“Okay. I can help you,” she replied and shelved the one she had in her hand. “What is it you’re looking for?”
“Um…He’s Just Not That Into You,” the woman answered, looking sheepish. “Do you have it? It’s not for me. It’s a gift, which is why I’m here. I read books on my phone, but my mom isobsessed with this new guy who ghosts her all the time, and she only reads actual books. I thought I’d give her a hint.”
“I think we have a copy. If it’s not on the shelf, I can check the computer.” Larissa walked over to the aisle and scanned the shelf. “Here you go.”
“Thanks,” the woman said and took it from her when Larissa handed her the copy. “This will help her, right? I’ve only seen the movie, and it wasn’t very good, but the books are supposed to be better than the movies, so…”
“I can’t say I’ve read that one, or watched the movie, but there’s a small self-help section you could peruse and see if there’s something she might be interested in from there.”
The woman laughed and said, “All of them. She’d need all of them. But I’ll start with this one. Can I pay for this?”
“Sure.”
They walked over to the counter, where Larissa rang up the book and said goodbye to the first customer they’d had in since she’d arrived four hours ago.
“Slow day,” Janine, the manager, said when she walked out of the back.
“Yeah,” Larissa agreed with a nod. “But we got a sale.”
“Hey, you can go home early, if you want. I think I can handle the one or two customers we’ll get before we close.”
“Are you sure? I can keep restocking. We got in the new mystery everyone’s going to want. It’s out tomorrow. I can get it on the cart, ready to put on the shelves for you.”
“I’ve got it. I finished doing payroll and what I had to do back there, so you’re good.”
“Okay. If you’re sure, that would be great,” Larissa said. “I need to work on my dissertation and could use some library time. My friend’s been staying with me for a few weeks now, and she’s great, but she can be a distraction at times.” She laughed a little. “I’ll go clock out now.”
“Why is she staying with you?”
“Breakup. She’s looking at apartments, but I’m usually the stopover before she finds one after she ends a relationship where she moved in with her girlfriend.”
“This has happened before?” Janine asked.
“A few times, yeah.”
“Has she triednotmoving in with them?”
Larissa laughed and said, “You’re not the first person to mention that as a concept.”
“Hey, what are you doing later?” Janine asked, leaning over the counter. “I’ll close up at eight. Want to grab a drink or something?”
“A drink?”
“Yeah. I’d ask the others who work here, but you’re the only one, I think, who can legally drink. Plus, you’re the only one I can carry on an actual conversation with. The others just stare at their phones when they work the counter and try to put them in their pockets when I’m nearby so that I won’t see, but they forget about the security cameras right above their heads.” Janine pointed to one of the cameras aimed at the register. “I’ll buy, if you want. A margarita or something? The place down the street from here has karaoke, which is usually more fun to laugh at than to do yourself.”
“Oh, I would, but I can’t.”
“Busy? No problem. Another time,” Janine replied and stood up. “I’m just restless. I feel like any day now, the owner is going to either fire me or have me fire the people on their phones because we’re not making enough money. Ishouldbe looking for another job already, probably, but I’m trying to manifest me keeping this one. If I start looking, I feel like that means I’ve given up and I’ll be laid off the next day.”
“You really think that?”
“You’d be the last to go, so don’t worry. You’re the best employee in this place. You’d be the manager if you actually wanted to work full-time, so thanks for not doing that.”
Larissa laughed a little and replied, “No problem. I don’t want to manage. I’m only here for the money while I’m finishing up my program.”
“I know. I remember.” Janine smiled softly at her. “Psychology. Something with cortisol.”
“You remember that?”
