Obey me: Before I Met You

Before I Met You: Satan (2)

It was quiet. Save for the occasional sound of milk being steamed in the background. Rows and rows of fresh books were packed tightly between the shelves that slowly passed their peripherals as they strolled past. Today was the release of the second installment of The Magic in Mystery. It wasn't the most popular book, but they were glad to know that the author had just enough fans to be able to put out a second one.

They'd finally reached the end of the seemingly endless walk way where the store kept its mystery books and turned into the towering bookshelf. Their steps were even slower then the steps they took to get there. Eyes roamed up and down the spines of colorful books searching for the one title they had in mind.

One daring step after another, another, and then a final step as their eyes caught the silver curled letters on a midnight purple spine. They gasped softly as they reached for it and in the midst of their excitement, they failed to notice the hand that reached for the same book until their fingers grazed each other. They quickly pulled their hand back and apologized profusely to the person they touched.

Somewhere in the middle of their apologies, their eyes met with brilliant emerald ones that looked over them softly. Their words began to die at their lips as he smiled, shaking his head softly. His blonde locks shimmying in the opposite directions of his head.

"I should be the one to apologise. I didn't think we'd be reaching for the same book after all."

He tilted the book out of its place with a finger, that they noticed had a green pained nail, and pulled the rest of it out. He handed it to them with the cover in all its glory shown and they looked at it, frozen in their place for a moment before slowly raising their arms to take the book in their hands.

He turned to grab another copy of the book and they had expected him to just walk away after that, but they were surprised to see him stand there in front of them with a smile on his handsome features and a thoughtful look in his eyes. It felt like time stopped for them just to be able to look at each other. Time only ticks again when they notice the speed pick up on the motions of his lips, snapping them out of their trance.

"I'm sorry?"

"Let me buy you a coffee. I want to apologise for causing you to jump like that a while ago."

"Are...are you sure?"

"Of course. Let me."

"Oh. O-okay"

They nodded though they were terribly embarrassed at just how scared they were moments ago. He tilted his head slightly past the shelf before walking away and they took a moment before hopping on his trail. They walked past the rows of towering shelves a bit quicker than they did walking in into the lingering mixture of bitter and sweet coffee that scented the lobby of the store.

There were so many options to choose from, but their orders were simple. A sweet iced coffee for them and a hot black coffee for him. They sat across from each other at a table pushed against a window of the store. The warm glow of the sun highlighted the dust that floated around them, but it was easy enough to ignore. They sipped awkwardly from their respective drinks, avoiding each other's gazes as they waited for someone to say the first word. They finally cleared their throat after a prolonged silence to speak.

"Have you read the first book? The Magic in Mystery?"

He nodded, a smile beginning to bloom across his face again. Heat teased at the apples of their cheeks as they looked at him.

"It's not a bestseller, but it blends genres so seamlessly which is something that can't be said for many mystery books."

"Exactly!" They were a bit eager to respond. "The mixture of action, romance, comedy, and mystery fits together so well. I was so upset when I found out that a lot of people didn't even know the book existed."