The Eccedentesiast

Chapter Fifteen

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Chapter Fifteen
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Emma walked down an aisle, she turned and then walked down another.

"Can I help you?" Emma turned around, hearing someone clear their throat.

Emma cleared her own throat to prevent any vocal disaster. "Yes." The simplicity in her tone surprised her.

The guy took a few steps towards her and stopped; only three feet away.

"You're at a book store," he stated the obvious.

Emma nodded. "I know where I am."

The boy examined her from top to bottom. "I'm Henry." He hid his hands behind his back.

Emma smiles for a second before responding, "I'm Emma."

"Such a common name." Emma detected the hint of a British accent, just the smallest.

"I-I guess."

Henry nodded and ran a hand over an empty shelf.

"So, what can I do for you, Emma." He smiled seraphically.

Emma looked at the bookshelf to her left. "Are you hiring?"

Henry sighed and turned to walk away. Emma was about to call after him until he waved a hand behind him as a gesture for her to follow.

"Okay," Emma whispered.

"How old are you?" he asked.

Emma tried to keep up with his fast pace. "I'm sixteen."

Henry hummed as if he was trying to reconcile with her response. "Alright. You have your job permit?" He stopped walking and began opening a cardboard box in which Emma assumed caged purchased books.

"Uh, yeah."

"Do you have it with you?" He looked up and his almost sandy hair fell over his forehead and reached his eyebrow, he raised it. "Well?"

She shook her head. "N-No." She gulped. "I don't."

"Well, you're going to have to come back tomorrow." Henry began cutting two more boxes open.

"Why can't I just come back in like . . . I don't know, thirty minutes, maybe?"

He sighed and stopped his movements. "We're closing in ten. We close at six in the afternoon," he informed.

"Oh." Emma sighed. "I'll just be back tomorrow then."

Henry watched as she went to push the door open before he called her back. "Emma."

She turned around slowly. "Hm?"

Henry ran a hand through his curly hair and waved her back. "Come."

Emma was hesitant to move, but when she did, she was on alert.

"You can come back in twenty?" he asked. "No more than that. I have to get home by seven and I don't live close to here."