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He’s a very attractive man, and based on his outfit, does not belong in a bookstore. He has dark brown skin, kind brown eyes, and black hair shaved short. And the dim lighting of the bookstore makes him look like a hallmark movie actor. The light gray suit and blue tie make him look like he belongs in a corporate office, though. Crumpled and wrinkled as it is.
“I’m Elijah.” He introduces himself with a wave and a heavy sigh. I smile, waving back as he meets my eyes. He looks tired. There’s a deep sadness in his eyes that he just can’t hide.
“Nice to meet you, Elijah. I’m Sapphire.” I keep my voice cheerful, despite the sympathy that tries to leak out.
“A girl named Sapphire, with blue hair? This feels like a trap,” he mumbles to himself, looking up at the ceiling like he’s speaking to someone high above his head.
“Excuse me?” I ask, and he sighs heavily.
“Sorry. It’s been a difficult week. I didn’t mean any offense. I knew a girl once, back when I was eighteen, with hair color that matched her name. She nearly got me beat up,” he chuckles, shaking his head. “Violet, with violet hair.”
“That's super random. But I promise not to get you beaten up.” I chuckle, taking a step closer, so I can get a better look at what he’s doing. “I saw your sign. I need a job, and you’re hiring. What position are you trying to fill?” I ask, and he laughs, but it’s lacking any humor.
“All of them. I don’t know what the hell I’m doing,” he grumbles, and I watch as he flops down, so he’s sitting on a chair I hadn’t seen before because of all the piles of books. The store looks like it’s divided into three sections. The first section, when you walk in the front door, is where the stacks are. Then at the back, there’s a second section, divided by a wall, where all the excess books are and store supplies. Then, at the very back, there’s a small room that’s probably the office.
“Oh, um.” I don’t really know what to say to that.
“I would just sell it if it hadn’t been my little sister's dream to own this place her entire life. She only bought it eight months ago! Then she dies on me. And of course, instead of leaving it to our parents, or our older brother, she left it to me. I work in finance, for fuck's sake!” His voice cracks with raw emotion, making my chest hurt. “Sorry,” he whispers, looking away from me. I do the only thing I can think of.
“Then I guess you need me,” I say, holding in my own tears because the last thing he needs is a weepy employee. “Come on.” I step over his mountain of books, grab his wrist, and lead him to a room at the very back of the store. It’s a small office. Thankfully, my guess was correct, and I pull him inside with me.
“Woah!” He puts his hands up, yanking away from my grip, and I spin around, looking up at him. I’m five feet tall, so he’s really towering over me, but at first, I don’t understand what’s wrong.
“Oh, jeez, sorry. I just realized how that sounded. Here. You sit.” I point to the chair and give his arm a small nudge as I step out of the door once I squeeze by him. “You work in finance, right? So, you handle the money. I’ve got the rest,” I insist with a sharp nod of my head, grabbing the office door, about to close him inside, when he stops me.
“Thank you, Sapphire,” he whispers, and despite not knowing him at all, I feel this connection between us. Our pain is different, but we’re both hurting. His eyes are red around the beautiful brown of his irises.
“Happy to help, boss.” I wink, trying to lighten the mood. When he laughs this time, it's less strained. “I better get to work. Don’t want to make a bad impression on day one. My boss seems like a real hard ass.” I wrinkle my nose at him as his smile grows, and he shakes his head at me.
Hopefully, I can ease some of this burden for him, by making sure he can keep his sister's dream alive. Alive and thriving. Because I know, all too well, that just surviving isn’t always enough. It’s okay for a short while, but long term, you can’t be happy if you’re not thriving.
I honestly have no idea what I’m doing, but I’m not heartbroken over the loss of my baby sister, so I can think a little more clearly. At least here. Even if the rest of the world makes no sense. I’ll clean this shop the way I’d clean anything. First, focus on the trash. And there's a lot of trash.
I lose track of time, as I fill garbage bag after garbage bag, before switching to loading cart after cart with books in the same genre. I clear shelves, and stack books high as I start reorganizing. I wonder how his sister passed. If she owned this store for less than a year, maybe she never managed to get it in order. Was she sick?
I clean the front desk as my thoughts wander, place everything that’s even somewhat related to running a bookstore in a box, and toss out everything that's no longer useful.
By the time I take a break, I realize it must be many hours later because the sun is very low in the sky. Oops.
“Holy shit,” Elijah mumbles when he walks out of the office. “You’ve managed to do more in one day than I’ve been able to do in weeks.”
“When I focus, I can get a lot done in a short amount of time.” I shrug. I put the cleaning rag down, and spin to face Elijah. He unexpectedly pulls me in for a hug, and I yelp but hug him back with a short laugh.
“Thank you. Fuck, please tell me you’ll come back tomorrow?” he begs, with hopeful eyes, and I nod.
“Oh, definitely. I’m already in love. This place has so much potential. Give me two weeks, and it’ll be just like new,” I tease, but Elijah doesn’t laugh. I reach out, and grab his hand, giving it a squeeze. “It’s gonna be okay,” I promise, but I don’t actually know that. I just hope things get better for both of us.
CHAPTEREIGHTEEN
Elijah
The moment I saw her blue hair, I knew I was in trouble.
Weeks after my sister's death, Sapphire walks into my life like a blue-haired angel.
The problem isn’t money. I have plenty of money. The problem is, I have no idea how to run a damn bookstore.
“Or maybe it won’t be okay, at least, not for a while, but I do know there’s still a lot we can do to get this place up and running,” she adds, her pale cheeks blushing pink.
