It Started With A Book

Chapter 1

Elliott Mitchell wasn't one to lose things. Not his mind, not his heart and certainly not his beloved novel.

And Brin Henderson certainly wasn't one to find things.

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Hadn't he read the sign?

That sign. The one above his head at the place he'd sat everyday for two months. The one that read "If a book is left on the premises it becomes official property of Widget's library and shop."

A laugh left the young woman's lips as she continued to scrub the hard and worn wooden tables.

Funny, he comes in here to constantly read, yet doesn't read the one important thing.

Brin placed the newly found book onto the chair and proceeded wiping another table down.

Once she finished her rounds for the morning, she carried the book into the back.

By break, she was bawling her eyes out, and halfway through she unapologetically fell in love with the main character.

By sundown, Brin's hair was a frizzy mess and she was absolutely exhausted. And she hadn't even made it halfway through the book yet. Her body had drifted off to sleep after a long battle with heavy eyelids.

The reason she knew?

Brin was pretty sure Channing Tatum didn't just propose to her.

Woken up in a shaking motion she landed on the floor, bruised, heart racing.

"What was that for?" Brin propped herself up using her elbows and stared blankly amongst the hoards of books to find Jeff Davies, her manager concerned though stifling a laugh.

"Sorry."

"Yeah well, you don't look it."

Jeff helped her up, and she dusted off her shorts.

"What were you doing back here? I thought I sent you home?"

"You sent me on break. But never mind that," she rushed, seeing Jeff's eyebrows raise. "See there was this book--"

"Say no more," he propped his feet up on his desk, adjusting his long Hawaiian shirt and placed his hands behind his head. "Been there. Don't mind returning though. What book is it?"

Well actually, his desk comprised of a $59 contraption from Ikea and an office chair that had seen better days.
But it was his and he liked it.

"I don't know actually," she turned it over, thumb still pressed within the pages to hold a spot. She was so engrossed with the main character's life for lack of her own, that reading the title had slipped her mind.

"It doesn't have a title," she turned it back over, pages facing her.

"That's strange," he ruffled through a bin stacked high with books and shrugged. "Hopefully someone will like it."

"No!" Brin jumped up startling her boss of nearly one year. "I mean no...uh not yet."

"We've been over this. Once a book is left here, it becomes Widget's property, and also the public's, meaning everyone who walks through that door has an equal chance of reading it."

This was the only pitfall Brin could think of working at Widget's Library and Shop-- sharing books.

Other than that this place was her safe haven. Where else could she get her hands on new books, work for a great boss and meet new people?

"I know. It's just the book is really good," Brin followed him, placing the book on a stack gathering dust, and into the tiny kitchen comprised of a fridge and a microwave and a small row of brown cabinets above their heads.

"Brin..." he took out a frozen container and shoved it in the microwave.

"Alright, just let me finish the book and then I'll hand it over."

"Fine. You have a week."

"A week?"

"Come on now. You blaze through books in less than two days."

"That is true," she leaned against the wall.

"Glad that you think so. Now go home, get some rest," he shooed her out. "We open early tomorrow."

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