Felix's Books

putaaa :)

Aleah glanced uninterestedly into the shop window as she trapezed down the narrow, cracked sidewalk. The town was practically flooded by now, and she was searching for refuge until she could call someone to pick her up. The little store shed the tiniest glow of warm yellow light onto the pitch black street, probably the only one still open at this time of night.

This shop looked different from others; she could see hundreds upon thousands of leather bound books displayed on tall, dark shelves that lined the whole building. It was true heaven, she thought, as she pushed open the glass door. A tinkling bell signaled her entry as she stepped through the threshold.

"Hi, welcome to Felix's Books, if you need assistance feel free to ask one of our many employees." A deep,mellow voice chuckled from the front counter. Aleah looked up to see a striking young man, about three inches taller than herself, leaning back against the wall behind a desk with a thick novel held lightly in his hands.

"Um, I um, I'm sorry to be a bother, but I was just, er, wondering if you had a phone I could-"

"No phone here, my friend." He smiled cheerily down at her.

"Oh, um, okay. It's just, you're the only place open. I guess I'll be going then, thanks anywa-"

"You can stay here a while longer, if you want to. No one ever comes here these days, I could use some company." He set down his book and shot her a lopsided smile. "I'm Felix, by the way."

She couldn't help but grin back at him. He was so good-natured, what with his friendly atmosphere and rugged appeal; his tattooed arms added to the effect. His curly brown hair was a mess, but it suited him.

"I'm Aleah." She pushed her rain-soaked hair out of her face, pulling off her soggy jacket and hang in it on the stout coat rack next to the door.

The shop was warm and cozy, with the appeal of a vintage store and the oddly comforting licorice-and-parchment smell that accompanied it.

"What brings you around here this time of night?" Felix broke the soft silence with his gorgeously melodic voice. She shrugged.

"I had a fight with my mom. Nothing big..." She sighed and his eyes softened.

"That sucks. But maybe it was fate: You had a fight with your mom, and found yourself in my bookstore. So, even though something bad happened to you, something good happened, too. I got to meet a pretty girl, you got some shelter from the rain, everybody's happy, right?" He laughed quietly, and she nodded.

He was right. She was glad she'd come here, no matter what the repercussions. Felix was so kind, and funny... and just relatively perfect.

"I really should be going, but... I'll definitely come back tomorrow." Aleah smiled and stood up, shrugging on her now-dry coat and heading towards the door.

"Adieu, my lady, until next time." Felix waved after her.

And so Aleah walked out of Felix's Books, blushing bright pink and grinning like an idiot, and she vowed to return the next afternoon...

It was fate.