AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Amelia. You must be Rowen.” She squeezes past the car, grabbing a stack and shelving the W books. She’s a little shorter than my five-seven with a mess of dark caramel waves and eyes that match.
“I am. Nice to meet you.” I grab the O books and start shelving.
“You met Leo and stayed to help. That’s impressive. He’s not so bad once you figure him out, or once you see him around his wife.” I nearly drop my stack of books. “Yeah, believe it or not, that man is married to a real person. Tuesday is the sweetest. She’s famous too. Sci-fi author.” I glance back to see Amelia point at the huge display in the center of the store. It’s sprawling with a huge cardboard back drop of a space scene and spaceships. I look back to Amelia and it must be written all over my face. “I know, trust me. He’s really not that bad once you get to know him. Which sounds like I’m some sort of victim, but I’m not. I swear, you just have to learn how to take him. He’s abrasive but doesn’t mean to be an ass.”
“Speaking highly of me again?” Leo’s voice comes from the end of the row of books and I jump but Amelia just rolls her eyes and goes back to shelving. “You got a lot of these done.” He looks from me to the cart.
“Told you I know my ABCs.” I smile at him and get a little hint of a smirk in return.
“Can you talk now?” Leo still won’t make eye contact with me, but I’m learning that it might not be out of rudeness, but a discomfort talking to people instead. I nod, shelve the last two books in my hand, and follow him, leaving Amelia with the cart. He leads me around the huge display of his wife’s books and into a small room to the side of the checkout desk marked ‘office’. It’s barely big enough for all the files and the desk, but we squeeze in, him on one side, me on the other. It’s silent for a few minutes and I finally break it.
“So, you need more employees. How many?” I pick my thumbnail and wait for his response. I have exactly zero experience with this. I’ve never worked at a bookstore, much less owned one, and all my leadership experience comes from being Shelby’s assistant manager. She literally gave me the job because I’m her best friend and all the employees were high schoolers. I didn’t do anything extra other than work more hours and lock up some nights.
“We can work with two, but three would be ideal. I…need someone else to conduct interviews and that isn’t Amelia’s job.” Leo is six-foot-something with classic good looks and blondish hair. He’s an attractive dude, but he’s also really… off putting. “Plus, she’s young.” His eyes finally meet mine for a split second. “So are you, but maybe you being the owner will hold some authority to conduct interviews. Also, I know you’re the owner now and changing hands could mean a new direction for the store. I just…I need you to understand what this place means to me, what Matilda meant to me.” I look at him, back straight, eyes forward over my head, lip tucked between his teeth.
I rub my forehead under my purple beanie and prepare to say the things running through my head. I woke up early this morning with new goals and new plans, none of them are very Rowen things to do, but it’s time to embrace Aunt Matilda’s gift for what it is and use it to my full advantage.
My stomach is trying to forcefully evict the frozen waffle I had for breakfast, but I swallow hard and let the words out. “Okay, here’s the deal. I am not equipped for this. Like, at all. Not even a little, but the attorney said you are doing a great job running the place and Aunt Matilda let you have free reign. So, if you want to keep doing things like you have been for the last however long, I am not going to stop you. I want to help. I’m here now. I moved here, this is going to be home, so I need a job that is more than just sitting in her big empty house and spending her money. I’ll be one new part time employee until the repairs on the house are done and I can spend less time fixing things there. I’ll switch to full time after that. I can help you interview people and get you some more staff in here, so you aren’t running poor Amelia ragged. She already puts up with you, no need to make her hate her job by working her so many hours.” I look up from my lap to see him watching me with a smirk. Okay good, the guy can take a joke. I breathe out a sigh and keep going, “I think if you let me interview people with you there, we can get more employees. If you give Amelia a raise, she can train them, and by then they may not find you nearly as terrifying and will stay.” I stare at his face until he meets my eyes, and he stands behind the desk, extending his hand. I take it and he gives me a firm shake.
“Welcome to Cover to Cover books, Rowen. I think you’ll make a fine addition and I look forward to working with you. If you’ll get me your shirt size, I can have some shirts ordered and no hats while at work. Can you start tomorrow? The pay is twenty an hour, if you go full time, you get benefits, and our schedules are pretty flexible.” I shake his hand back.
“Glad to be part of the team, Leo. I’ll see you in the morning and we can start working on getting more staff. I will not, however, be working without my hat because I’m still the owner.” His eyes dart to mine and I smile at him before releasing his hand. He shakes his head and I lead us out of the office.
“Be here at nine,” he calls from behind me as I walk to the table with his wife’s books. I grab the first in the series and head to the register where Amelia is checking someone else out.
“Just take it but walk straight across the street and get it signed.” Amelia looks from me to where Leo is standing.
“Why would I do that?” I glance behind me where Leo is rocking from heel to toe, hands in his pockets watching us.
“The woman in the cafe, Second Breakfast, is the author. Not the one with blue hair, the other one. Super tall, glasses.” Amelia winks at me and taps the book before I step out of the way for the next person in line.
“See you tomorrow!” I step out of Cover to Cover books and pull my coat tighter around me before hurrying across the parking lot and then the busy street to a strip of shops. A sandwich shop is on the far end followed by a hair salon then a pet store. The smallest spot has a sign with Marshall Law Comics at the top and then, taking up three store fronts is Words for Nerds Comics and Collectibles. Huge murals cover the glass windows, and the lot is full, so I assume this is where I’m supposed to be. I pull open the door and step inside the largest comic shop I’ve ever seen.
CHAPTER3
JANET
I’ve runinto a burning building before and tackled a man with a gun. Those should be the scariest things I’ve ever down, but no. The scariest thing is getting out of my car after watching Rowen walk inside first. I sat in my car like a coward and watched her come out of the bookstore, cross traffic, and then go all the way in without making a sound. I have to go in. I’m here, I need to get something inside, and I have to go in.
Last night I was flirty as fuck and today I can’t go in the same building. I look down at my clothes and then in the mirror. I look tired. I am tired. I barely slept last night because I met a girl. You’d think I’m twelve, not creeping up on forty. I check my outfit again and sigh. It’s one of those times I thought this would be quick, I don’t need to impress anyone, and here I am looking homeless. Had I known I’d run into this woman I can’t stop thinking about, I’d have done better than old jeans, boots, and a flannel. My hair isn’t washed so it’s up in a low ponytail and I left with not a drop of makeup. None. I don’t wear a lot, but some concealer would have been my friend this morning. At least the flannel is form fitting and not three sizes too big. I pop the two top buttons making sure the cami underneath shows a little and finger comb my hair before twisting it up in a bun and securing it with a scrunchie. This is as good as it’s going to get. I get out and walk to the door. It’s bitter cold, so I hurry, leaving my coat in the car of course, because I’m a full idiot today.
Inside is warm and the Zelda theme is just cuing up when I open the door. There’s a lot of nostalgia in those notes and it calms me almost instantly. Forget the stress of following a stranger that I have crush on, I’m too busy trying to get Zora’s Sapphire and save the princess. Those damn water levels got me every time. Fire and earth were no problem, but every water level took me three times as long.
I’m pulled from my old school video game thoughts when I see her over at Second Breakfast, the cafe in Words for Nerds, talking to Tuesday. Rowen’s long hair is down, straight and shining down her back with a purple beanie perched on top. I look down at my jeans, tank underneath and flannel shirt, then to her in the exact same wardrobe. Her shirt is tighter, clinging to her curves and paired with purple converse that match the purple in her shirt and her hat. From the side, I can see the slight upturn to the end of her nose and her top lip is slightly fuller than the bottom. I stand and stare right inside the door for way too long to be appropriate until Tuesday laughs, making Rowen laugh. The sound has me looking away and turning toward the front register. Greer is there, and the new girl, Harlow. Greer sits leaned over a sketchbook and Harlow has her nose completely buried in aDoctor Whobook. I stand at the counter for a solid minute before one of them realizes I’m there.
“Oh! Shit!” Harlow jumps when she sees me and the book closes without her getting the chance to mark her place. “Crap.” She holds up a finger and flips through the pages before smiling and tearing off a piece of receipt paper and tucking it inside. “I have boxes and boxes of bookmarks at home, but here we are.” She waves the book at me. “Here to pick up?”
“Yeah. How many is that so far?” I point the book in her hand and Harlow’s face lights up. She tosses her vibrant blue hair over her shoulder and smiles.
“Once I finish this baby, I’ve done eighty-two.” Harlow is a pretty girl. Very pretty, with bright blue eyes that match her hair and a button nose that scrunches when she smiles. And she’s all of nineteen. She started at Second Breakfast when Tuesday, also known as bestselling author Tyr Weatherby, was working on the fourth book in her Planet Everywhere Series. Now they’re training Harlow all over the store and she’s loving it.
“Eighty-two? It’s February!” I’m always shocked when I come in and she gives me her number. Last year her total on December thirty-first was more than five hundred. I have my weekly comic allotment, and maybe cover a book a month if one of the girls here thinks there’s one I’ll really like. But I tend to find myself flipping through Instagram instead of reading.
“Yeah, well, can’t disappoint my followers by slacking this year. I’ve even been offered a sponsorship by one of those book boxes that goes out every month. It’s not a lot of money, but everyone loves getting the almighty like.” Harlow shrugs and turns to pull my comics from the set of drawers behind her. Greer finally looks up at me from her sketchbook and blinks rapidly.
“Janet. Hey.” She looks tired.
“Can I see?” I point at her book. Greer is an artist. She doesn’t simply draw, but an actual artist who has a new graphic novel coming out in a few months and a signed contract for a ten-book series that she’s writing and illustrating. The comic press next door is owned by her fiancé, Brian, and once news started spreading of her talent, all the big comic presses came running to sign her. Greer laughed, of course, and now Marshall Law Comics is skyrocketing in the comic world with submissions from big up and comers.
