my delilah

05

"Can you point me to a copy of A brave new world?"

Delilah's head shot up at the voice that spoke to her, and she did her best to keep herself steady on the ladder she was balancing on. The store wasn't that big, but it did have a high ceiling – a few ladders and stepping stools placed here and there, and with that, they'd built the store upwards when the ground level got too jammed with stuff. Delilah had gotten a bag with books to place back in their respective shelves from Azlan, and she did her best to keep the ladder upright while balancing with a heavy bag in one hand.

"Of course," she said, looking over her shoulder briefly, feeling a smile creep onto her lips when she saw Wick stand behind her. She wondered how she hadn't been able to recognize his voice, seeing as it was so familiar to her. "Oh, it's you," she smiled and began her journey down from the ladder. "Was that the only book title you could come up with?"

"Since I've heard you jabbering on about it countless hours, of course," he said, greeting her with his hands on her hips, lifting her down the last couple steps from the ladder. "Seriously though, I might need your help to find something to read. I think I need to activate the last few brain cells I have left at this point."

"That's probably a good idea," she grinned at him, and he returned the gesture. He pecked her lips briefly, before he let her go – he could see the excitement in her eyes, and it joyed him. "So, what do you want?"

"That's what you're going to tell me, sweetheart," he said, and she huffed.

"No suggestions? At all?"

He shrugged, grinning still. "Nope."

"Well then," she smiled, walking over to a broad shelf a little further down the wall. Classics, it read, and Wick groaned.

"Okay, I have some suggestions. No fucking classics – I refuse to read a single page of that shit."

"Oh come on, stop being so dramatic," Delilah muttered, passing the shelf that she had no intention to pick from in the beginning. "I was actually going to give you..." she faded out, looking over the spines of the books before smiling and pulling one out. "This," she reached it out, and he read over the title quickly.

"And then there were none, huh? Sounds... spooky," he muttered, and she grinned at his choice of words. He began flipping through the book, but she quickly stopped him.

"No reading ahead. I don't care if you're just skimming – don't spoil it, please," she exclaimed, and he merely sighed with an eyeroll.

"Fine."

"Good," she said, grinning. "Now, where's my tip?"

"Huh?"

"I helped you – now tip me," she said, and Wick just shook his head with a smirk on his face, before placing his hands over her waist.

"I'll tip you tonight when we get home," he muttered in her ear, before kissing her neck. Delilah laughed but pushed him away, realizing that Azlan or anyone else could round a corner at any point, and see them – if she wanted to stand a chance at keeping her job for more than two days, she had to prove that she was a good worker.

"Hey," she said with a chuckle, moving to a safe distance away from Wick, who smiled at her. "Save that for later."

"Will do," he said, before lifting the book a little bit. "Well, will you show me to the checkout then, baby girl?"

"That, I can do," she smiled, and the two of them began walking through the small store together. It was a cozy place – shelves and boxes were stained in different shades, and the locale smelt earthy and woody. The book shelves were at least twelve feet tall and went almost up to the roof, and she couldn't even imagine how many books actually fit in the store.