The World As It Is ; m.c.

Running Into You.

Plan

noun

1. an intention or decision about what one is going to do.

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I was sitting behind the counter in the small bookstore where I worked. It was a year now that Michael and I had lived in our small flat downtown. He and I had both found jobs eventually, falling into a routine.

I liked working in the bookstore, surrounded by the books on the shelves all day. It was a small store, hidden on a corner and was rarely visited by random shoppers. We had usuals that mostly came in the middle of the week and that was about it for customers.

I had my feet propped up on the counter next to the cash register with a book in my lap. It was almost time to close the store and no one had come in all day. So I decided to risk things and read, there wasn't anyone to help anyway so why not?

The book was pretty popular at the moment according to talk shows that I saw when I was at the dentist or the doctor's. The blue book with the words 'The World As It Is by Elizabeth Taylors' on it, rested unopen on my lap.

Someone entered the store before I could read the first word and I set it down on the counter as I went to greet the customer. With my luck, of course someone comes in the moment I decide to read because no one is here.

A blonde woman stood at the doors, looking at the filled shelves with a look of mesmerization on her face. She turned to look at me, her blue eyes lighting up as she smiled.

"Sophia?" She asked, rushing over to hug me.

"Pluto?" I asked, shocked. "What are you doing here?"

"I came here to buy a book," She told me, smiling widely at me. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm the one who would sell you a book," I told her as she laughed.

"You work here?" She asked.

"Yeah, I live downtown with Michael," I told her as she clapped her hands excitedly.

"I just moved here," She told me as I smiled. "I was getting some new books for my office."

"I'm closing the store in a few minutes, do you want to stay for dinner? Michael doesn't have the evening shift tonight," I asked her as she nodded enthusiastically.

She walked into the small bookstore, pulling random books off the shelf before heading towards the counter where I waiting. She set them on the counter as I calculated the price, I looked up at Pluto ready to tell her the amount.

"What are you looking at?" I asked her, noticing her curiously staring at something on the counter. She picked up the blue book that I had wanted to read, raising her eyebrow at me.

"Have you read this?" She asked in an odd voice.

"No, I was about to, but I didn't get the chance," I answered. "Why?"

"Because I wrote this book," She told me in a serious tone as I stared at her incredulously.

"You wrote 'The World As It Is'?" I asked her as she nodded. "It's by Elizabeth Taylors, Pluto."

Pluto blushed, staring at her feet as I watched her, not understanding the new piece of information I had just learned. I looked back down at the cover again, reading the authour's name again.

"Do you think they would let me publish it under Pluto?" She asked sheepishly.

"Your actual name is Elizabeth Taylors?" I asked, not knowing what to do with this new information about my old University roommate.