Oceanside

Chapter 5

Odette

"This wall will be fiction. Those boxes are just to the left of you there." Mr. Wilson pointed to several stacked carboard boxes near the window.

"Great thank you." I smiled.

I went straight to the top box and pulled it open, starting to sort through the books so I could order them correctly. I heard his shoes fade off on the wooden floors behind me. Not long after that the sound of another box opening reached my ears. I didn't have to glance up to know he was mimicking my actions.

Mr. Wilson was an older man who had recently moved here. His dream was to have a small secondhand bookstore right on the beach. And while this shop wasn't sitting on the sand it was only a block from it. From the window beside me you could even see a sliver of the water.

The entire building was only one large room with a small loft-like area. There was a spiral staircase that led up to it but nothing was done up there yet. The rest of the store was light and breezy to fit the location. The floors were a light oak with white bookshelves and pale blue walls. They almost matched the color of the sky outside. He had a few decorations throughout, all ocean inspired. The reading area he was going to assemble upstairs was full of wicker and soft linens. I loved everything about it and I knew once I was done helping him set it up I would be back often.

I was lucky to see it when I did too. He showed up two days ago with his small moving truck while I was leaving the end of a job. I offered my help right away and he accepted. This is now my second day here. Yesterday I finished up painting for him and now that everything was dry we started getting the books in place.

From yesterday I knew he moved from Chicago after his wife died. He had three children that lived in New York for work but he said they already planned to spend their holidays here. In Chicago he was a civil engineer who slowly figured out he wanted a career change. His focused changed as his wife got sick then when she died his kids convinced him to act on his wishes. He only gave in five years after, too heartbroken to move so soon. He was really sweet once he opened up a bit.

Now neither one of us spoke as we tried to get all the books up before midday. Through small speakers he set up older music played softly.

We worked through lunch, only stopping to grab some food from the café down the street. By the time we got back most of the books were up.

"Can you go ahead and open the door Odette?" Mr. Wilson asked.

"Yeah."

I stood up straight from the shelves, brushing down my loose-fitting jeans so they fell right. Todays activities made me glad I picked them today. Usually I wore a skirt or dress but with all the maneuvering I did so far it was a good thing I didn't. Instead I wore a light pair of jeans with a tighter pink shirt. My hair was half pulled back with a clip to keep it out of my face.

I opened the door, pushing it out into the street until it was almost flush with the building. I kicked down the door stopper so it could stay. Making sure the open sign was flipped so others could see before I went back in.

It was a little passed noon so I knew that there would be more foot traffic picking up as the day went on. Most of the people who worked in the area also lived in the small neighborhoods just east of the town. It was typical of them to clock out and spend the rest of the day walking the town or down at the beach.

I went back to organizing books. I finished fiction and romance before lunch now all I had left was historical. Mr. Wilson had done the other genres and now was breaking down the leftover boxes.

"Good afternoon!" Mr. Wilson welcomed someone.

I hardly glanced up at the group of girls walking in. I smiled lightly when they looked at me, catching the gesture being returned before I focused back on the shelves.