First Day Back

Today was my first day back at work, and the timing for these new Richard Armitage pictures proved perfect. Everyone, well, many people, talked about the cream-coloured sweater in a photo spread for a recent article. The one with the plaid shirt and tie was not the look or the book catching my eye in one picture. It was the marble interior behind him. What building are you in? I wondered. The New York Public Library came to my mind, with its beaux-arts/classical architecture. I combed through pictures on my lunch break, trying to match some part of the interior, proving I watched too many detective shows zooming in and out of images. I concluded:

• It must be in some building in New York. However, there are a lot of buildings with marble interiors with windows allowing for natural light. I want this to be some corner of the New York Public Library.
  
• While An Le and Jay Brooks has taken some fabulous photos of Mr. Armitage, something about this set whispered female gaze. Kaitlyn Mikayla take a bow.
  
• He seemed relaxed in these photos, nothing seemed forced. The one with the book has a cheeky look, a come hither with a well-fitted suit and a book proving like catnip to this person.

The fact I started with this rather than learning my trainer came down with COVID, Student Services will go appointment only, and no word yet on how our front-line services will change means mission accomplish regarding distracting me. Meanwhile, the books from one department’s collection were shelved among our primary collection. After weeding our collection, we took a look at a spreadsheet for this collection, then catalogued it and more actions before taking the books out of their boxes. If I wanted to caption this photo, it would be ‘Fatima, you have those books to finish shelving.’

“And what would my reward be?” I replied.

I see the look and then say, “Alright, I better get going.”

“Don’t forget you have that library session to plan. Have you emailed that instructor yet?” He asked as well. Well, it’s better to put my imagination in service of fangirl follies than the rollercoaster of information during this pandemic.

Honestly, I am concerned this time around.

I got boosted, got a KN95 mask, been careful, made sure not to add to the chain of transmission, but Omicron can make an assured person feel doubtful. Epidemiologists predicted higher cases over the next two months, and things are coming true around here, so yes, I will take cream-coloured sweaters as a distraction.