Renée and Kenny married in October 2016 in a small ceremony held in the bookstore. Three months later, in December, Renée began to suspect that there was a romantic affair developing between Kenny and another employee.
At the time, Mel (name withheld) was 22-years-old and two years younger than Renée. Renée had noticed how they would stand close to each other, their body language suggesting a casualness that the other employees did not share.
Kenny would show particular concern whenever Mel was feeling unwell and insisted on running errands with her under the pretence of training. The bookstore became a microcosm in which every interaction grew increasingly tense for Renée, but there was nowhere else to go.
The “affair”, however, was more complicated than it seemed at first glance.
Mel had just come back to work from an overseas trip in December 2016 when she realised that Kenny was suddenly ignoring her. Perplexed, she texted him to ask if she had done anything wrong. Kenny replied, requesting a private meeting with her, on the pretext of work. In the 15 minutes they were alone in the apartment across the street that he used as an office, Kenny then confessed that he had fallen in love with her. He planned to “phase Renée out” over the next two years.
Shocked, Mel told him she was not interested, to please stay faithful to Renée, and asked if she should quit.
Kenny said no, promised that he would keep things professional and that there would be no more advances, on one condition: that Mel would spend a day with him.
Was he asking her out on a date? Or was it more like simple accompaniment? Confronted with this, Mel agreed, but the end of the day led to the same conclusion: she was not interested in getting involved in his marriage. Kenny then apologised and told her that he would leave her alone.
“I just wanted to work in the bookstore”
However, a month later, Kenny once again asked for a private meeting where he confessed his romantic feelings for a third time.Amid Kenny’s emotional outburst, Mel grew sympathetic and made an offer: “I’d let him hug me for so long as he wanted, then to please, stick to the promise of being professional and not talk to me about this again. He asked if he could also hold my hand, and I relented. Then he asked me if I really didn’t like him at all, and I, not wanting to be mean, told him that I did like him, but he was married, so no, I wasn’t interested…”
“I guess that was where I was wrong because I lied that I did like him. While I did like him, it was in a, “I like what you’ve done for the local art scene, for our local writers, and I respect you a whole lot” way. I obviously did not elaborate on that. and I did go out with him that one time. so I may have given him the idea that I wanted him to do some sort of grand gesture for me …” she says via email.
The fallout was immense. In January 2017, Renée confronted Kenny about his feelings, and Kenny painted a picture of a reciprocal affair. Unsurprisingly, Mel never stepped into the bookstore again.
By the time Buy SingLit Fest rolled around in March 2017, Kenny was romantically involved with yet another employee—according to former staff of the bookstore. This time, the girl was 20.
https://www.ricemedia.co/books-actually-young-women-speak-up/
