𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐜𝐥𝐮𝐛 𝐖𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐁𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐟𝐢𝐭𝐬 [18+]

4 · text me

Judging by the way the sky wasn't painted a reddish orange hue yet, I knew the day was far from ending anytime soon. Right after I slumped down in the driver seat, I checked my phone to see if Daniel had called me once or twice. But there wasn't one. Not even a text saying 'Busy. CU29. ily' like he usually did. I had no right to get mad because that was the problem I'd started. Either he was mad or assisting an operation or both. He'd come around and say he was sorry. The only thing I had to do was wait for him to cool down and we'd be back to normal.

Deciding I'd go to the bookstore to roam around a bit, I turned right to see the familiar path leading to a place a little far out of town as I started the engine. Though I didn't want to admit, I loved reading erotic novels. Those kind of books were my best company alongside my fingers and a sex toy I'd hidden in my shoe box. I was sure Daniel found the sinful book when I was drunk and didn't tell me because that was another blow to his ego aside from my remark about his dick game.

The road was busy as usual with cars rushing to and fro opposite directions, and it took me around fifteen minutes to get to the bookstore with the traffic being a bitch. I pulled up my car before the store and got out, locking the doors up. My boots stepped on fallen maple leaves which had started to dry already. Fall was going to be over in a few months and I wasn't ready to say goodbye to beautiful weather and sitting outside with a book in my hand. In front of me stood my favorite bookstore in its glory. It was a small bookstore which didn't hold much extravagancy with a set of windows. The front door was painted bright red and the tiny canopy above complemented the overall appearance.

From what I'd learned, the store was at least sixty years old and the new owner renovated the entire shop including the bookshelves, creating a whole new aesthetics, with faded wall lights. A pleasant waft of jasmine scented candles greeted my nostrils as I entered the store and a 80's Jazz song was played in a low tone, the sound of someone humming to it reverberated the inside area, bringing a smile upon my lips.

"Hola, Sara Mia," the brown-skinned woman looked up, revealing her million dollars smile, her hands supporting her on the counter where else blue candles were lit in a wooden candle holder. Though her younger days were over, she didn't seem like she hadn't reached two years more than forty aside from the faint wrinkles around her eyes foreshadowing maturity. "Haven't seen you in a while."

I nodded. "Yeah, Work's kept me busy, how have you been doing?"

"Welcome back. I'm doing fine. Newly released books are on the third shelf. If you need help with anything else, let me know, Sara."

Muttering a quick thank you to her, I pivoted, eyes searching for any sign of people in between the book shelves. I spotted around five people rummaging through; some reading the preview, some searching for a specific book. I belonged to the latter group. I didn't let the fact that there's five other people there grow in on me. It wasn't like they were going to walk up to me and say hello. There was, absolutely, no problem regarding that. Chances of facing someone I was acquainted were low since a. I was the only bookish person I'd known and b. people didn't come here quite frequently.