The library was easily Jed’s favorite place in town, though, to get there, he had to choose between two unfortunate routes. One was the faster, but unsafer, alleyway path—which was, thanks to poor city planning, in almost constant darkness. It had myriad strange individuals dwelling there, littering the sidewalks, their looming shadows hiding concealed threats. On each corner, there were storefronts that, although looking long-abandoned, harbored an alarming amount of activity inside.

The other was the longer, but brighter, main street route. Despite being in the sun, it had its own issues—particularly concerning drivers. They seemed to lack any regard for pedestrian life. Stop signs were suggestions, and sidewalks served as alternative driving lanes when traffic congestion got bad. Not something Jed wanted to chance right now.

So, they alleyways it was. Today, strangely, Jed's dangerous pilgrimage went well. He chalked it up to being 6'4" with a giant duster. The long coat always thwarted away any potential muggers.

As Jed approached the wooden doors of the library, he stared at the engravings that embellished them, appreciating the art. Each panel on the door held a separate mythos within them, and Jed gingerly traced the stories, reading along—though, as always, one specific tale caught his eye: the story of Icarus. He brushed over the sculpted wings of the story's hero, frowning as he followed along. Seeing the story beats of this always made Jed feel so disappointed—nothing about it made sense to him. He knew there had to be some kind of lesson buried within it, but Jed never bothered to bring it to light. All he could think about was the fact that this young guy died, purposely, just for a fleeting taste of undeserved glory. He had his whole life ahead of him!

Across the street, brand ambassadors worked, strategically placed signage around the colosseum, gearing up for the next round of sponsored boxers. Vendors tried to haggle with colosseum owners for cheaper booth space. One particular snippet of conversation caught Jed's attention:

Two women, gesturing wildly towards the boxing bracket colosseum, scolded the ritual athleticism that took place within it. "I absolutely hate that monstrosity." The elderly woman exclaimed. "It's nothing more than an eyesore. All it does is show how the inner city folks see us as entertainment."

Hmmmm.

Jed had heard that sentiment before, many times over. He had actually believed it himself, too, until yesterday when he finally came in contact with a real inner city citizen—Vanessa—and she did not fit that mold. When she looked at him, there was a genuine sense of wonder in her eyes. There was no way she saw him as just entertainment, right?

Jed didn’t want to know the answer to that just yet. He pushed the weighty doors of the library open and stepped inside.

A familiar silence quickly greeted Jed, broken only by the subtle creaking of the floorboards and the distant clack of the librarian’s impatient fingers eagerly looking something up. The air in here was different from the outside, where the exhaust fumes burned his nostrils. Here, it was thick with the scent of aging wood and old books.

The building was old—older than any remaining edifice in the city, and served as an unfortunate reminder of a grandeur lost to time. Its interior, constructed with mahogany planks worn down by years of usage, echoed the sentiment. The open floor plan unfolded gracefully, revealing a spiral staircase near the help desk in the center of the room, beckoning towards a smaller second floor. Its wood balusters were fashioned in a way similar to vines, with flowers and leaves carved into them. Bookcases holding thousands of novels stood tall, separated by Corinthian columns. The only jarring and gaudy notes were the thick, plastic signs—new, shiny, and almost garish, yet their fonts preserved a subtle nod to the past. Jed wished that the city planners of today’s world would go back to this and skip the forced modernity of everything—there was nothing uglier than a gray, concrete facade and, unfortunately, that was what his city preferred.

“Um, excuse me, Miss. Would you be able to help me with something?” Jed said as he neared the help desk in the center of the main room. “If you’re… not too busy.”

The librarian peered over the top of her thick, black glasses, her gaze briefly leaving the novel she had been engrossed in. Carefully, she placed a bookmark on the page she would now be forcibly stopped at. Jed, unabashedly nosy, tried to steal a glance at the cover before she concealed it. It had a gratuitous shot of a shirtless cowboy plastered across the cover, spinning a lasso in his hand—was she reading erotica at work? He looked up again quickly, hoping that she didn’t catch him snooping, but the arch of her eyebrow said otherwise. Her gaze shifted from him to the sign that boldly declared HELP DESK. A subtle sigh escaped her lips, and she leaned in.

"Yes, sir. You've miraculously stumbled upon the HELP DESK. It’s not just a decorative piece." Her voice was laced with sarcasm. Jed was taken aback.

As she rested her chin on her hand, rhythmically tapping her fingers against the desk and awaiting his query, the door creaked open once more, and a new patron stepped inside. Their appearance was obscured, concealed by a large hat, sunglasses, and a coat.

“That, uh… makes a lot of sense, I guess.” Jed stammered, fumbling in his pocket before pulling out a crumpled list and unfolding it. “I need help finding some books about boxing techniques, interpersonal skills and, um…” Jed paused, hesitating as he deliberated with himself on whether or not he should even bother reading the last bullet point. It was vague, but he needed all the information he could get on the woman he had met yesterday. “And someone named Vanessa?”

“Vanessa?” The librarian asked as she clacked away at the keyboard, pulling up some boxing technique book recommendations. “Like, a book named Vanessa?”

“No, not a book named Vanessa.”

“Ooookay. So, a person named Vanessa? If you're searching for someone named Vanessa in a city this huge, you might want to narrow it down a bit.” The librarian looked at him expectantly, needing more. “Do they have a last name? Occupation? Are they an author you’re trying to find books by? You need to help me out, here, hunny. I’m not a mind reader.”

Jed began to feel overwhelmed by the slew of questions, the evident contempt in the librarian’s tone, and the lack of time she gave him to even come up with an answer. All he could do was stare at her in disbelief, biting his lip in frustration. She returned his annoyance with a raised eyebrow, as if to say, well?

“She’s… she’s, um, a designer. On a work visa. That’s all I know. Sorry.”

“Well, hunny, I can’t do anything with that.” She handed him a post-it with the recommended titles and where to find them. “But I did manage to get these for you.”

Jed, still recovering from the librarian's humiliation, grabbed the piece of paper with a mumbled thank you, almost dropping it as he did so. He hurriedly made his way through the library, wanting to find his books and get out of there, fast. So focused on his own frayed nerves, Jed didn’t even notice that the mysterious newcomer from before was following him.

Once he got to one of the towering bookshelves, Jed’s fingers gingerly traced over the deteriorating spines of books, scanning them one by one. As he reached for the boxing techniques book, he suddenly got a strange feeling… was someone watching him? Curious, Jed turned around, only to be met with a looming figure in his periphery. Despite his heart racing he managed to cough out, “Who... are you?”

The mysterious figure didn’t say anything. Instead, they began slowly unbuttoning their coat and removing their hat. Jed's eyes darted around nervously—what was going on? Who was disrobing in front of him, and why?! Once the stranger had finally shed their coat, he was greeted with none other than the face of Vanessa. Jed breathed a deep sigh of relief. “You know, if you wanted to know about me, you could’ve just used this, silly.” She teased, poking the square outline of the phone in his jacket pocket.

Jed nodded. Vanessa was here and talking to him! Like, without any business reason to!

Play it cool, he reminded himself. “I guess I just, um. I like the thrill of a mysterious reveal.” Seeing her grin at that, he felt a little more confident. Though, Vanessa was mostly just holding in a laugh at his odd choice of response. “Why are you wearing all that stuff?”

“Wearing what?”

"A giant coat, with a hat and glasses. It’s, like… 75 degrees out.” Quick to soften any unintended judgment, Jed added, “Not that it looks bad or anything.”

"Tons of boxers are out today, all hyped up about the new bracket season starting," Vanessa explained. "And, trust me, they'd totally hound me to pick them up as a client. So, I'm wearing this to go in disguise. Works like a charm because the real me would never be caught wearing something this ugly” She gestured at her discarded incognito garments, and Jed couldn't help noticing how the ‘ugly’ coat was the same fabric and color as the duster he had on. Vanessa glanced around and then back at Jed, moving in close to whisper, “But we’re alone here, so it’s fine.”

He froze up. What—what should he do?! What was something cool to say?

“Hold still,” Vanessa demanded, then began to circle Jed. He obliged, despite the uncomfortable spike of anxiety that hit each time she went behind him. He hated having his back to people, especially if they didn’t know of his predicament.

Vanessa poked his back. Then poked it again. “Why’s it lumpy?”

“Oh, um—”

“Actually, don’t tell me. Show me.”

Jed was flustered, but he took his duster off anyway. When it hit the floor, Vanessa’s mouth dropped.

“WHAT?!” At the sudden loud declaration, Jed whipped his head around, but Vanessa held him firmly in place, fingers playing with the harness he had on.

“Is something wrong?!?” Jed urged, and in response, Vanessa unclasped it. The wings he usually tucked away flew outwards, uncontrolled, and wiped the shelves clean as they extended to their full wingspan. Books went flying everywhere. He wondered if the librarian could hear.

“Why didn’t you tell me you had these?!” Vanessa touched the pearly white feathers, then noticed the poorly cut holes in the back of Jed’s white t-shirt and smiled to herself. Didn’t he know shirts like that already existed, premade, for non-flightless people? “These are game-changers.”

Jed felt a rush of heat to his cheeks—part embarrassment, part... something else—as Vanessa touched his feathers. He stuttered trying to find the right words. “Uh, well, I guess I didn’t think they were that interesting. I mean, I’ve had them for a while, and they’re just... part of me, you know?” His speech betrayed the cool facade he wanted to keep up.

She moved back to the front of him and handed him his harness back. “Jed, you’re total market material. Even more than I thought before! I know exactly the direction we’re going to take—I can’t wait. You fit perfectly into a campaign I’ve been wanting to do for a while now.” She put her coat back on, then the glasses and, finally, the hat, then gave him a little pat on the chest.

“Marketable, that’s good… um,” Jed wanted to say something, anything to sound suave. “I wouldn’t want to scare off the customers. Haha.”

Perfect.

In response, Vanessa’s lips curved into a half-smile, a glint of a strange fondness in her gaze. Jed felt appreciated, which convinced him of something: Vanessa would be the perfect partner for him! Yeah! Because that's all it takes—someone being nice. Once.

“Also,” she grabbed the book she had been looking for, which was conveniently located in the same aisle Jed had to go to. It was titled, The Business Behind Boxing. “Feel free to take whatever books on boxing you need out. But I’m going to be giving you a trainer.” She thought for a second, then added smugly, “If you’re reading how to play a sport, you’re either really good, or really bad. And, considering you’ve never done this before, sweetie, I’m guessing it’s the latter.”

As Vanessa slipped away, the librarian emerged from the other end of the hallway, arms crossed, her stance intimidating. Jed anxiously watched her eyes scan the chaotic scene. Books were scattered everywhere, and his coat lay strewn across the floor. Aggrieved, her gaze shifted from the ground to the harness in his hand. In an attempt at remaining cordial, she instructed him to clean up the mess and leave, immediately. Unfortunately, that meant Jed wasn't taking any books out, but he had a phone now! Which meant he had the internet, which meant unlimited free PDFs from sketchy websites. So, win-win!