Gravity - B. Barnes

-8-

Bucky's brow furrowed in confusion as he glanced at his phone.

Unknown
Hey. I found this cute little antique bookstore.
Want to check it out with me?

Bucky
Who is this?

Kat
Sorry. Forgot I didn't give you my number
It's Kat.

Bucky
Sure. When?

Kat
Tonight? I get out of work at 5:00

Bucky
Send me the address and I'll be there.

Bucky chuckled when she texted back some emojis to show her excitement and tucked his phone away. It wasn't a far walk from his place, but he took the bike, in case Kat wanted a ride.

Bucky parked and strode the block to the store. It was an old three story brownstone, converted from a house, with one big window in the front displaying old books. He saw Kat coming from the opposite direction and smiled. She was dressed for work - black dress pants, a silky white blouse tucked in but flowing loosely around her form, black flats for walking, hair pulled up in a pony tail. She smiled when she caught his gaze and trotted up to him.

"Hey! Sorry I'm late. I missed the train, had to hop a bus." She reached forward to hug him as she approached but then stopped. "I hope you weren't waiting long?"

"No. Thanks for inviting me. This place looks interesting." Bucky nodded toward the building.

Kat took a good look at the bookstore. "Yeah, I thought you might want to check out some stuff as old as you."

"You know what, Kat?" A smirk on his face as he turned to her, she giggled. "Let's just go inside."

And so they did. It was packed full of books, old and new alike, with little reading nooks tucked in between the shelves. Kat found a window seat on the third floor with a view of the sunset and plopped her stuff on it before turning her attention to Bucky. "How about...we each pick a book for the other person, and then we take some time to start reading it? But you have 5 minutes to pick the book and get back here."

Bucky considered for a moment and responded, "You're on."

They darted away, returning to the seat a few minutes later.

"Alright, you first." Kat sat beside him on the small seat, their knees touching. His lips twitched upward when he noticed she didn't flinch away.

"Uh...an old favorite. The Hobbit."

"I wouldn't have pegged you for a fantasy guy!"

"I read it when it first came out, always stuck with me I guess." She took the book, running her fingers over the ornate cover before setting it down beside her. "You're turn."

"The Innocent Man. I'm not sure how into true crime novels you are, but this was one of the books that drove me to pursue criminal law. Junk science, wrongful conviction..."

"So I'll be learning about you, in a way."

She shrugged, tucking her hair behind her ear, a shy smile on her face. "Yeah, I suppose so."

"You're a lawyer?"

"Paralegal. So I do everything the lawyers do except argue in court, give advice, and have those extra letters after my name. Oh, and I don't have the debt. Or the crappy long hours."