Favorite Place ♡ Crygi

I

Crystal always dreamed of working at a bookstore. As a kid, she used to save her allowance and go every week to her local book shop in Missouri for a new Star Wars book. Back then, they were only $5 and her only hardship was finding the loose change to pay the taxes.

Over the course of an entire summer that bled into fall, she read every adult Star Wars post-ROTJ book in print until she finally caught up. The store always had the science fiction section right up front and after that, she would march right up to the bays, pluck the latest installment on the day of its release, and make her purchase.

It was a huge store to her then, with two entrances and a long aisle down the middle separating towering shelves of books. Some of the smaller aisles snaked around corners or opened into new clearings of sections she hadn't noticed before.

As Crystal got older, she was surprised when the manager actually hired her. She stayed there a few years until the store was forced to close. Of course she was devastated—this store had been a huge part of her life for so long, it felt like she was losing a friend. She kept the science fiction section clean and organized, taking particular care with the Star Wars books, until the day they had to pack everything up and move out.

Years later, she now found herself the manager of the book store Albertine in New York. The store was incredible: It was the only bookstore in the city devoted solely to books in French and English. The owner, Nicky, had the store stocked with more than 14,000 contemporary and classic titles from 30 French-speaking countries. Albertine was her pride and joy, and Crystal just felt lucky enough to make a living by selling books.

The days were fun filled with locals and tourists coming into the shop amazed by the gorgeous interior. They especially loved the hand-painted mural of constellations, stars, and planets. Crystal often found herself getting lost staring at that ceiling, spending her days recommending French novels to her customers and on her down time getting to read whatever she could get her hands on in her down-time.

Today was no different. A few customers had come in, but most of them just glanced around the store, leaving Crystal to read to herself at the counter.

When she heard the bell at the door chime, she didn't even bother looking up. Over the pages of her book, she yelled: "Welcome to Albertines, if you need any help, let me know!"

"Actually, I do," she heard a female voice say. She looked up from her book to see a tall girl leaning over the counter, tapping her long nails against it. Her long curly hair just touched the surface as she peered over at Crystal. "If you're not too busy," she added with a smile.

Crystal gulped. This girl was stunning, with piercing blue eyes that were currently glancing down at her. She was wearing a long coat over a plaid dress, and Crystal assumed she must have been wearing heels because she seemed to tower over her.

Crystal tried to stand up and stumbled over her words. "Yes, of course!" She gulped. "What can I help you with?"

The girl giggled at Crystal's clumsiness. "I'm trying to find a gift for my boyfriend. He always talks about how much he loves France and I thought I would check it out here. You guys specialize in French literature, right?"

Ouch. There goes any shot of that, Crystal thought. Why would anyone this stunning be single? Or even not straight! But, she smiled and replied, "Yeah, we do. We can find him something!"

"Do you know what genre he would like?" Crystal asked as she led the girl throughout the store.

"In all honesty, no," she laughed. "I can't even speak a word of French!" She extended her hand to feel the edges of the books as they passed by.

"Here," Crystal offered, picking up a book off a display case "This one is my favorite."

The girl took it from Crystal's hands and examined the cover. "How do you pronounce it?"

Crystal looked down at the cover and laughed; it was quite simple. "Madame Bovary." She looked up at the girl. "It's about a bored housewife named Emma Bovary as she laments her position as a doctor's wife. She rejects her loving husband, and embarks on a number of unsuccessful affairs and drowns her sorrow in debt. Over time, she becomes increasingly dissatisfied with this though."

"Sounds like me," the girl mumbled under her breath as she brushed her fingers across the cover.

Crystal laughed to herself and continued. "The book looks at the effects of the rise of a bourgeois culture, showing a time when people who were capable of providing a good income for themselves became focused on their social image. It's really quite good."

"It sounds interesting. Maybe I'll have to learn French and read it myself." She locked eyes with Crystal. "Thank you!"

"Oh, it's no problem—it's my job," Crystal beamed. "I hope your boyfriend likes it."

"I hope he does too," the girl sighed. "He's a bit mad at me right now, and I'm hoping this will help him forgive me."

Crystal didn't know what to say, not great at comforting strangers.

"I don't even know why I'm telling you this," the girl disclosed.

"Well, why is he mad? If you don't mind me asking," Crystal questioned. She knew she shouldn't pry, but this girl was basically begging for someone to ask if she was okay.

The girl gave Crystal a look, but didn't object. "I always see him texting someone else, and he always is so secretive with me. So, I thought he was cheating on me. I confronted him about it and he was so mad he..." She trailed off. "I just don't want him to be mad at me anymore, you know?"

Crystal knew exactly what this girl was talking about. She wanted to tell her to get out of the relationship, save herself. Crystal herself had been in an abusive relationship before, and just wished someone would have told her everything would be okay. She wanted to wrap this girl up and give her a hug, keep her safe in this book store.

"I understand," Crystal said, not sure how to make her feel better. "I'm sure he'll love this. You seem like an amazing girlfriend."

"Thank you," the girl laughed and wiped a small tear that began to fall from her eye. "I'm sorry, I'm giving you my whole life story and you don't even know my name. I'm Gigi!" She extended her hand for Crystal to shake.

"I'm Crystal!" she beamed, accepting the hand graciously. She held onto Gigi's hand as she spoke. "If you ever feel unsafe, though, don't hesitate to come here. I can help you." It was sincere. She wanted Gigi to feel safe.

Gigi just nodded. "Better check this out now," she suggested.

"Don't bother," Crystal started. "It's on me."

Gigi just stared at her, wide-eyed. "Thank you so much! I really appreciate it."

"Just think of the pretty girl from the French bookstore when you get around to reading it," Crystal remarked, flashing Gigi a big smile. 

A/N: you can check out my other chapters on ao3 @sashavelou if u dont want to wait for updates ;) make sure to check out my tumblr for other writing @trixemattel