Chapter Text
It’s been a while since Grant went to the library. The last time he went was when his eldest daughter was ten years old. Yet, he needs a book on coding. His co-developer has been taking books out of his desk and hasn’t been returning them. However, he doesn’t mind. His co-developer needs to work from home most days because of that tumor in his head.
Him and his wife, Destiny, walk into the library hand in hand. She works with him and is all for checking out new coding books. She really wants the girls to read some as well, they’re beginning to get into coding.
They separate to different sides of the coding shelf. Destiny is on the far left side, looking at coding books for teens, while Grant searches the section for complex books. All of them are roughly five hundred pages thick though. Luckily he’s always loved reading.
He picks one off the shelf, flipping through the various pages. There’s actually one on generative AI. He can’t believe he made something like that exist, maybe it’s only in this book because he made it. He’s happy he got the AI up to date now, it used to not work as well back in the olden days when the company was in that smaller building a town over.
As he puts that book back, a woman comes rushing down the aisle beside him. She’s reading each label on each shelf. She must not be used to this library. A lot of people are shocked to see a library as big as this one in the Midwest.
The woman backs up after she makes eye contact with Grant. She has a weary smile on her face and ginger hair sticking to her forehead. He gives her a warm smile as she works up the courage to talk, luckily, Grant has always been easy to talk to.
“Hi… I just have a small question…” she says softly, folding hands in front of her, wringing them together nervously, “I was just wondering where I could find horse care books?”
Grant stands a little straighter as she asks. He kind of feels like a library expert when she asks that… he’s really not, but he does remember where the animal care books are kept! He fixes his vest as he clears his throat. Typically he doesn’t dress this formal, but he and his wife just got off work so their semi-formal wear and their C&A badges are still on.
“It’s on the second floor, to the left, and the third shelf in!” He directs, gesturing with his hands exactly how to get there.
The woman lets out a sigh of relief, her hands finally falling from their stiff position, “Thank you so much. This library is so much bigger than the one in Eureka.” She chuckles nervously.
“Oh! You’re from Eureka? I lived there too a few years back.” He says, eyes lighting up since this is the first person he’s met from his home town since his family moved.
She smiles and it’s a lot less strained this time. She then glances down at the badge on his purple vest. C&A. She knows that place from Eureka, shut down a few years after she play tested for them. “And you work for C&A. Gosh, I remember that place. Whoever created it was honestly a genius. I loved escaping reality when I play tested that game. Sheesh… that was years ago.” She laughs, a hand coming to rest on her face as she reminisces.
“You were a play tester? This is so interesting we crossed paths, I was actually a co-designer of the program!” He shares, taking a step closer. “Grant Best.” He puts out a hand for her to shake.
She laughs nervously once more, “Suzie Ackerman…”
“Suzie… Suzie… I think I remember you! Your play test went really well. We actually advertised it so we could get more play testers.” He explains, clasping his hands together with an excited smile.
“I remember the advertisements… really helped my real estate business as well. Brought in a lot of new customers from all over Missouri. So, thank you.” She says, folding her hands in front of her once more but less tense than before.
“A real estate business! Wow, that’s exciting. You move away from Eureka to get more clients?” He asks, genuinely interested in this previous play tester’s life.
“Yeah, Eureka wasn’t the best place to sell houses in. It had quite a few suburbs, but most families were low income. I’m pretty glad I moved.” She explains, eyes leaving Grant’s for a moment.
As the two continue to talk, Destiny glances over. She sees her husband interacting with this woman so enthusiastically. Her husband has always been great at making friends. He's always been so talkative. However, he always gets so caught up with work and forgets to talk to people outside the company. She's glad he's talking to someone different.
She smiles as she walks over, two teen coding books in her hands. One is for beginners and the other is for intermediate coders. She stands next to Grant, now looking through the larger coding books. It seems like he hasn’t picked one out yet, though, she’s used to him getting distracted.
“Who’s this, dear?” She asks, picking out a book and placing it onto her stack.
“This is Suzie! She was a play tester for our game back when we were at our old spot!” He says with awe, putting a hand on Suzie’s shoulder to shake her slightly.
“How lovely, was she the one we advertised?” She asks, stepping closer and smiling softly at the red-headed woman.
“Yes! That’s the one! She’s so successful now. With her house selling and all! Remember how she wanted to play just to get away from her mother? Well I think she did!” He says cheerfully, Suzie chuckles nervously.
“Grant…” Destiny says softly, almost warning him.
“No, no, it’s okay. I did get away from my mother. Hah! Living on my own now… much nicer.” Suzie reassures the couple, waving her hands.
“I’m glad.” Destiny says, nodding slightly. “Do you have a business card?” She then asks, wanting to keep in touch with this woman. A part of her wishes she stayed in touch with a lot more of the play testers and not just their own workers.
“Oh, yes, of course I do! I always keep them on me… hah, just in case.” She says awkwardly, digging in her dusty orange bag to pull out a ziploc baggy of business cards. She keeps a lot of things in ziploc baggies, just so they don’t get lost.
Suzie hands over the business card and Destiny looks it over. There’s a flattering picture of the red-headed woman on the card. She has a bright smile plastered on her face instead of the nervous one she has right now. There’s also a number on the card, that’s what she was hoping for, just to become friends with this woman. It’s definitely a very professional card, Destiny is happy that this woman became so successful.
“Thank you, this time around I’ll be sure to keep in contact with you, doll.” Destiny assures, slipping the card into her back pocket.
Suzie flushes slightly, wringing her hands together once more, “Oh, you don’t need to do that… plus, that number’s for business stuff anyway…” She chuckles.
“Oh please, you just moved here. We can be your first friends in the town. I’m sure we can add many friends to your friendship list.” Destiny says, placing a hand on Suzie’s shoulder.
“The list is pretty short…” She laughs timidly and quietly. “But, ah, thanks for wanting me as a friend! I’ll be sure to reach out.” Suzie says, quickly shaking both of their hands again before swiftly leaving to go find a horse care book.
The couple waves as she leaves. They don’t know how new she is to town, but anyone could use a friend once and a while. Destiny knows that a lot of their past play testers just played to… get away from something. So, she’s willing to help any one of those past testers.
“She’s a nice girl.” Destiny points out, snapping her husband out of waving goodbye.
“She is.” He says with a smile, grabbing Destiny’s hand to walk towards the circulation desk to check out their three books. “I think we should get coffee with her sometime.”
“We should. You’re so smart.” Destiny says with a soft smile. Grant’s lips upturn into a goofy smile at her compliment.