#24 Christmastime

Dear diary,

Today was the staff Christmas break-up, so we all went out for a yum cha lunch in the city. I aimed to get there ten minutes early so I would have enough time to find free parking, but ended up driving around the block in concentric circles for twenty minutes until I found a tiny spot between two dumpsters in a disused alleyway. Score!

I got there to find most people there, including Shannon, who'd come with Talia. They'd found a disabled parking spot conveniently out the front of the restaurant, which really annoyed me. One by one the other staff arrived, all complaining about the cost of parking, and once we were all seated Boudecia made a short speech about how much effort we'd all put in this year. She especially thanked Shannon for her dedication to the library in its extreme, and then to me for all Id done in the past two months. I was so embarrassed I turned as red as the sweet chili sauce in the cruet on the table. Goldie had tears streaming down her face, she was so emotional.

I was grateful when the food arrived and distracted everyone. As we all picked our favourite from the food trolley I gave an understanding and sympathetic smile to the girl who was serving us. I know all too well what it's like having to cart a trolley around all day. I chose the phoenix claws (read: fried chicken's feet) and offered them around, but strangely no-one was game to try one, so I had the lot to myself.

It was a really great meal, and with good company. Boudecia and Shannon went outside to talk while TJ and I discussed Marvel comic for ages, with Bron and Talia joining the conversation occasionally with litle things they knew about it. When Sylvia interrupted and saying the cartoons were much better we told her about all the storylines they hadn't adapted from the original comics. Goldie and Ernesto just shook their heads, muttering to each other about the illiteracy of youth these days. But hey, young people reading something, anything, is definitely an improvement over reading nothing.

I decided that now was the right time to tell. I called for silence, and you'd be amazed how quickly you get the desired effect when you're with people who work in a library. I announced that I'd been offered a job interstate, and that I'd been thinking about and come to a decision. I'd chosen to decline the offer, and stay in Melbourne. I didn't expect the applause that followed, or the bunch of flowers Bron presented to me, and definitely not the bearhug I got from Talia. I felt so loved right then.

But there was something else I had to do. I excused myself and walked outside t where Boudecia and Shannon were talking. Apologising to Boudecia for interrupting, I confronted Shannon and asked her why she'd done it. Shannon took a long drag from her cigarette before replying. She said she'd wanted to get back at the library because her injury there had cost her so much. She said she'd come into the library and asked Goldie if she could check a book out to herself, like old times. All she needed to do then was get access to the system, plug in her USB stick, download the virus into the system, and leave before the whole thing crashed.

I'd worked out the culprit by process of illimination: who had the motive and wouldn't be affected by sabotaging the in-house system? But Boudecia had guessed almost immediately, but had had to do in-depth investigations in order to find proof. She hadn't told the other staff because she didn't want to damage Shannon's reputation. We stood there in silence for a while, letting it all sink in. Boudecia broke the silence by asking Shannon, completely out of the blue, whether she'd like to come back to work at the library. As a volunteer, of course. Shannon put out her cigarette with her wheels and reluctantly agreed. The three of us turned and went back inside to join the others as if nothing had happened.

So that's that. I'm going on holidays to South Australia, to see whether I'd really like to live over there, so I'm going to end this journal on that note. It's been a interesting two months working in the library. While I'm on holidays Boudecia has asked me to do some online 'homework' for her, something called the Learning 2.0 Program. I'll get started on that as soon as I can.

So goodbye all, for now, and thanks for reading!