Todd turned to Carrie and whispered, “Stay here and be quiet. That old librarian is coming.”
“Oh, shit!” Carrie hissed back, “Not Ms. Crouch. I can’t let her see me like this.”
Todd shushed her and stepped out of the bathroom, making sure the door closed behind him. There was a light thump behind it. Todd assumed that Carrie had leaned up against the door to keep it shut. He walked over to intercept Ms. Crouch before she reached the bathroom and discovered Carrie. His mind raced as he frantically tried to formulate some reasonable excuse for the mess on the carpet that would stop the old crone.
“Sorry,” he said when he reached her. “Sorry about the mess.”
“What is all this?” Ms. Crouch asked severely. “Are you responsible for this mess on the carpet?”
“Yes, I’m very sorry. My friend, um… she spilled a bottle of milk on the carpet… and on herself. I was helping her get cleaned off in the rest room.”
Todd gave her his most sheepish apologetic look, but she looked as furious as ever.
“Food and drinks are not allowed in the library!” she said in as close to a scream as she dared in the library. “That rule is in place to prevent situations exactly like this one.”
“Again,” said Todd. “We are both really sorry about all of this. We made a mistake. We shouldn’t have brought that in here. You’re right. You’re absolutely right. We should have followed the rules.”
Ms. Crouch seemed to calm down a little now that she had properly scorned him. Also, he had demonstrated some respect for the rules that she loved so much.
Looking past her to the table on which he had left the remote, he said, “I, uh, need to get to our bags.” Then, he leaned in to whisper to her, “My friend needs me to bring her a new shirt. Her shirt is a bit, uh, see-through right now.”
Ms. Crouch’s eyes went wide when she heard “see-through.”
“Of course,” she said sounding more helpful. Apparently, the idea of something so indecent as a see-through shirt disgusted her more than the mess on the carpet.
“Thank you,” said Todd. He started walking to the table, but stopped and said to her, “Oh, and please don’t go in there.” He pointed to the bathroom. “She’s a bit embarrassed by the whole situation. I think she would prefer to be left alone right now.”
“Sure,” said the librarian. “I’ll go find the janitor.”
As she walked off, Todd felt satisfied that Carrie was safe for the moment. He rushed over to the table to get the remote, but when he got there he found…