Cherry Coloured - Alex Turner

6. Pages to Linen

The laughter and the chaos and the spilled drinks found themselves left behind, traded in for silent early morning radio and empty roads. There was no plan of action, only to find seclusion.

"Wanna go anywhere in particular?" Alex had asked as they began their drive to a place of nowhere in particular.

"Surprise me," she had responded.

  The silence they so often shared seemed to have gone missing as they drove under the blanket of night and speckled stars. A kiss, something so fragile, seemed not to draw them into themselves but instead, reeled them towards each other. The fishing line now completely tangled and knotted.

  A game seemed to play between the eyes of the two. When Alex would glance over at Maeve, her eyes would be on their passing surroundings; and when Maeve looked over to him, his eyes were busy on the road.

  She knew it had to be pheromones and hormones but Maeve couldn't look at Alex without feeling everything inside her stir a blissful concoction. Don't you dare make any horny mistakes, she reminded herself.

  Alex on the other hand, was more awake than ever. Finally, it seemed, he had something that could bring him up out of the ditch he'd fallen into. Maybe she could be the medicine to cure the plague his past partner had planted in him. For the first time in awhile, he wasn't frightened by connection, but excited by it.

  "We almost there?" Maeve asked after almost a half hour of driving aimlessly about. Her voice was low and gravelly, tired almost but not quite.

  "Just here," Alex said and pulled the car over in front of a line of stores, all closed at the time of night.

  Maeve looked out her window a little confused and then read the name of the business they'd parked directly in front of. 'Nifty Reads Bookstore.'

  "Is this what I think it is?" Maeve grinned, looking over her shoulder at Alex.

  "Couldn't think of anywhere else with any colossal significance," Alex said sweetly. "C'mon, I can show you inside."

  Shutting off the ignition, the two climbed out of the car in the dead of night and approached the small bookshop. Displayed in glass cabinets facing the road were newly released titles and best sellers all aching for a keen eye to read them. Digging into his pocket, Alex pulled out his ring of keys and stuck one into the lock on the front door.

  "You sure?" Maeve asked.

  "Me parents won't care," Alex smiled and opened up the door for them. Maeve waited on the path as Alex disabled the alarm before following him inside.

  It was small but it was homey. Books lined every wall reaching up to the ceiling. Neatly categorised with each of their spines facing outwards. There was little to no empty space which made Maeve question how Alex was able to hold poetry readings there.

  "Mum and Dad help me move a couple shelves around," Alex said as he watched Maeve respectfully explore his parent's business. "It's only once a month so it's not too much of a spanner in the works. Or at least I hope not."

  "I adore it," Maeve said, walking around a bookshelf and tracing her fingertips along the multicoloured spines. "It feels like a home."

  "Me parents aren't fans of modernity," Alex smiled, leaning against the till desk.

  "Agatha Christie," Maeve read, "I like her."

  "Crime and mystery eh?" Alex smirked as she walked back over to him.

  "I like being kept on my toes," Maeve smiled moving up to him as he rested back on the wooden checkout.

"I have some recommendations but I'm afraid I can't let you borrow the ones in 'ere," Alex smirked, moving his hands onto her hips.