ABOUT HIM

Chapter 1- Him

Chapter 1- Him

(Drawing by Tanaè Briana)

"Why do I always do that?"

I get here and instantly regret being here. My best guess for still coming every day is because of my love of books and my boss Althea. She's somewhat like a mother figure to me, who is getting up there in age; Soon she won't be able to run this place and is already hinting for me to take over. Only I don't want it. It's something about this place that screams love but at the same times floods with depression.

I wasn't sure what it was. I felt a sense of attachment working here, but a thought as to why seemed nearly impossible. "Why do I feel this way?" I've been asking myself this for the past 2 weeks' now.

Door Charms Go Off

"Good morning my baby girl. You here early today, that's a 1st," Althea joked as I rolled my eyes at her sarcasm and chuckled.

"I don't know I felt a sense of energy today, that jolted me from the bed," I confessed.

"Well, that's good baby, I'm glad. You haven't been smiling too much lately, theses past 2 weeks. So to see you excited about something brings joy to my heart," she smiled.

"Yeah, it's weird because I'm not sure why. Well, maybe just a little bit I AM," I further confessed. As her eyes grew in excitement.

"Oh yeah, please do share my dear, I'd love to know," she spat as I smiled bright and bend down under the counter to retrieve my sketchbook.

"Well, you know how much I love to draw."

"Oh good your back to drawing again," she lightly clapped her hands in glee, as I laughed. I was experiencing a jolt of happiness right now. Something that I know for sure I struggled with these past two weeks.

"Yeah, I'm not sure why I stopped, because according to this book, my last sketch was about a year and some months ago," I explained while slightly drifting off into a daydream and search of the memory part of my brain for a clue.

"Well, don't just stand there girl let me see," she said, snapping me out of my thoughts. Once again I smiled with excitement and proudness as I flipped to my last drawing and slide the book over towards her. "Oh, I'm so excited, let me see-" she stopped as her smile faded away and her face laced with worry.

"What's wrong? You don't like it?" I asked curiously as I slid the book back in my procession, in order to exam what I could have done wrong. I looked back up to see that Althea had plastered a fake smile on her face. "What?" I furthered investigated.

"Oh nothing it's beautiful," she nervously answered. "But can I ask you something?"

"Of Course."

"What inspired you to draw that," she finished as I took a look over at the drawing and slightly smiled. The subject's eyes and smile screamed love to me. It was as if he was staring at me with such intensity, rich in deep feelings of care. But most importantly the love displayed in his eyes seemed to belong and aimed towards me. His eyes screamed he loved and cared deeply for me.

"I don't know," I lied. Truth be told I dreamed about this man almost every night. Each time, I'd dreamed faded glimpses of him, such as a quick glimpse of his lips, his eyes, his distinctive tattoos and even more interesting, his naked body. But what scared me the most was with each dream I felt a deep sense of love and admiration, that was then followed by a severe heart-wrenching pain. I almost always woke up in a sweaty fetal position, depressed to have left him in the dream; It's as if I almost didn't want to wake up.

But last night was different from any other dream I had of him. Last night I dreamt he was my mule, as his whole entire face revealed itself to me. I dreamed he was breathtakingly beautiful and his eyes screamed he felt the same for me. I was a slave to his beauty and even worst as I woke up this morning, everything would have to be put on hold until I saw his face again. I then felt a feeling of extreme peace and freedom, as I watched his eyes stare back at me once again, as I finished the drawing of him this morning.

What made all of this weird and disturbing was I had no clue who this man was.

"Ahem," Althea coughed, interrupting me from my wandering thoughts. "You sure you don't know why you drew him?" She furthered investigated as I took quick notice of how she personalized the word, "Him".

"No! Why? Should I?" I asked desperately, hoping she might have some sort of clarity for me. But instead, she stared at me contemplating until she decided on a fake smile and a pat on my shoulder as she walked off towards the back office.

"It's beautiful baby, now if you'll excuse me, I can't stand for much longer. You know my knees are bad child," she joked as I watched her dismiss my questioning and limp off.

"Excuse me I like to buy this," said an over excited, zealous teen girl. Something about her energy made me smile.

"Sure would you like the complimentary bookmark it comes with?"

"Sure how much is it," she asked with such quirkiness that made me laughed as she followed suit, joining in my rupture.

"Can I ask you a question?" I spat in between my laughter.

"Yeah sure," she answered as her eyes lit up with excitement towards me being interested in her.

"Why are you so damn happy this morning?" I asked laughing again.

"Well, I just moved here and I love LA, but what's even neater is finding this bookstore. You guys have ancient history in here that you can't find anywhere. Trust me I'm somewhat of a bookworm, I know what I'm talking about." She rushed all in one sentence and again I couldn't help but to really like her. "So how much does the bookmark cost?"

"Oh, it's complimentary, so it's free and you know what this book is on the house."

"OMG really?"

"Yeah I'll cover it, considered this a welcome to LA present from Al's Book Shop," I finished. Her eyes lit up with some much glee, which made my day to witness.

"Oh my gosh, you're like my new BFF here," she cheesed, which again made me laugh. Her energy was contagious.

"No problem let me just remove this book from our database and bag you up-" I spat while looking down at the computer screen, but her next words cut me off.

"OMG this can't be true, Is it really him? And if so where's Larry?" she said as my head instantly drew up from my screen towards her, while the familiar name rang through my ears.

"Is it really who?" I anxiously asked.

"OMG it is him, Look," she excitedly screamed directing my attention towards the gentleman just right of the front door, who was already staring at us due to her fandom screams catching his attention. It wasn't until I fully took him into my sight did he remove his glasses and my knees nearly gave out. It was the eyes that I dreamed about. The ones that I longed for and had no logical explanation as to why or how. The real life eyes from my drawing were staring back at me.

It was him.

Hey, Guys a quick chapter before I leave for work. What do you guys think? Promise there will be more very soon. Your feedback keeps me going, guys. It's both motivating and encouraging. Love, love, love. Sincerely Larrysjoy23 A.K.A Dina.