“Ugh, you guys, I’m never going to be able to function around this man,” I say with a whine.
“I’m going to keep it real,” Alex says. “Finn sounds like a nice guy, plus he is working at Ink Me. We know the guys over there are nice, hot, and have some strange protector thing going on with you. I don’t think Jaxon would allow anyone he does not trust to live in the apartment.”
“I know,” I say, exasperated. “But how do I deal with the fact he is all kinds of everything?” I finish with a sigh.
Now it’s Jules’ turn to step in. “You just have to take deep breaths and remember, we are all flawed,” she says. “And not every guy is Blake,” she finishes, her voice laced with disdain.
“Preach, little spider monkey,” Alex says in agreement.
I need to move on from Blake; I know that. I cannot let him dictate how I live my life. He was a self hating dickhead who just wanted to date me to see if he could sleep with a virgin. I should have seen it, but I guess my head was in the books.
Gallifrey jumps on the back of the couch and gives me a loud cry.Yes, just a minute.
“Yep, you’re right. It’s time for me to live my life again. Are we still going out next Friday night?”
“Oh, this is going to be fun,” Alex cheers at the same time Jules says, “yes, yes we are.” We’re laughing even as we end the call.
Prying myself off the couch, I make my way gingerly to the kitchen. The ankle is not too bad today. Most of the swelling has gone down, and there's a bit of bruising. I’m just going to have to power through. I have 15 minutes to get downstairs and relieve Alice.
After feeding Gallifrey and giving him some pets, I head to the bathroom for a quick shower. I do my hair and pay close attention to my knees. They sting from the soap. I scraped them when I fell, so I wash that area carefully. I turn off the water, grab a towel and head over to my closet. I decide on a pair of black jeans and my faded blue Tardis t-shirt, slipping them on over my tight blue briefs. Sitting in front of the mirror, I run my finger through my damp hair, always willing it to do something. It never does.
Still on a confidence high from the pep talk, I think today I’m going to remind myself of me, who I am. I grab my black eye liner and line my eyes with the slightest wing. I then reach for the blue eye shadow and fill in the rest of my eyes. Last, I add pink tinted lip gloss. Smacking my lips together, I look at myself in the mirror and smile. I like it!
Grabbing my keys and wallet, I head to the door and slip on my blue sneakers.Yes, it’s a complete outfit!
Locking my door, I turn around andcarefullywalk down the stairs. I’ll try to call today and see if I can get anyone to come out. Opening the back door to Dragonfly Books, I step in and take a deep breath. That is when I’m met with the smell of books, my favorite smell.
I go in search of Alice to let her know she can go home. She has worked for Dragonfly Books ever since my mom opened the store. She was a schoolteacher before she retired and worked part time for my mom. She is a little less than part time now, but I’ll take whatever hours she can give me.
Jules is almost full time working in between classes. She says she wants to go full time when school is done, but I’m worried she is just working here to help me, and not because this is what she wants to do with her life.
I know I’m going to have to hire someone when Alice retires, and what I really need is another full-time person. Shit, if they accept my offer next door I’m going to need to hire more than that.
Alice comes sweeping by. “Hi Spencer, how are you on this wonderful day?” A ray of sunshine, that one.
“I’m good Alice, how are you?”
“Oh, I’m good dear,” she says with a pat on my shoulder.
I walk over to finish stocking the new mm romance display and wince when I step weird.
“What happened? Are you okay?” Alice says as soon as she sees me.
“Oh, I’m fine,” I say. “I just took a stumble down the back stairs.”
“Spencer, that nice man Jaxon has offered to help you with the maintenance in the back. Why have you not taken him up on his offer?”
“I know. I was kind of hoping it wouldn’t come to that,” I say sheepishly. Thankfully, that is the end of Alice’s lecture as she clocks out for the day.
I have a few customers come in to pick up reserved books. We also started selling e-books and accessories not too long ago, and Ms. Stevens comes in to pick one up for her granddaughter. I sell her on a nice pink case to go with it.A little celebratory pat on the back after that sale.
Before I know it, Jules comes barreling through the door to relieve me so I can head to class. She works on Tuesdays and Thursdays when I have a late afternoon class.
“Sorry I’m late. Today was my day for class to run late, I guess,” she says, winded. “If I hadn't caught a ride, I would have never made it.”
“You risked your life with Alex?” I say with complete shock.
She clears her throat and does not look at me. “No, it was not Alex. I’m not that crazy,” she says, still not meeting my eyes.
