|| Hitherto || [completed]

9.He Became A Memory

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Dedicated to - AlinaKG because her book 'Hair, Body & Skin' works like a real charm. The tips she has mentioned and also the homemade packs and remedies are very useful and whats better? They work! I tried the turmeric mask and my skin feels more cleaner and fairer too! Its great. :)
Song of the Chapter - When You're Gone by Avril Lavigne.
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Sapphire Brooks

The rest of the day goes by in a blur. I text Ana that I am leaving early so she can ask Matt to drop her home. I can be so useful as a best friend. 

I drive past our college. The roads are filled with vehicles though this area is not as busy as main Manhattan. Greenwich Village is a neighborhood of Manhattan, but it is nothing like it.

Unlike Manhattan or Fifth Avenue, Greenwich is a not adorned with countless dazzling skyscrapers or forever bustling streets. It is in fact a cradle of exquisite culture that often collides with the west. Our apartment is located on the edge of Greenwich Village, closer to Washington Square Park.

I drive down Broadway because I got to visit Strand Bookstore today before heading home. I really need to get a new book now. I've already read all the books on my shelf and I've almost finished reading Emma. I park near 828 Broadway and enter the bookstore.

The scent of new, old & worn out books, limited editions & leatherbacks books. Oh my.

Strand Bookstore is quite famous among New Yorkers for its giant collection of publishers' overstock, used, rare, and out-of-print books, as well as the chaos on and around its shelves. The store houses the city's largest collection of rare books and I am in love with it.

"Excuse me; do you have Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte in leatherback?" I enquire. That's the first book that came to my mind. I have it in paperback and leatherback would be totally quintessential.

"Yes, in the classics section over there,"she smiles pointing towards the shelves.

"Okay, thank you!" I grin at her.

As I amble through the rows of shelves I notice a shelf named - WISE WORDS AT STRAND. My eyes land upon a particular black and white framed quote which says :

"If you go home with somebody and they don't have books, don't f**k them." I giggle. How apt.

I go through the shelves, running my hand over all those beautiful classics that are my breath. They keep me alive, taking me to places I will never get a chance to go to. They take me back in time teaching me the values and realities of life in the simplest of ways. There is only one copy on the shelf. I take out the leather back edition of Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte, parting it from its other intriguing companions. I shuffle through the book and inhale the intoxicating smell of crisp white pages of an unending world that will keep you captivated as long as you hold it dear to you.

"How much?"

"That would be Twenty-two Dollars."

I shuffle through my wallet to give her the money. There is only a ten dollar note. What the fuck? 

Oh Diana, you are so dead.

"Umm..Do you have more copies?" I ask desperation clear in my voice. I want this bad, real bad.

"No dear, this is the last one available." Shit.

"Okay. No problem," I sigh and walk out of the store. I really want that leatherback edition. Maybe if I come early tomorrow I'll get it. I pray. Let the book be there. 

*****

"Where did you keep my hundred dollars?" I yell at Diana as she enters inside the house.

"No hi or hello or how was your day?" she says with a smug smile plastered on her face.