Chapter Thirty
CHAPTER THIRTY
Gem
It was three minutes and fifteen seconds until the door of Castle Games would open for the first time, and despite my promise to myself to stay calm, I felt like I was about to ride the world’s most terrifying rollercoaster. My insides felt like they were full of snakes, and the toast Finn had forced me to have for breakfast kept threatening to make a dramatic reappearance. The only thing stopping me from hurling was the fact that I didn’t want to ruin everyone’s hard work.
The shop looked absolutely amazing from the colourful, eye-catching window display, to the shelves teeming with stock, to the bowl of dice on the counter alongside the enormous bouquet Leo had brought me. When I’d first stood in the tiny, dusty shop with nothing but a counter and some dingy paint, I’d never imagined it would look this good. Even through all my planning, none of the mental pictures I’d drawn up had looked anything like this.
For the first time, I felt pride in what I’d achieved. I’d made it this far, and I’d turned Jay’s offhanded suggestion into a reality. Now all I could do was cross my fingers and hope people actually showed up. And kept showing up.
“Are you ready?” Finn asked, appearing from upstairs where he’d been doing a final check of the shelves.
“No. But I don’t think I ever will be.”
“It’s going to be great.” He smiled at me with the same quiet confidence he always had, and it was enough to slow my racing heart by a beat or two. Finn pulled out his phone and held it up. “Smile! You need a photo for Instagram.”
“Says who?” I asked as I dutifully posed.
“Lewis,” Finn said as he tapped something on his phone. “He’ll be along in a bit, but he asked me to take some photos and videos for your Instagram. I think he’s appointed himself your unofficial social media manager.”
“He does realise he doesn’t have to do that?”
Finn shrugged. “I know, but he’s very keen. I did tell him you could do it, but he said you probably had better things to focus on today.”
I chuckled and shook my head, leaning over the counter to grab the key to the door. “Well, I’m not going to tell him no. I’m going to get Jason to tell him.”
“Good luck with that,” Finn said. “My brother has his boyfriend wrapped around his little finger. Jason will never tell him no. Although, to be fair, Lewis doesn’t really go over the top. He’s pretty good at regulating himself. He just likes getting involved in new things.”
“Okay, well, I…” My words trailed off as I reached the front door. “Shit.”
“What’s wrong?”
“There are people… outside.” I stared, fumbling with the bolt at the top of the door as I stared at the small group of people waiting in the street. There were a few faces I recognised from The Lost World’s game night along with some I didn’t know at all. It felt a bit surreal, because surely they weren’t there for me? I mean, logically they had to be, but it still didn’t make sense.
Shoving the key into the lock, I finished unlocking the door and pulled it open. Someone cheered, and I recognised the instigator as Daniel, a frequent gamer and friend of Jay and Leo. He had a couple of children with him, and they bounced excitedly as Daniel winked at me.
“Hey, everyone,” I said. “Sorry to keep you waiting. I didn’t expect you to be here.”
“Of course we’re here,” said Lila, who, as promised, was queued up to be first through the door. She had bright purple hair decorated with flowers and was wearing a long, leopard-print coat over a vintage jumper and jeans that looked achingly fashionable on her. “Don’t be a banana. Now, let me in. I have money to spend.”
I laughed and did a little mock bow as I waved her inside. She blew me a kiss as she walked past, then waved at Finn before gravitating towards one of the shelves that we’d stacked with large, new releases that each retailed for well over a hundred quid. I hadn’t thought I’d sell any of those, but I was actively rethinking that sentiment.
More people poured into the shop with some even heading upstairs to browse the larger collection. I still stood by the front door, a little stunned by everything. I’d hoped people would show up, but this many people so early in the day wasn’t something I’d expected.
“Hello,” said Izzy, Edward’s partner. He grinned at me as he climbed the steps into the shop, carrying two large white boxes in front of him. “Did someone order some cake?”
“Cake?”
“You have to have cake,” said Edward, appearing from behind Izzy with a third box. “It’s a celebration after all, and what’s a celebration without cake.”
“Very boring?” I suggested as the two of them made their way over to the counter.
“Exactly, darling. Very boring indeed.”
Izzy slid his boxes onto the counter, avoiding the bowl of dice, the vase of flowers, and the stack of promotional postcards for the shop that were placed neatly near the till so I would remember to put them in people’s bags. “Okay, so,” he said, “we weren’t sure what you’d like or how many people there would be… so we might have gone a bit overboard.”
“That’s an understatement,” I said. The boxes were huge, and Edward was still holding one. There was probably enough cake to feed a small army, regardless of what was actually inside.
“What’s all this?” Finn asked, appearing from the stockroom with a large Descent: Legends of the Dark in his arms. I frowned at him, looking over at the shelves because there should have been a copy of that out already. Finn saw me looking and grinned. “Oh, Lila already took the copy you had out, so this is to replace it. But I think I heard Hayden muttering about getting a copy too.”
“Seriously?”
“Yes, seriously,” Finn said. “But you didn’t answer my question about those?” He gestured to the boxes on the counter with a nod of his head.
“We brought cake,” Edward said with a brilliant smile. Izzy lifted the lid of the top box to reveal an enormous chocolate cake that had Congratulations piped across the top with little chocolate stars scattered across the icing. It looked incredible.
“There’s chocolate,” Izzy said, moving the first box across the counter so he could open the second, which had bright pink pieces of freeze-dried raspberry artfully scattered over pale, yellow icing. “Lemon and raspberry. And that box”—he pointed at the one Edward was still holding—“has cupcakes. We got a mix of vanilla with rainbow sprinkles, salted caramel, and red velvet.” Edward opened the lid with a flourish to reveal three rows of six perfect cupcakes, each with the Castle Games logo on top.
“Wow,” Finn said. “They look incredible.” He turned to me, and I recognised the look of concern on his face before he’d even spoken. “Do we have—”
“Knives? Plates? Napkins?” Edward asked. He slid the box of cupcakes onto the counter. It barely fit, and I was going to need to find somewhere else for the flowers and the dice at this rate. “I brought some with me. It would be terribly rude of me to expect you to have some, especially since the cake was a surprise.”
He reached into the leather bag he had slung over his shoulder and produced several packs of dark red napkins, some matching paper plates, and a couple of sharp-looking knives wrapped in kitchen roll along with a silver cake server. “I thought this would make dishing up easier,” he added. “Shall I cut some?”
“Er, sure,” I said. “We might need to find somewhere else to put them, though, otherwise I’m not going to have a counter.”
“Don’t worry,” Izzy said, making a shooing motion with one hand. “You go mingle. We’ll sort the cake.”
“Thanks.” I gave the pair a smile then looked around the shop to see what was going on. There were several people browsing, and I heard the thud of footsteps and the hum of chatter from upstairs. I was torn between lurking down here by the till and heading up there to see if anyone needed anything. Despite the fact that I’d been working in retail for years, I suddenly felt like a fish out of water and was completely unsure what to do. I didn’t want to appear overbearing or put people off by sticking my nose in where it wasn’t wanted.
On the other hand, I didn’t want it to seem like I didn’t care. I wanted people to be able to ask me questions or talk to me about what they were looking for. I always loved giving recommendations, but shoving unwanted ones in people’s faces was the last thing I wanted to do.
“Hey, Gem.” I turned to see Blake, one of the regulars at The Lost World, giving me a little wave from over near one of the shelves, which I’d labelled Find A New Favourite and filled with the most popular games I knew. They stood with a couple of friends from university, most of whom I recognised from various board game nights.
“Hey,” I said as I wandered over. “It’s great to see you. Thanks for coming.”
“No worries! We wouldn’t have missed it.” Blake smiled at me. “We’re trying to decide what to get my sister for her birthday. I’ve played most of these before, but I’m not sure what she’d like best.” Blake’s sister was bestselling fantasy romance author, Annabel Monteforte, who’d once stopped by The Lost World and accidentally made it go viral. She was the one who’d first prompted Blake to come to Jay’s game nights, and it felt like an odd full circle thing that Blake was now buying games for her birthday.
“I still think she’d love Azul,” said one of Blake’s friends—Hayley, I thought. “It’s so pretty, and it’s easy to play.”
“Maybe,” Blake said, not looking completely convinced.
“What sort of things does she like?” I asked. “Does she like more co-operative games? Things with a twist? Long games? Or something a bit more fun and light-hearted?”
“She likes… fun things. She’s quite cute, but she can be pretty competitive and cut-throat,” Blake said. “It’s funny because Annie is so quiet, you’d think she’d love something collaborative, but she’ll absolutely take you for everything you’ve got! She’s vicious.”
I laughed. “It’s always the quiet ones that surprise you.” I looked at the shelves, casting my eyes over the various boxes and tins. “I’d suggest either Sushi Go Party! or Takenoko. Sushi Go Party! is really fun. It’s fast-paced, and you can change it up a lot, but holy hell, can you be mean if you play it right. Plus, the artwork is very cute, and you can vary the player numbers easily. Takenoko has gorgeous art. It’s very visual because you have things to build, and it’s got a cute panda, so that’s a win. I’m not sure if you’d describe it as cut-throat because it really depends on what you draw card wise, and there’s a random, dice-rolling element for one of the actions, but it’s fun and fast-paced and well balanced. And both are great if your sister doesn’t play many games.”
“Cool, thanks,” Blake said, looking at the two boxes I pointed out and picking up Takenoko for a closer look.
“No worries. By the way, if any of you want some cake, those two bought a whole bakery.” I pointed at Edward and Izzy, who were chatting to Finn and Hayden who we regularly gamed with.
“Is that a ‘please come take some cake’?” Blake asked with a wry smile.
“Yeah, it is. It’s either you take it by choice, or I’ll be forcing it on you when you leave.”
“Don’t worry,” Hayley said, looking up from the box for Wingspan she was examining. “We’ll take some.”
I left the group of them looking at the shelves with a mention to let me know if they had any more questions. As soon as I stepped away, Lila grabbed me and began asking me questions about a couple of the new releases, and after that someone else wanted some help with some Dungeons and Dragons source books.
From then on, the day seemed to speed up as I zipped from customer to customer, answering questions, making recommendations, saying hi and thanking them for coming, and attempting to foist as much cake off on people as I could. I was ridiculously grateful Finn had volunteered to help staff the counter because it felt like I needed to be in three places at once. I assumed it was just because it was the first day, but if it was always going to be this busy, I was going to have to rethink my plans for hiring another member of staff.
I was glad my family wasn’t coming down to see the shop for another couple of weeks because if they’d come today, I’d barely have been able to wave at them.
At about two, Finn forced me to retreat to the stockroom and shoved a bottle of water and a large slab of cake into my hand, forcing me to take a break for twenty minutes. “You need to breathe,” he said. “Sit down, eat something, and just take a break. Nothing is going to burn down while you’re gone.”
I wanted to point out that I hadn’t even realised what time it was, but I didn’t. Instead, I sat on the old chair I’d shoved into the corner, munching on chocolate cake and scrolling through social media looking at everything Lewis had posted. I still wasn’t sure where half of the videos and photos had come from, although I had seen Lewis and Jason briefly before lunch, so perhaps he’d taken some then when I’d been sucked into a long conversation about whether or not I was going to stock wargaming miniatures and if so, what armies and what accessories. The person had had very strong opinions, and it had taken me a while to extract myself.
As I flicked through the various stories and reels on Instagram, I realised Lewis had gotten Jason to film a little video and post it to his story while also tagging the shop. I doubted many of his fans lived in the area, but considering he had fifteen million followers, even just one percent of them checking out the shop’s social media or brand-new web store would be incredible. I’d have to think of a way to say thank you, even though I knew Jason would just shrug and say something about it being what friends did.
Sometimes, it still blew my mind that Jason Lu was now someone I knew in real life. The world really was a small place.
“You have more visitors,” Finn said, sticking his head around the door with an almost apologetic smile. I heard a loud swell of voices behind him, and I chuckled, already knowing who it was.
“They didn’t have to come.”
“They insisted. You’re one of us now,” he said, then blushed furiously. “If you want to be that is. I mean that in a totally non-creepy way.”
“It’s fine.” I stood and walked over to him, ignoring the ache in my muscles. I kissed him gently. “I love you, and that means I love them too.”
“You might regret the second part of that sentence.”
“Never.” I watched a smile blossom on Finn’s face, wishing I could stay here with him for just a moment longer. But duty called.
I emerged onto the shop floor to find the downstairs packed with Finn’s entire family, including Lewis and Jason who’d obviously returned. They were all browsing, and I noticed Tristan already had an armful of games while Richard and Ruby were perusing a little display under the label Games for Two that Leo had suggested. Jules was halfway up the stairs with Oscar in tow, and Terry and Paul were looking over the favourites section Blake had been perusing earlier. I noticed it already needed a bit of a restock, and I made a mental note to grab some more games for it.
Miranda and Mimbles stood near the counter, waiting for me, and Miranda pulled me into an enormous, floral-scented hug as soon as I was within range.
“This place looks amazing! You did such a wonderful job,” she said.
“Well, I couldn’t have done it without you. Thanks again for all your help yesterday.”
“Nonsense,” said Mimbles from behind her wife. “You’d have done splendidly.”
“Thanks.” I tried not to let my face show how much their words meant to me, but I knew I’d failed. They both beamed at me. It was funny how much their quiet sincerity seemed to settle in my chest, adding another layer of pride to my achievement. I didn’t get to spend much time with my own family, and the fact that Finn’s had welcomed me with open arms meant more than I could say.
“Now,” continued Mimbles, “I want to get a few things that the four of us”—she gestured to Miranda, Terry, and Paul—“can play during the week. Nothing too boring, please. We’re not that old, and I’m sick of playing Scrabble.”
“I thought you liked Scrabble?” Miranda said.
“Yes, but you’re all terrible at it, and I’m tired of winning all the time,” Mimbles said, and Miranda laughed softly.
I grinned. “Fancy a legacy game? Something you can build on each week? It’ll mean each session has an effect on what happens later, even if you don’t know it at the time.”
“Perfect. Show me what you’ve got.” I led Mimbles over to a nearby shelf and started to explain her options. Over her shoulder, I saw Finn holding a cupcake covered in sprinkles and giving me a fond smile.
People had said the store was my success, but that was only partly true. I wouldn’t have taken the risk if it wasn’t for Finn. He’d changed everything for me. This success was ours, and I would hold on to that forever.