Never judge a book...

Yvonne was quietly spoken.  It was hard to tell if she had always been that way or if her ten years in a library had somehow forced her voice into retreat.  From the other side of the desk, I could see her twiddling the chain of the glasses hung around her neck and biting her lip and she flitted through the pages of the catalogue that lay in front of her.  Her powder pink cardigan betrayed no sign of age although I know it had been worn every week for as long as I could remember.   As a man approached the service counter, Yvonne seemed to shrink somehow; her body becoming smaller.  She walked silently over to the desk and lifted her head to the man, but not her eyes.

“Would you recommend this book?”

Avoiding his gaze, she glanced at the front cover and smiled to herself.  The man didn’t seem to notice.  “Absolutely sir.  I believe it has been very well received.”

Satisfied, he nodded, took the book from the counter and turned away.

Yvonne returned to the office with a broad smile now stretched across her face; a dimple on one cheek.  She laughed aloud as she fell back into her chair.

I looked at her questioningly.  “That book, what was it?”, I asked.

“It’s called “on-stage/off-stage”, it’s a biography of a rock singer from the 80s.  She led rather a wild life, I understand”, she giggled.

“Ah yes, I’ve heard of it!   It’s a bit controversial in places”.

Yvonne let another burst of laughter escape and I spotted her bright red earrings swinging beneath her hair as she tossed her head back.

“What’s so funny about that?”

“Well, it was a long time ago and you know, things were different then.  I shared an agent with another singer, and they asked me to go on tour with them.  It seemed too good an opportunity to miss!”

As I stared open-mouthed in amazement, I remembered images of the singer I had seen and began to see that raucous, black-haired young woman under the tidy cardigan and neat hair.

Pleased at my reaction, she pushed her chair back once more, looked at the clock and said “well, time for children’s story time”.