CHAPTER 1 #2
After Mr. Barnard left the shop, Maisie returned to reshelving.
Customers didn’t always buy, but they rarely, if ever, put the books back in their right place.
The bookshop wasn’t overly large, but it did have a lot of shelf space, and there were rolling ladders that only the staff could use.
Sometimes, Maisie thought of Belle from Beauty and the Beast when she climbed on a ladder at the bookshelves and looked so happy.
Other times, she felt a little bit alone.
As the shop’s only full-time employee, she was often here on her own.
They got busy for about an hour a day, so while that was hectic, it at least kept things interesting.
The traffic would pick up right before closing on some days, too, and other times, Maisie could’ve closed early, and no one would’ve noticed.
Owning the land outright helped because it kept her overhead costs relatively low, and having to pay two part-time employees, including her best friend, wasn’t all that expensive, so that meant that even on days like today, when she only sold three books and one bookmark, she knew she’d get to live another day.
“Hey,” Lainey said when she walked through the door, letting the bell jingle as the door closed on its own behind her. “Dinner?”
“I thought you had practice tonight,” Maisie replied as she pulled the cash drawer from the register.
It had the same amount of money in it from that morning when she’d pulled it out of the safe because people paid mostly with credit cards or even their phones these days.
Still, she probably couldn’t ever go cashless in the shop, and she didn’t want to, even though it could be depressing every day to see no additional money in the drawer when she pulled it out for the night.
“I wrapped them up early. They have a dance this weekend, so all of them were talking about what dresses to buy and who they were going with. They weren’t focused on soccer, which means injuries are more likely.
When we ran a few drills, one of them sprained her ankle, so she’s now out for a minimum of a few weeks, and I sent the rest of them home to look up dresses online or something. ”
Lainey was a high school soccer coach for one of the local public schools. Despite a lack of real funding and resources, her team was one of the top teams in the state and had a chance to make a deep run in the upcoming tournament.
“Where’s Paige?” Maisie asked, carrying the drawer toward the back office. “Can you lock up?”
“Yeah, sure,” Lainey replied before she walked back to the door, turned the sign around to indicate that they were closed, and locked the three locks on the door. “She’s not feeling great. She even skipped practice today.”
“Why aren’t you at home, taking care of her?”
Lainey followed her into the office and said, “Because she told me to stay away. I’m not allowed to go to her place. If she’s sick and I get sick, we’re down two coaches for the next match.”
Paige was Lainey’s girlfriend and also the assistant coach for the team.
They’d met that way, and it hadn’t taken long for them to figure out that they were meant to be more than just colleagues and friends.
It had caused a controversy at the school, but they kept their relationship private and focused on the girls.
“I guess that makes sense, but I’m sure she still wants you to stop by and drop off some soup or something. Wear a hazmat suit.”
Lainey leaned against the doorframe and said, “Please; I’m not going to listen to her.
I’m going to bring her food from wherever you and I go and stay the night.
If I get sick, I get sick. I’ll still coach, and she’ll be better by then anyway.
” She shrugged. “I must really love her if I’m willing to risk a cold. ”
“You do love her,” Maisie said as she locked up the cash drawer. “What do you want to get?”
“Something light. Maybe that sandwich place we like, and I can get her the gumbo. She loves that.”
“Gumbo for a woman with a cold?”
“What? If it’s spicy enough, it’ll clear her sinuses.”
Maisie rolled her eyes at her and grabbed her bag from its usual spot next to the desk.
“Whatever is fine with me. I’m ready if you are.”
“Yeah, let’s go,” Lainey said. “Sell any books today?”
“Three. One was a special order, though. Ninety-dollar book.”
“That’s good,” Lainey replied. “That’s like selling five books, at least.”
“Ever the optimist, Lainey,” she said with a smile.
“You know me.”
“Yes, I do. Biblically,” she teased.
“Hey,” Lainey bumped her shoulder into Maisie’s. “It’s time for you to get to know someone else that way. How long has it been?”
“Since we’ve had this conversation about my sex life, or since I had sex?”
“The last one,” Lainey said as she pulled open the back door for them.
“A while,” she answered without adding anything else to it, which would tell Lainey that she should drop the topic.
“Hey, any news on the race?”
“No. I made flyers today, and I’m going to put them up tomorrow, but outside of the few banner ads I have online, I’m not sure what else I should be doing.
I have the commercial made, but it costs too much to air it.
I swear, when I talked to the local networks and they gave me the cost, it was a lot lower than when I called them today.
Prices went up, I guess. I don’t know. I want to make sure the shop is protected, and I want to help others, like your school, for example, but the incumbent has more money, so I’m not sure there’s much of a point. ”
“Hey, hang in there,” Lainey said and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “I’ll help. We’ll win this thing, okay? And when we do, you’ll get me a raise or something.”
Maisie laughed as they climbed into Lainey’s car.