Park bench (DISCONTINUED)

Bookstore Of Madness

Chapter 2

DALIA

ONCE Fabian left my house, I leave after to get to work. When I exit my house, I see him in his car blowing in his hands. I sigh and shake my head. I'm not going to lie and say I don't miss him because I do. Soon, all my feelings from when I was a teenager comes rushing back. All the feelings and emotions and the butterflies all flash past me. I remember all the late night phone calls we would have. Just the sound of his voice put me to sleep and feel at peace. He made me feel special and like I was the only girl that mattered to him. When his mum died, I was there for him. I was the one who looked after him while his dad lost control of himself. I was the one that listened to his outbursts about how his father was frustrating him. I was the one that was there when he cried on his mothers birthday and death anniversary. It was all me, not her.

As soon as Natalia came into the picture, everything changed. Our late night phone calls were rare. He would hardly open up to me about what's bothering him; claiming he had her to talk to. He would hang with me less and always talk about how perfect his girlfriend was and how much he loved her!

I still remember the day he admitted to me that he loved her and he wanted to tell her. I said to do a romantic gesture for her and that same night, he gave her a promise ring. I cried myself to sleep. It was that day, that day, I realised I was too in love with Fabian. In love with my best friend.

But I wasn't going to let those feelings back in. He abandoned me and left me. He kept in contact with his ex instead of his best friend. What's more absurd, is that he expected me to forgive him and let him back into my life. Well to hell with that. No fucking way am I letting him be an asset in my life. He can shove his apology where the sun doesn't shine.

My thoughts run away with me and soon I realise I'm outside my work place. I look up at the old building and smile. The candle-inn Bookstore. I park my car and get out, treading carefully on the ice. I quickly but carefully rush into my bookstore, scared of getting frost bite, and see my co-worker sweeping the floor.

"Did you open up?" I ask Kimmy-lee. She looks up and smiles at me.

"Yes, I did. Also, I collected the delivery for new stock"

"Did you double check?" I ask her as I hang my coat and scarf and get behind the counter to find the receipt.

"Yup, double checked and then triple checked. I left them at the back cause I didn't know if I should put them out" she tells me shyly and I smile.

"Thank you" I say and head to the back. Kimmy-lee is an intern at my bookstore. She's new and I'm quite liking her presence. She has a keen eye for a good book. My bookstore is small. Thanks to my father, he gave me a loan to build it up and make it my own. I absolutely love reading. From horror to historical to all sorts. It gives me a drive. One that I can't begin to explain.

I grab the boxes one by one and take them out front. Seeing as no one is coming in at the moment, I ask Kimmy-lee if she can help.

"Yeah sure, just give me a minute"

"Thanks" I start to offload the first box and place the new books to where they belong. I take another fresh book and open it up. The clean and straight pages make me smile. Then I see other books to the side. It's the donations pile. People bring in books they don't want and leave them here. I see the tattered pages and old spine. I frown and look back at the new one in my hand. It shows that things get destroyed, no matter how hard you try to look after it, it'll get ruined. It's like a new life. It's pure and clean and then it turns horrid. I smell the fresh papers and I'm sure I look like a weird person.