Vindicate || Devilish Sequel

Capitŭlum Duos

I had set my alarm clock to go off at 7:30 am but guess what? Exactly, it didn't. Luckily my human alarm clock woke me up before it was too late.

"Hurry up, Rai!" My mum said shaking me. "Get that lazy latin ass out of bed or else you'll be late."

"I already heard you woman." I whined. God, this was like a déjà vu all over again. Am I going to bump into a curly haired guy too? I bitterly laughed.

"What are you laughing at?" My mum asked. "Why are you laughing?"

"Nothing mum, just morning humour."

She narrowed her eyes and pursed her lips. "Ok Ms. Morning Humour, why don't you hurry up while I make breakfast?."

I nodded and gave her a kiss on the cheek. "I love you, mum." 

I got out of bed and went straight to the bathroom. Since I was running out of time I showered fast, took a quick look in the mirror just to make sure I wouldn't scare people and then went downstairs. There was a sandwich my mum had made for me so I took it along with a bottle of orange juice.

"Hey! You're not going to have breakfast here?" My mum asked.

"No, I don't have enough time." I kissed her on the cheek. "I'll see you later, mum. I love you."

I quickly left the house and got in my car throwing my bag in the passenger seat. I put my sunglasses on, started the engine and drove off nice and slow, expecting to get pulled over at any second. I haven't driven in a while so I was a little scared about doing, but I guess it's like riding a bike, you never forget how to do it. 

Ok so I needed to get to 453 South Spring St. and I had two options: take I-5 N or take Washington Blvd first and I-5 N. There wasn't that much traffic so I would be there in less time if I took the I-5 N than the second option, I would be there in half and hour or less. I-5 N it is then. 

To kill the silence reigning in my car I decided to turn on the radio and listen to music. I looked through the stations but didn't find any that pleased me so I took my iPod and plugged it in. I put my 'On the road' playlist on shuffle and smiled when the first song played.

'All I am is a man
I want the world in my hands
I hate the beach
But I stand
In California with my toes in the sand...'

'Sweater Weather' by The NBHD is one of my favourite songs, but I must say that I really love Taylor Phelan's version of the song. I might get killed for this but it's sounds so much better than the original in my humble opinion. The upbeat tempo and the guitar sound give it an amazing vibe. 

I started signing at loud and dancing, not too much because I didn't want to crash. Singing in the car was one of the best things to do, of course it's better doing it with someone else but I still enjoy myself as much as if I was with anothe person. 

I wonder how Cam and Rue are. I haven't called them since Uni ended. They had called and texted me but I didn't answer either of them. Maybe I should call them. They're my friends after all, right? I need my friends even though I can't really talk with them about Ha- NO! DON'T THINK ABOUT HIM!

I focused on the road and the music again to keep that memory away. I was going to find a job and crying was the last thing I needed; I couldn't afford looking like shit. 

The sun was shinning as always in the sunny California. LA you're always looking good. I took a deep breath; how can I be so depressed with a weather like this? Focus on the road, Raiza. Focus on the road.

I got to South Spring St. and parked a flew blocks for were I needed to go. I walked until I found the place; the entrance was on 5th Street. It was this huge old greyish building where you could see millions of shelves filled with books, CDs, records in the inside. In one window there were these golden and black letters that said 'The Last Bookstore'.

I entered the building and the smell of old books mixed with new ones came through my nose. God I really want to work here. 

"Good morning, may I help you?" An old sweet woman greeted me with a smile. 

"Good morning, ma'am." I said. "I'm Raiza Esmond. I came for the job position available. They told me to come here at 9 for an interview."

"Oh! Yes my dear. Please come with me." The lady made me follow her to the back of the bookstore where there was an office. She knocked on the door before entering. Standing there, looking through the shelves, there was a man; I couldn't see his face very well since he was with his back to us but he seemed young. "The young lady who you is here." She said. When the man turned around I was surprised; blonde hair, deep blue eyes, slightly pink lips, a little beard, strong features. He was handsome; actually he looked like a model or some famous actor. And he couldn't be more than 20, no way.

"Thanks Agnes!" The guy said to the lady. "Hi, I'm Dax Briganti." He greeted me, snapping me out of my thoughts. He was smiling. "Please take a sit."

Dax? Well that's a quite unusual name. He was looking at me as if he was waiting for something. "Oh right! I'm sorry! I'm Raiza Esmond." I gave him my hand for him to shake.

"Nice to meet you Raiza." Dax said, shaking my hand. "So, you're here for the shop assistant position, is that right?"

"Yes. I just finished my first year at Uni and I want to do something so working for the summer sounded good."

"That's not so common to hear around here." He said, looking at my CV. "Although you have never worked in a bookstore your CV is quite impressive. So tell me Ms. Esmond, why someone like you would want to work here?"

"It's honestly my dream job." I said. "I love books and being surrounded by them all day would be amazing. Besides I could advise customers some good books."

"You have initiative, I like that." The blonde guy said. "Seems that you're who we were looking for. Welcome to 'The Last Bookstore', Ms. Esmond."

"Oh my God! Really?" I said, excited. "God! Thank you so much. This is amazing!" I couldn't stop smiling. This was just what I needed. "And please just call me Raiza. Oh by the way, when do I start?"

"You can call me Dax then." He laughed. "And you can start right now if you like. Come with me because I'm going to explain to you how things work here while I show you around. You know boss-newbie bureaucracy."

"Wait... You're going to be my boss!?" I couldn't hide the surprised and ended up yelling. "But you're like 20!"

"Actually 21 but who's counting." He smiled. "What? You were expecting some old papyrus with huge glasses and wrinkles?"

I blinked twice not being able to believe a 21-year-old guy was my boss. "N-no. I-I mean maybe someone in their forties, you know? Not many people around our age would like to spend their summer working in a bookstore, let alone be the boss of one."

"Guess we're a dying breed." 

"You can bet on that." I laughed.

"The only old people we have working here are Agnes, who you already met, she's in charge of the cash register. And Gilbert, who has his day off today, he's in charge of the history section and sometimes he's also working in the cash register with Agnes."

"That's actually really cool. Not many stores have older people working there." I pointed out.

"You gotta you have to acknowledge the wisdom and experience." We both said at the same time. Dax looked at me and we laughed. 

"Com on, let's start the tour."

My boss guided me around the bookstore explaining to me what I needed to do, schedules, how books were organized and all those stuff. When we were done he handed me a t-shirt, which it was my uniform. I went to the bathroom to change and put my hear up in a ponytail. Once I was ready, I got out and went to one of the shelves in the left side of the store and started organizing.

We opened at 10 sharp and within seconds customers were all over the store. A girl walked up to me with a book in her hand. First customer, here we go.

This is going to be the best summer; surrounded by the only thing that has always been there for me through thick and thin and had never hurt me, books. I'll be with them and away from him.