Favorite Place ♡ Crygi

II

"Hey Crystal," Nicky called across the bookstore. Crystal looked up from her book to see her boss staring at her.

"Yes?" Crystal yelled back, hoping she wasn't in trouble for seeming to only ever be reading at work.

"Do you mind staying an extra hour tonight and closing up the store for me?" she asked. Crystal really didn't want to, but extra money was always good, and she knew Nicky would be thankful. Plus, she would get an extra hour of reading in.

"Yeah, that's fine. I can stay," Crystal responded.

-

Around 9pm Nicky headed out for the night, thanking Crystal again for closing up.

Crystal had not done much besides read, and it seemed there were no customers left in the shop, so she got on with cleaning. She put away the books that people had moved around throughout the day and left discarded in the wrong spot. Nicky had a particular way of organizing so Crystal had to make sure everything was in the right place.

As she was finishing up, multiple rushed knocks came from the front of the store. Crystal began to panic; who in the hell would be trying to get into a bookstore past 9pm? She had never dealt with an intruder before. Did she call the police? Did she hide?

Over the sound of the knocks she heard a panicked female voice yell, "Hello, is there anyone in there?" The voice sounded distressed and familiar to Crystal. She couldn't put her finger on it, but she knew she had to help. She rushed up to the door, and saw a worrisome Gigi peering through the glass. She stepped back as Crystal unlocked the door, opening it softly.

Gigi rushed in, tears rushing down her face. She paced around the room, fingers grabbing her own hair and pulling on it, small strands coming out. Her breaths were staggered and she coughed as she continued to cry. Crystal could see her hands were shaking.

Gigi mumbled, "I had to get away. I couldn't stay near that damned house any longer. I couldn't look at it. There was too much of a risk of someone walking out of it and trying to talk me out of my decision. I was stranded. Drive, and I could cause an accident. Not drive, and I was still too close to what had happened." Her words were rushed and staggered, not making much sense.

She didn't even register Crystal as she continued. "I clutched the steering wheel, my hands wrapped so tightly around it that my nails dug into my palms." She glanced down at her hands, which still had marks from where she had gripped them.  Breathing was hard. Really hard. She cried harder, her chest growing tight as bile rose in her throat. She felt the blood pounding in her ears.

"What are you talking about? What happened?" Crystal didn't know what to do. The girl was clearly having a panic attack. Crystal didn't want to get too close, didn't know how she would react.

"I ruined everything! I fucking always ruin everything!" She collapsed to the ground in defeat. "Of course this fucking happened to me! I shouldn't be surprised 'cause god, I deserve it!" she shrieked as she clenched her fists, forcing her eyes shut.

"Gigi," Crystal spoke as she got on the ground facing the girl, "Gigi! You need to calm down."

"Don't tell me to calm down!" Gigi snapped. "You don't get it!" Too tired to fight more, she collapsed into Crystal's lap, tears still falling from her eyes.

"He fucking cheated on me," she mumbled amongst the cries.

"Oh my god," Crystal uttered. "Hey, this is not your fault. This is his fault, not yours." She tried to assure Gigi, but she just shook her head.

"I went to his apartment to give him the fucking book to apologize for ever thinking he would cheat on me, but when I walked in, he was with another fucking woman. God, she even looked like me. He didn't even see me, his tongue was so far down her throat to notice."