Lindsey blinked and then turned to Robbie, hoping he could offer some comforting words of encouragement. But no, the big wuss was backing up toward the door.

“Where are you going?” she asked.

“I have a . . . thing,” he said.

“For an actor, you are a terrible liar.”

Robbie shrugged and continued to slide toward the door. Lindsey glared at him and he made his right hand into the shape of a phone with middle fingers folded and his thumb and pinky out.

“I’ll call you,” he whispered.

“Chicken!” she hissed after him.

“Bock, bock,” he clucked as he walked away with his knees bent, flapping his arms as he left the building.

Lindsey squashed her laugh. She needed to think about her staff. Poor Ms. Cole. Not getting the part had to be a crushing blow for the woman, who as far as Lindsey could tell, had virtually no life outside of her job at the library.

“Listen, Ms. Cole,” Lindsey said as she came around the counter to stand beside her. “You are an exemplary employee when it comes to never taking a moment for yourself, which is why if you’re feeling a little emotional, I completely understand if you want to take some time to regroup.”

Ms. Cole turned from the stack of books she was checking in to face Lindsey. She carefully removed her glasses and let them hang on the chain from her neck while she met her boss’s concerned gaze.

“I’m going to need some time off,” she said.

“Of course, anything you need,” Lindsey said.

“I’ll need the week that the play is running,” Ms. Cole said. “I will simply be too exhausted playing Titania to come into work that week.”

“Ah!” Lindsey gasped. “You got it? You got the part?”

Ms. Cole bowed her head in acknowledgment.

“That’s wonderful,” Lindsey cried. Anyone else she would have hugged, but Ms. Cole was not a hugger, so Lindsey held up her hand, and said, “High five.”

Ms. Cole frowned at her.

“That’s when you slap your hand with mine,” Lindsey said.

“Why?” Ms. Cole asked.

“It’s a theater thing,” Lindsey lied. “It means, ‘Yay you.’”

“Oh.” Ms. Cole patted her hand against Lindsey’s.

It was quite possibly the single most awkward exchange of high fives in the history of the high five. Lindsey wasn’t sure what to do with her hand afterward, so she crossed her arms over her chest in what she hoped looked like a casual pose.

“I’ll just go make a note of your vacation days.”

“Do.” Ms. Cole turned back to her stack of books, and Lindsey made a mental note never to attempt a high five with the lemon again.

6