The Bookstore

(3) Growing Connections

Lily

I believe my mornings working here are going to be much better now that I know I woek with this girl called Sophie. I didn't know about her but she's kind and sweet, everything I need for a coworker and, I hope, a future friend. We're both getting the bookstore ready right now, while the sun glows in the shelves and gives us a warm sensation.

I see Sophie stepping inside and letting the door open, then she walks to me. She's wearing a vintage inspired dress and a cardigan that hugs her petite and slender figure quite well to be honest. And that ponytail she wore yesterday as well.

"Morning, Lily. How's everything going so far?" She asks, leaning herself to me against the reception desk and pulling her glasses up slightly.

"It's going well, just getting everything ready."

"I guess you're sleeping upstairs, right? I've never been in that place because your grandmother maintained it private. Have you unpacked your things already?"

"Yes, I've made myself home there." I say, smiling softly at her. I don't know much about her, she just told me she's so meticulous with work, and that's more than fine. She smirks and looks around before looking back up at me and speaking up.

"You know, let's gossip a bit. You know that sweet old lady that bakes delicious pies? Well, there are rumors she's been sneaking out on secret dates with Mrs. Jenkins, the retired firefighter! Can you believe it? Who knew our quiet town had elderly people having more romance than us." She says with a chuckle, followed by mine. That final sentence is too real to be true.

When we stop laughing, I get a bit serious and look at the compartment in the desk, thinking if I should ask her, maybe she knows something from working here for so long.

"Do you know something about this compartment? I can't help but be curious about it."

She scratches her nape and answers. "Uhh... No, I've tried opening it before but I didn't find anything to do it with. I guess there's just papers or something, if I were you I wouldn't give it a further thought, but if you want, I can help you investigate."

She doesn't know how much I appreciate that. A smile grows in my head as I nod, signaling her I want the help.

Jack

If you ask me why I'm walking to the bookstore: I don't know. But I woke up wanting to go there, I've been such a long long time without visiting it, it was my favorite place as a child and when I was a teenager.

I enter the bookstore, hearing the muffled sound of people talking.

When I look at the reception, something inside me makes me stop in my tracks. When I saw that long and wavy hair I already knew who was here. That girl named Lily, does she remember me or my name? I don't think so, I wouldn't if I were her. But for some reason, she caught my eye the second I laid my eyes on her.

I was too deep in thought looking at her that I didn't notice them looking at me. I snap out of it quickly and run my fingers through my hair while I walk to them. I stand tall next to them, and I smile, specially to her, but I obviously notice the other girl, which I don't know who she is.

"Hi, Lily. I didn't know you worked here." I say, not noticing I didn't even greet the other girl, so I just give her a little smile, which she returns.

"Oh, hi, Jack. Yes, I work here because this is my grandmother's bookstore. She's Sophie, though." She says, looking straight at me but not directly in the eyes, which is the opposite for me, because I'm staring right through her soul with my blue eyes.

"Man, I remember this bookstore perfectly from all the times I've came in my childhood." I say, looking around, not missing any spot or corner with my gaze.

After a while chatting with them, Sophie seems to be returning to her stuff behind the desk, leaving me with Lily. I smirk slightly to myself, trying to not look so obvious. She leads me to a corner, standing in front of a bookshelf to, I guess, show me something. I lean my body into the shelf with my arm extended behind my head while my elbow supports my weight, looking down at her.

She looks up at me and stares at me for a moment. Wait, I'm being too embarrassing, right? I quickly cough and lean myself normally again, trying to act normal and trying to act as if I just didn't look like the typical popular guy from Highschool Musical seducing his crush.

I look down at some boxes in the floor, and I suppose they are hers, her moving supplies.

"Are those yours? I can help you lift them if you want or they're too heavy."

"Oh, thanks, it would be a great help." After her permission, i immediately lift the boxes in my well built arms and, obviously, well trained hands.

And then, we just disappear upstairs.

Anna

I stepped inside the bookstore, expecting to surprise Sophie and see her for a while. She looks at me and her eyes wide in surprise before she hops off of the reception and walks to me with a smile on her face.

I smile at her and wrap my arms around her waist as she does the same with my neck because I'm taller than her. I place my hand behind her head to hold her still while I trap her lips into mine, tasting her sweet and soft lips. But I can't help but notice the slight tension in our bodies from our current situation.

She looks up at me and smiles, starting a conversation with me. But after a while of chatting, we both hear some footsteps, so we turn our heads to where the sounds come from. And I see a girl and a boy walking to us, but they stop when they see us in this position.

That boy looks down at that girl before walking past me and out the bookstore, but I see the girl walking towards us, so I separate myself from Sophie.

"Hey, Lily. She's my girlfriend Anna." Sophie introduces us, and I smile at Lily.

"Nice to meet you, Anna."

"My pleasure." I simply say, scanning her before looking down at Sophie again and walking n towards the reception with the girls.

Lily

Later in the evening, I was left alone with Sophie in the bookstore, getting ready to close. She told me about her relationship with Anna and their current problems. And now, i'm organizing the stuff in the desk, but while I was doing so, I found something that caught my eye with curiosity. An old journal.

I grabbed it and analyzed it with my gaze, touching its material with my fingertips slightly. When i opened it, my eyebrows raised. It was full of cryptic messages and information, also cryptic, about the town.

I don't want to burden Sophie with so many mysterious things, but I think I'll need some help with this. I approach her and show her the journal.

"I found this is in the desk, it's completely full of cryptic stuff I obviously don't understand. "

"That's weird... I don't remember seeing this before. We should investigate it, it looks too mysterious to let it pass."

I put the journal down after she said she would help me unravel whatever's that thing. While we were saying goodbye to each other, I couldn't help but feel a strange feeling lingering in the air. As if someone was watching us from the window.

Crazy, right?