Tattooed

It's Just Texting...Right?

Three days. That's how long Gren waited until he got a text from an unfamiliar number. And it took him about a good two hours to get the nerve to look at it to see if it actually was who he hoped it was.

[???]

I found this number written on the back of the receipt of the shopping bag my sister was using. You wouldn't happen to be the bookstore owner I was talking to, right? Not one of the two guys at the registers?

Gren's honestly thought his own heart was going to burst out of his chest reading this message. This whole time he thought Crowmaster was joking about giving this customer his number, and now she was finally talking to him. Should he responded or ignore it? Ignoring the message would be rude, so...maybe he should answer and apologize.

[Gren]

yes, so sorry! My friend was the one who scribbled my number and name on the receipt, so sorry about that!

Almost immediately he gets a response.

[???]

Figures, they were both watching us when we were talking

[Gren]

Oh they were. Really sorry about that

[???]

No worries, it's kind of funny really

Gren gave a sigh of relief as he walked back with his phone to his room and sat back on his bed, wondering what else to say. He still wasn't sure if this woman had a soulmate, and the last thing he wanted was to be part of a nasty fight between two people who were supposed to be together forever. He heard a soft bark and looks up to see Ginger walk into the room with something white and fluffy on her head.

"Gingy, what did you do?" He groans, sitting up as the little Corgi scampers over to him, wagging her stubby tail in excitement. Ginger gives a bark as the piece of fluff falls off her head and Gren picks it up to check it. Definitely not stuffing from the living room pillows, so it was probably from one of her chew toys. "I'm starting to think we need to give you more durable toys. No more plushy toys, just rubber ones."

Ginger gives a bark and wiggles her little rear before attempting to jump on top of the bed, before Gren grabs her by the collar to help her up.

"You know you have a set of stairs, right?" He says pointing to the foot of the bed where a small set of Corgi sized stairs he had built for her to have easier access to the bed.

Ever since he had adopted the little Corgi about a year back, she had been trying to do so many things on her own despite that the only problem were her stubby kept her from doing so much. He was still in awe that this was the same dog who stayed hidden under her blankets for an hour straight every time she heard a loud noise that left her shaking wildly and not letting anyone touch her. She had went from being a shy and nervous little dog to an energetic one that ripped through all the squeaky toys except for the one she had brought with her from the shelter, a little brown and white pony she liked snuggling with.

Maybe changing the subject would make it easier to talk to her. He thinks picking up his phone to find another text.

[???]

I'm Amaya by the way, sorry for not saying earlier.

Oh shoot she just gave him her name. Should he save her number? She didn't seem to mind texting a man she barely knew who's friend handed her his number, so maybe he should save it. Plus it'd probably be rude if he forgot her name

[Gren]

That's a pretty name

By the way, do you like dogs?

[Amaya]

Absolutely! Sadly my roommates aren't big fans of dogs as I am and we just have a cat. You have one?

[Gren]

Oh yes! Rescue dog, she's the sweetest dog you'd ever meet and she loves cats

"Gingy, hold still. Daddy is gonna need you to pose for a picture." Gren says as he quickly opens up his phone camera. At the word "pose", Ginger sat up and barked excitedly, eager to have her picture taken. Gren snapped a few of the happy corgi before going back to his conversation with Amaya and sending two of the photos. After a few moments of silence, Amaya finally responds.

[Amaya]

Oh my god she's so cute!!

She looks like the kind of dog my nephews would run up to at the park to pet

[Gren]

Ginger is super friendly with everyone, and cats too as I mentioned earlier

Unless you're a chew toy, then you are in trouble

[Amaya]

I barely know her and I would absolutely die for this baby

[Gren]

She sometimes comes with me to the bookstore and just chills behind the register or goes to nap in the kid book corner where all the big pillows and cushions are

[Amaya]

Well maybe next time my sister leaves her boys with me I'll bring them to the bookstore and they can meet Ginger. You allow other pets?

[Gren]

Aside from Ginger I do allow other dogs to come in, as long as they don't start barking or trying to bite her and as long as the owners make sure they don't leave a little surprise for me to clean up

Gren grimaced at the thought of the last time someone brought a dog into the store, one of those tiny fluffy dogs he wasn't sure if it was a Pomeranian or a Yorkie, and it left a lot of fur strewn over the carpet and about two puddles of pee in the non-fiction section. At least the owner, a man close to his age with the longest white hair he had seen, apologized and offered to help clean up the mess. This had left him to leave a sign asking owners to make sure they took their pets outside to prevent them from leaving messes.

[Amaya]

Do you allow pets that aren't dogs? My youngest nephew has a toad he keeps in a backpack

[Gren]

Well I guess? I've had one person bring in a cat, one lady even brought in a bird that kept looking at me funny, and this one other guy had this big snake wrapped around his neck like a scarf

[Amaya]

Good, because one of these days my sister is gonna leave them with me and I hate staying in my apartment all the time when they come so I'm gonna be out all day with them and bring them around to your bookstore

Ezran really liked the books he got and keeps asking his mom if he can take his friend there

So you definitely have a regular customer for sure

Gren couldn't remember which boy was Ezran, but he was pretty sure it was the younger one with fluffy hair who was really giddy about the sign language book. Guess he was going to see Amaya more than he thought. The thought kind of made him happy, she seemed like such a nice person and didn't actually mind getting a random number that led to them texting each other.

[Gren]

That'd actually would be great, my family is always happy to have new customers come back more than a few times to consider them as regulars

[Amaya]

Well I certainly look forward to maybe be a regular customer of it means getting to see my nephews get excited over books and seeing the cute fur baby in person

I better head to bed

Sleep well!

Gren gave a small sigh of relief before flopping back onto the bed and felt Ginger jump onto his chest and snuggle down before nudging his hand for a scratch on the head. Was this how anyone felt after texting or talking to someone over the phone that they kind of liked? He'd have to ask Runaan on that tomorrow.

Do I actually like her? He wonders as he absentmindedly started scratching the top of his dog's head. She really does seem nice, but is it possible to develop feelings over someone after texting with them for less than an hour? It was just texting...right?