The Gem of Olympus

Chapter II

The smell of coffee enveloped the entire café as Elia started brewing it. I was upstairs, as usual, sorting out the books deciding whether it should be organized by fiction and non-fiction or specific genres. I get plenty of time for myself doing this, so I use that time to read the books we have here and for the past 3 months, I've read through half of the things we have in our inventory.

The stairs of the shophouse lead to an open concept of the bookstore upstairs, there are no walls, just a nice wooden railing that matches the stairs. I get a clear view of every customer that walks in. To communicate with Elia, we just call out to each other. It's really not that big of a shophouse.

"Eri!" Elia called out to me from downstairs.

"Yea?" I replied while putting books on the shelves.

"This man wants to know if we have a book called '1984' by George Orwell."

"We do, shipment just came in last week actually"

I went over to the boxes of new shipment that I have yet to organize and took out the book '1984'.

"Great taste" I mumbled to myself.

"You think so?" a man's voice came up from behind me.

"Oh. Sorry I didn't hear you coming up. You must be the man looking for this book."

"You think I have great taste in books?"

"Impeccable sir. That will be ten dollars."

"Please, call me Nick. Miss...?"

"It's Peridot but you can call me Peri, Eri or Dot. Take your pick."

"Here's ten dollars Dot. Do you have the hardcover version by any chance?"

"Sorry, we only carry paperback."

I put the book and receipt in a paper bag and handed it over to him. I started to recognize him as I scanned his face. He came in here two weeks ago browsing through the books on the shelves and was wearing the same navy-blue jacket he wore that night. He didn't say anything the night I saw him walked in, just took a quick browse and left.

The way I remembered him was because of that jacket and also because he's good looking, who am I kidding. He had this long taper fade haircut and charming grey eyes. The way he talks made it seem like time slowed down, either that or I'm just into him.

"You got a last name Dot?" He asked as he took the paper bag from my hands.

"Eros."

"Eros? You're Greek?" his left eyebrow raising slightly.

"It's embarrassing to say that I don't even know the least." I put my hands down on the counter.

"Peridot Eros. You must be named after your beautiful green eyes. Your last name is named after the Greek God Eros, he was known as the God of love."

"How do you know that?"

"I'm Greek. My last name is Theo. It means Divine Gift"

"Nick Theo? Charming name. I'm not surprised."

"Really? Thought maybe you would be. Considering I'm a gift."

I smirked. "Don't play puns with me."

Nick smiled at the comment and adjusted his jacket as he bid goodbye and turned to leave.

"Do you live around here, Nick?" I asked before he could walk down the stairs.

"Always have. You know... cafes around here open and close. They don't last long. I just found my favorite one and I hope they're here to stay."

"Where is that?"

"About to leave the place." He winked and left.

The bells to the café door rang as he walked out, and I watched him stroll by the window. He looked up from where he was and smiled at me before he turned the corner.

Greek? Am I really Greek? I never knew where I came from. My mother never talked about our family. She and I used to live in a quiet town near the Mediterranean Sea. A town called Adelphie. Similar to Inklebed, just a lot quieter. So quiet that all you'd hear are the waves crashing against the mountain walls. I spent most of my childhood reading books and helping my mother out in the garden. There were no other children to play with in the town so you can bet I had a lot of imaginary friends growing up.

I lost my mother in a house fire. No one knew how the fire started. No one had answers to my questions. I came home from school one day to find my house engulfed in flames. I was later sent to live with my Uncle in New York where I had the opportunity to go to University to study literature. Uncle Damian and his wife Aunt Cherise has been a big part of my life ever since the incident. They've helped me in all ways that they could and I'm thankful to be where I am today.

I met Elia at University. We had many other friends back in New York, but we haven't seen them since we moved here, not even Elia's parents or my uncle and aunt who all said they'll come to visit one day.

New York was entirely different than what I was used to. The busy streets, bright lights, and endless crowds. I was missing home, but I couldn't return after what happened. There was nothing left for me there.

We had many other places we considered to open up our café, but we decided Inklebed was perfect since it was similar to home, and Elia thought it would be nice for her here too.

I hummed my mother's lullaby as I continued to put the books away.

I started to sing out the lyrics. "Ocean waves crashing through...my love shines bright for you."

"And when you feel lonely...know that you will always have me." Elia harmonized and continued the song with me while she walks up the stairs.

"I've always loved hearing you sing that song. Feeling a little lonely here bud?", she gave me a gentle smile.

I smiled back at her. "Don't you have coffee to brew."

"The customers are fine. Thought I'd come up here and accompany you for a while. How's the book sorting going"

"I finally decided to go with specific genres. Make it easier for them."

"Did that cute guy made you do it?"

"What cute guy?"

"Don't pretend like you didn't notice! He was up here looking for a book."

"Oh, Nick? No. He Just paid for the book and gave me insights about my name."

"Insights about your name?"

"Yea like he told me my last name was named after a Greek god. He got me suddenly thinking about my ancestry"

"You think too much. He's just flirting with you. You guys just met and already sharing last names. Look at you all grown up!" Elia playfully punched my shoulders.

I scoffed, "He was quite the charmer not gonna lie."

"Great! You got us our first regular customer. Keep up with that flirting employee of the month." Elia laughed.

"Yea ok, go back to brewing your coffee." I laughed with her as she made her way back downstairs.

The day rolled on as usual as customers walked in and out. We open from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Life was peaceful for both me and Elia, we're getting to do what we love as our jobs and business is making more money than we thought we would. It all seemed perfect. Almost too perfect.