Thanks to darkniciad for agreeing to edit this series
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"I've got great news!" Louisa burst in the door, hair flying like streamers out of a Happy New Year party horn.
Richard stepped forward from the kitchen, smiling his end-of-the-workday greeting. "What is it?"
"My proposal was accepted! I get to present at the conference!" She beamed and fairly quivered from head to toe.
"I
knew
you'd make it!" Richard swept her into his arms. Really, this living with Louisa thing just got better and better. She was smart, sexy, funny, a good friend, and someone he was proud to be with. Who could ask for anything more?
"You know, a special occasion like this calls for a special dinner."
"Would you like to go out? You could be off k.p. for one night."
He shrugged. "I don't mind it. Besides, I kind of have something special planned. Unless, of course, you'd prefer going out."
"You have something pla — now how did you know to plan something?" she asked suspiciously. A pleased smile twittered at the corners of her mouth.
"Oh, dang," he snapped his fingers in mock discouragement, "the cat's out of the bag. I guess a little bird told me that somebody's work was accepted at the national level..."
"This was a little bird named Kim, I take it." Kim was Louisa's co-worker and close friend.
"Hmm, let me see, ... yep! So how about crab-stuffed whitefish with Domaine Ste. Michelle Brut?" The young man looked pleased with himself.
"Of course, yes. You know my answer to you is always yes." Then she laid a hand on his arm. "Will you cook while I tell Jerrod?"
"Of course! You don't need to ask me." He tousled her hair. "Silly girl."
Louisa grinned and pecked his cheek, then scampered off to the computer. Who knew when her son would get the email? It was impossible to know when he was in the field, or when he might next have access to a computer. But when he did, a message from home would be waiting.
Over homemade cheesecake Louisa laid out the final plans for the presentation she would make.
"The Mandala Library," he read. "What does that mean?"
"Well, let me back up a bit. You might remember that one part of the conference has to do with designing libraries of the future."
"Mm-hm." Well, he sort of remembered her saying something like that.
"And I think most of the proposals other people sent in probably have to do with high-tech stuff. But the more I thought about it, the more I thought that when patrons come into a library, the latest high-tech gadget isn't necessarily the first thing they're looking for."
"So what is the first thing they're looking for?"
Louisa gave a sharp, satisfied nod. "Exactly." The look in her eyes held a message.
Richard puzzled it out. "You don't know what they're looking for."
"Right! So absolutely everything needs to be easy to find." She pointed to the center of the drawing that resembled an old-fashioned keyhole. "The main desk is here, so you see it as soon as you come in."
"What if you want a computer instead of a person?"
"Terminals are here" —she pointed along the diagonal lines of the large lobby— "along the walls next to the New Books section. But getting back here, see, the main desk is curved, like a bubble. Then the first concentric circle holds reference materials and large print media..." She went on, pointing out the children's area near the front, and the quiet reading rooms near the back.
"This is well thought out. Why didn't you show me all this before?"
"Aww, you know. I didn't want to shout about it and then have it not get in."
"You can always tell me stuff." But his reproof was mild. Louisa pushed herself into his arms and kissed his neck.
"So you like it?"
He snuggled her deeper into his embrace. "It's wonderful. You are going to win a Medal of Brilliance."
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