Jia Li Adlar nodded and handed him her cup and plate since he had offered to dispose of them. She watched as he placed the cups into the recycle bin – which ultimately pleased her – and the plate went into the bin that held the dirty dishes.
He had looked at her curiously when she had hesitated before answering his question. Had he noticed her tension? Could he have? She hadn’t meant to make it so obvious, but it hadn’t exactly been a purposeful reaction. What were his thoughts right now? What were his intentions?
“Actually, a few different businesses have bulletin boards with job opportunities posted on them, but your best bet is the school’s library. They have one of the biggest bulletin boards, and people tend to post their wanted advertisements there and in the newspapers before anywhere else.” She didn’t say anything about the computers. Computers being in a library was a given.
“Well, I’m glad I could help. I’m sure that there will be a shelter or two that’s hiring.” Jia said with a smile.
“Do you know how to get to the library? You said earlier about how you were having trouble finding your way around campus. I assume that means where the library is concerned, too, especially if you don’t have the map they always give to students.” She shrugged as if it wasn’t a big deal at all to show him.
When it was apparent that he did not in fact know how to get to the library, she nodded and they left Caribou Coffee. She knew it was probably not very nice of her to do this to him when he didn’t really know how to get to the library, but she took a round-about way. This way, she always knew there was a tree nearby and how far away it was.
It was unlikely that Xan would make the connection. She was subtle about it. She knew where almost every tree on campus grew, for she had traveled through a great many of them. Her striking green eyes never strayed toward the direction of a tree that was near them because she could feel where it was. She had memorized its location.
“So, what sort of things do you normally do for fun aside from tennis and working on cars?” Jia asked, conversationally.