My Butterfly

{1}

"Hey, Skylar! I'm heading out for the night. Do you need anything?" Jason asks me as he grabs his fisherman's hat from the hook by the door. Jason was the owner of the bookstore I worked at—well, he and his wife owned it, but she passed three years ago due to cancer. So now it's just him.

"No, thank you, Jason! Have a good night, and I'll see you tomorrow." I said with a smile, waving goodbye as he walked out the door. I have been working here for about five years now, and I love it.

Jason and his wife, Clara, had taken me under their wing when I moved to town, becoming my second parents. When Clara died, it killed both of us, and we had to shut down for a week to mourn her.

But three years later, we are doing well for ourselves. The bookstore was quiet as few people shop for a book at seven at night. I had another hour until I could lock up and was excited. I had a hot bath and some good food at home.

I turned on some Spotify music and cleaned up the shop. I was humming and singing along to a perfect song when the bell above the door rang. I gasped and hurried back to the front desk to turn the music off, seeing a man standing by the door.

"Hello! Welcome to Jason's Bookstore! I'm sorry for the music. I didn't think anyone would come in this late." I apologized quickly with an embarrassed smile.

He looked at me, his blue eyes catching my attention quickly. Shit. He was very handsome.

"It's alright; I hope I didn't interrupt your singing." He spoke finally, his voice deep and slightly teasing as he smirked at me. My face flushed red, seeing that he found it amusing that he caught me off guard.

"No, not at all! Please feel free to walk around as long as you like." I said softly, looking down at the counter since his stare gave me chills. He nodded and looked at me for a few more seconds before walking away.

I sighed and leaned on the counter, embarrassed that I had been caught singing and dancing at work—and by a handsome stranger! He must've thought I was crazy or something.

After a few minutes, he walked back up and placed two books down for me to scan. "Find everything, okay?" I asked as I picked them up and checked them, then placed both books into a bag for him.

"I did, thank you... Skylar," he spoke, making me blush when he said my name. It rolled off his tongue perfectly. You're welcome, sir. Your total is $10.50. Will that be cash or card?" I asked with a smile, taking the card he pulled from his wallet.

"Here you go. Have a good rest of your night," I said, handing him his things. You too, Skylar. Be careful on your way home," he said after a moment, looking me over and heading out the door.

Once he was gone, I took a deep breath to calm myself. "Phew... now that's over, let's start cleaning up again," I said to myself, going over to the door and locking it so nobody else could come in.

It was ten minutes until closing anyway, so I would stay calm. The music got turned back on, and I started to clean, not paying attention to anyone outside of the store—and definitely not the set of glowing golden eyes that were watching me from across the streets.

Once the cleaning was done and everything was organized, I could go home! Locking the door behind me, I headed to my car. It took about five minutes since I didn't live far, and I walked inside my apartment. I placed my bag on the hook and took my shoes off, sighing in relief.

Now it's time for my dinner and hot bath.

Dinner was amazing, and so was the bath, which relaxed me so much that I almost fell asleep in the tub. I quickly dried off and put on my favorite pair of pajamas, curling up into bed with my dog Raven.

"Goodnight, girl," I said as I fell asleep, not knowing that someone was watching me.