Morrie and Heathcliff exchanged a pointed glance.Are they making a judgement about my competency, or did I miss something?
Both of them swiveled away, as if they’d been caught doing something naughty. “She’s got this, grumpyguts,” Morrie flapped his hand at Heathcliff as he picked up a battered copy ofJurassic Parkfrom the top of the box and settled himself back into the leather chair. The raven perched on the back of the sofa, peering over Morrie’s shoulder and moving its head across the page. It almost looked as if it were reading the words along with Morrie.
I sorted through the book stack. Grimalkin crept back into the room and wound around my ankles. Morrie read while Heathcliff worked at the computer. Heathcliff’s version of working involved mashing the keys with his fist and yelling colorful swearwords at the screen when it didn’t do what he wanted.
“You okay there?” I glanced over his shoulder as I set a stack of keepers on his desk.
“I bloody hate online bloody orders,” he growled, hitting the side of the monitor again. “Why can’t people just come into the shop like the good old days?”
“Maybe because they’re all burned up in your sunny disposition?” Morrie piped up from across the room.
“Croak,” added the raven.
“That’s enough out of both of you.” Heathcliff shot back. “Shouldn’t you be at your job?”
Morrie yawned. “And miss the chance to see you explain the computer to Mina? Never. I texted and told them I’d be late. They don’t care. They have bigger problems today.”
“This actually looks pretty easy.” I leaned over Morrie’s shoulder. “You’re just adding the books to this online catalogue and that syncs them to Amaz—”
“Do not speak that word in this shop!” Heathcliff boomed, clamping his hands over his ears.
I stumbled back in alarm, catching myself on the edge of the desk before I toppled over into a disordered heap. Grimalkin fled up a bookshelf.
“What word?” I gasped, struggling to return my heart-rate to normal. “You mean the name of the world’s largest online store? But then how do we talk about running the business—”
“We call it The-Store-That-Shall-Not-Be-Named,” Morrie said happily. “Although Heathcliff has some choicer phrases, if you prefer.”
“Fine,” I sighed. “I guess I should have known I was working in a house of crazy. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but Heathcliff, show me how we get the books onto The-Store-That-Shall-Not-Be-Named.”
I leaned over Heathcliff’s shoulder as he explained how the catalogue and pricing software worked. There were a lot of different factors to consider, but he warned me in particular that I had to be careful with automatic price-matching. The feature would ensure a book you uploaded would always undercut the cheapest volume for sale in The-Store-That-Shall-Not-Be-Named, but if we didn’t monitor the prices carefully, we could accidentally sell a priceless first edition for three pence. Judging by the way Heathcliff jabbed at the keyboard with a single finger and slapped the side of the screen every time he couldn’t find the button he wanted, he’d clearly let a few first editions go at bargain-basement prices.
As I reached for the mouse, my arm brushed his, sending a shiver through my body that had nothing to do with the winter chill.This is insane. I cannot fall for this guy.He’s my boss and a complete wanker and judging from the fit of his shirt he has no idea about fashion.He’s straight out of the nineteenth century.
“—and here’s where we can see the online orders. Check this inbox every morning, find the books, box them up, and take them down to the post office. Don’t leave it for me to do.Youcan make small talk with Deirdre the postmistress, and bring back more of this coffee on your way back.” He banged the empty takeaway cup against the desk. “Are we in agreement?”
Yep, straight out of the nineteenth century.I grinned. “If you give me a fifty pence an hour pay raise, I’ll even throw in some Cornish pasties for breakfast.”
“You drive a hard bargain.” Heathcliff held out his hand, and I shook it.
Was it just my imagination, or did he grip my fingers for a second longer than was appropriate? Heathcliff’s dark eyes met mine, the edges stormy. He jerked his hand back, nearly breaking my fingers off.
Once I had all the books listed on the online catalogue, Heathcliff set me free to place my finds on the shelves, along with another box of books he’d already catalogued. The bird and the cat hopped after me as I moved through the rooms, hunting out the appropriate shelves, pulling books out at random and flicking through the pages, inhaling their comforting smell and recalling memories from my childhood.
I was adding some Folio Society books in their designated room on the first floor when the bell jingled downstairs. A few minutes later, a middle-aged woman in a ghastly cardigan ducked her head into the room, glancing up from her glowing phone screen to scan the bookshelves. She pulled a couple of books off at random and snapped pictures of them on her phone. As she wandered toward the next room, she spotted the raven sitting on top of the doorframe.
“Oh, what a majestic bird,” she said. “It’s a raven, isn’t it? Once upon a midnight dreary—”
“Croak!’ The raven flapped its wings, lifted its leg, and let another parcel fly. The woman yelped and ducked out of the way just in time to avoid being hit.
“Sorry!” I yelled. “He doesn’t seem to like that poem!”
She hurried off down the stairs. A moment later, I heard her shrieking at Heathcliff.Oh, this will go well.I moved to the top of the stairs to watch the show. Grimalkin weaved between my legs and the raven settled on the the balustrade. With a final shout, the woman scurried into the hall. “Get out, get out, get out!” Heathcliff yelled after her.
“I’ve never been so insulted!” she shrieked back, the veins in her forehead throbbing. “I won’t buy another book from this shop ever again!”
“You were never going to buy a book anyway. That’s the whole bloody point!” Heathcliff leaned out of the door, his eyebrows knitted together in an expression of utter disgust.
“What are you looking at?” he growled at me as he slammed the door.
