The Little Book Shop

The Palace

Oliver's POV

Oliver couldn't have planned it better if he had tried. The bank Manager coming in while he was here was a stroke of pure luck, now there was no way that she could deny that she needed his help.

She stared at the letter like it was about to blow up in her face, like it was about to destroy everything. In some ways, it was.

"What was that about?" The eager young girl asked as she came down the ladder, clutching onto the book that Felicity had described as her escape. Oliver wasn't one to escape from his problems, he always faced them head on. He found it hard to believe that people would use the work of fiction to escape their reality.

"Oh, it was nothing," Felicity tells her, snatching the cursed letter and stuffing it behind the counter. "Just something I need to sort out. Here, your teas waiting for you."

Why Felicity was hiding her financial problems from the girl was beyond him. Surely, sooner or later the girl would find out that her favourite hide out was going to have to close. He believed it was better if the girl had some time to prepare for this, Felicity clearly didn't see it this way.

"It looked kind of serious. The guy was suited and booted for crying out loud, people like that usually don't come in here," Louise said before glancing in Oliver's direction. She was right, if he wasn't currently trying to buy this place out, he wouldn't be seen dead in here. This place wasn't exactly his usual hang out.

"Which brings me to you," Louise says to him, " what brings you here. I'm guessing it's not for the literature." This girl was blunt in the way only a teenager could be. With no real idea of the consequences that her words could have, she spoke freely and without any second thought.

"I'm hear to offer my advice to help make the store a success, to make it more popular," he tells her the same thing he had told Felicity.

Louise thinks about his words for a moment, looking him up and down for the second time today. He had never felt so judged.

"Good, we'll accept," Louise answered for the both of them.

Felicity's mouth drops in surprise at Louise's bold acceptance, almost as if she had expected the girl to be on her side. Maybe she would have been if it wasn't for Mr Bankers visit.

"Louise, you can't just accept his help on my behalf," Felicity scolds her like a disappointed mother.

"Well, I just did. I refuse to see this store close, this is my favourite place in the world and therefore I believe it gives me a right in the decisions that are made here," she tells Felicity before looking over at me, "so, when can you start?"

Oliver had expected today to go a lot smoother than it had.

He would usually only spend half an hour at most in a store on the first visit, he was in The Little Book Shop for over two hours. Once his help had been accepted, Louise had taken it upon herself to give him a detailed tour of the shop.

The whole experience had been tedious.

He was never really a fan of reading and today he had seen more books than he probably had in his whole life. How he was expected to give convincing advice on the place was beyond him. He didn't know the first thing about running a book shop.

With an invitation to go back to the next day, he had finally managed to make a break for the exit. With a slice of the coffee cake and a coffee to go, he was finally able to return home.

The place still stank of burnt pancakes, a little reminder of the morning he had to suffer through. The night was still early, there was plenty of time go out and find another woman to fill his bed for the evening. However, he couldn't find the motivation to get up from his sofa.

The day had been unexpected, he had never imagined to encounter a woman like Felicity. With a passion that surpassed his own, he knew she would be a hard one to break. He was confident that the shop would eventually be his, however now he was doubting the time scale in which he could do it. She wasn't about to go down without a fight.

He would simply have to make her see sense, convince her that a book shop isn't the most effective money maker. It was either it closed at the hands of the Bank Manager, or closed at the hands of Oliver. He would have to make her see that he was clearly the best option.

However, the cake that he was currently eating almost made him want to keep the business running. He had never tasted something so delicious, and he knew he would have to start hitting the gym more frequently if he was going to be spending a lot of time there. The cake was going to be the only thing that made the whole experience bare able.

He tried to squash down the voice that threw Felicity's name into the hat, but there was no denying it. The little blonde was sure to make the whole experience a little more exciting. She had a fire in her that he wasn't used to. Most of the women that he encountered were rather subdue, convinced that this was the most effective way to get a guys attention. And in some ways, it was. It was nice to have a woman that was acceptable to his every need, however, the spirit behind Felicity had intrigued him. He found himself being attracted to her fire.

He knew he could never act on these thoughts, business and pleasure never worked well together, but he had no doubt that the experience would be thoroughly pleasurable for the both of them. He had never had a single complaint, it was usually why women were so reluctant to leave in the morning. Some part of him wished he could make Felicity feel the same way.

Maybe he would go out after all

The club was packed like always. The line to get in went down the whole road and Oliver felt proud of this. He had built something that was in demand, and the paycheque that came with it was another bonus. His clubs made him a fair fortune, and as a result, he was one of the youngest millionaires in Britain.

"Oliver, my man, the usual?" Matt, one of his bartenders asked him. Nodding in agreement, he took a moment to look around at his handy work.

The Palace was big enough to hold around a thousand people at capacity, a limit he thought he was in danger of breaking tonight. At the front, his DJ played songs that threw the crowd into a frenzy and continued to keep his clients dancing away. The bar lined the complete left wall, and was constantly packed with people trying to get their orders in. This was the part he liked most, the more they drank, the more money he made.

He made his way to the back, to his little office with his name written on the door. This is where he conducted his business, with the thump of the music pounding right outside, he found it oddly comforting. He had spent most of  his teenager years in clubs like this, and grew fascinated with them not longer after. He knew it was a sure fire way to make a lot of money, a theory that didn't prove to be wrong.

After the numbers were taken care of and the paycheques written, he decided to make his way back into the crowd once again. This time, with the idea of finding some entertainment for the evening.

And he found it, just not the kind he was looking for.