortcut that led right into the Special Collections Department from the staff area. They found the directories for the Lower Mainland and decided to look for the years 1970-1980, which covered Al's childhood in Queensborough.

The department was pretty quiet today, and they found an empty table with no problems. They sat across from each other and, as they each opened a directory to examine, they finally felt able to talk; their whole time in that shower had been silent, the only sounds their heavy breathing and the slamming of their hips against each other, their cries of pleasure stifled by biting into the other's shoulder.