~*~*~
“Hey, Meg.”
I looked up from my duty of entering new books into the system and smiled as Zell entered. “Hi.” He'd recently taken a shower, so his cheeks were a bit red and his hair hadn't dried all the way. But his spike was just as adorable as ever.
He leaned against the counter. “Thanks for helping out. I really appreciate it.”
I flushed. “You're welcome, Zell. I'm glad I could do it.” And I'm really glad I didn't humiliate you.
Zell picked at the counter, his focus on his finger. “I know you were scared to death,” he confessed. He peeked up at me. “I wouldn't have done it if I didn't think you could handle it. You know that, right?”
I lowered my gaze to the book in my hand. “Yes.” Thank you for making sure, Zell.
Zell released a deep breath. “Oh. Okay.”
I looked at him from under my lashes. He caught my glance and grinned. I giggled and looked away. You're so cute! And I flushed molten.
Zell leaned against the counter even more as he tried to look over my shoulder at the monitor. “Whatcha doin'?”
I lifted the book in my hand. “I'm putting these,” I pointed to the monitor, “into the system so that they'll be available for everyone to check out by tomorrow.”
“What all do you have to do to do that?”
I blinked. “W-What?”
Zell came around to stand behind my chair. I tilted my head back to gaze up at him as he motioned to the monitor. “What do you do to get them in there?”
I continued to blink up at him, completely floored.
He met my gaze. “What?”
“Y-You really want to know?” I asked in a hushed voice.
“Well, sure. Why not?”
“It's just that it's not very exciting.”
“So?”
“So, won't you be bored?”
“Trying to figure out how you do your job? Tch!” Zell turned my chair around to face the monitor. Then he leaned close, his hand on my shoulder as he prompted “So, you do what in the which?”
I smiled and released a dreamy sigh before beginning the step-by-step process. “Well, each book has a unique number that it's given when published.” I opened the book in my hand and showed the number on the inside of the front binding.
“And you put those in there?” Zell asked, reaching across to point at a specific place on the monitor.
“Uh-huh. Then--Here. Let me show you.” I typed in the number--
“Dude! Your fingers are flying!”
I giggled and then pointed to the screen. “See? That number is on file because the publisher submits each one to an international database the moment it's assigned.” I assigned the library number and location and then saved the information. “Now the publisher will have record that our library has that specific edition of that book.”
“How do you get it into Garden's library file?”
“That's in a sub-menu. Over here.” I clicked into the location. “See? It shows the publisher and the edition information over here and then the library location here. Now I just assign the book a Garden number, which the computer gives automatically, and I have the printer put out a label.” I swiveled my chair around to the right to retrieve the printed label. Then I turned the rest of the way around to face Zell. He watched with a gorgeous expression of attention. “And this gets put on the binding of the book--like this--and lets me track it electronically.”
“Whoa. Cool.”
I smiled up at him. “Uh-huh. And if you tried to leave the library without checking it out, I'd know it.”
“Seriously?”
I nodded and turned back to the monitor. “Right here. A little window pops up.”
“So, you have to tackle anyone?”
I giggled. “No. I just make an announcement over the intercom.”
“Cool.” Zell leaned close and pointed at a flashing icon. “What's that?”
“That's a book request from a different Garden.” This is so cool! “You want to watch me do a book request?” I asked as I looked at his face so close to mine.
Zell met my gaze. “You don't mind?”
I slightly shook my head. “Nuh-uh,” I whispered.
Zell smiled, and everything after that was a dreamy fog.