When April returned to the bedroom, Vicki was waiting for her, phone in hand. “I need to take care of something,” she said. “This might take a while.”
“I should head home anyway,” April replied. She was hoping to go into the library early in the morning to get a start on all the work she had to do.
With a nod, Vicki disappeared back into the living room. April got dressed and left the bedroom. She found Vicki sitting on the couch, her laptop open on the coffee table, the phone to her ear. One bare leg poked out of her robe.
As April approached the door, Sebastian appeared out of nowhere at April’s feet, weaving himself around April’s legs.
Seriously? Now that
I’m leaving, you decide to get friendly? As she reached down to pet him, he darted away and went to curl up on Vicki’s lap.
Sighing, April waved goodbye to Vicki and slipped out.
She smiled to herself. Despite everything that was going on, she and Vicki seemed to have come to a tentative understanding. It made her wonder. If it wasn’t for everything with the library, would things between them be different?
April pushed the thought out of her mind. It could never work, for so many reasons. Besides, it was a dangerous line of thinking. The reality was that they were still working against each other.
April could never forget that they were at opposite sides of this fight.
Chapter Fifteen
Lexi slammed down the phone and let out a heavy sigh.
“Everything okay, Lex?” April asked.
“It’s the caterers for the ball on the weekend,” Lexi said. “They can’t get ahold of the company that’s supplying the ice sculptures. This is ridiculous! Why do we even need ice sculptures?”
“You know how it is,” April said. “The more extravagant the event is, the more we can charge for tickets. And the more people will donate.”
“I have an idea. Why don’t we skip the ball altogether and donate the money from the funds we’d save instead?”
“I don’t think the association that’s funding the ball would go for that. Those rich old ladies need an excuse to throw a party.”
“Then they should organize it themselves,” Lexi grumbled. “I wish we could throw one of these parties to raise funds for the library.”
“If only we weren’t so pressed for time,” April said. “These things take all year to organize. Plus, we need the money to fund an event like that in the first place.” She sighed. “At least the online fundraiser is going strong.”
After April’s TV interview, things had picked up. Apparently, she had started a discussion, and people from West Heights and the rest of the city were weighing in with their opinions. And April herself was getting a lot of attention. Friends and strangers had even sent her messages of support.
She opened up her social media page to check on things, and groaned. “Not again.”
“What’s the matter?” Lexi asked.
“People keep leaving hateful comments. First, it was on the library page, and now it’s on my page too. Look at this one. ‘You should be grateful that Oasis is cleaning up all the trash that lives in West Heights.’ And it just gets worse from there. Who is this person and why do they care so much?”
“Ugh.” Lexi screwed up her face. “It must be some online troll. I get them on my blog all the time. They seem to get off on harassing people, all while hiding behind the anonymity of a computer screen.”
“That’s messed up,” April said.
“Welcome to the internet, where people can be assholes without consequences.” Lexi came over to April’s desk and pointed to a little red button at the corner of her screen. “You can report the comments and block him.”
April clicked the button and sent off a report. “This isn’t even the worst of it. Just yesterday, someone posted a misogynistic tirade on my page. It barely even had anything to do with the library! I don’t understand how people can be so nasty.”
Lexi squeezed April’s shoulder. “Are you going to be all right? Do you want me to take over the social media stuff for you?”
“It’s okay,” April said. She was a grown woman. She wasn’t going to let some online bullies get to her. “I can handle it.”
“Let me know if you change your mind,” Lexi said. “In the meantime, I’m going to grab a coffee before the meeting with Vicki.”