“Hey, I’m walking, but there’s no shame. This is a physical world, baby. We only live once, right?”
“Sure, sure, I’ve heard that one before,” Hazel replied dismissively. I looked at her, tempted to keep the banter going, but chose to drop it. She’d already saved me with caffeine.
“So, Alex got that promotion?”
“Yeah, we celebrated yesterday.” I sipped the heavenly liquid in my cup.
“Hence, the walk!” Hazel said, raising an eyebrow. I grinned, letting her assumption hang in the air. She rolled her eyes in response.
“Hey, babe, we can always do this walk together,” I teased, leaning against the counter and biting my lip. But Hazel wasn’t one to back down easily.
“Ah, Luke, if only you had the maturity of a man your age instead of being a sixteen-year-old who just realized he’s starting to get hot.”
“So, you think I’m hot,” I grinned, already knowing the answer. I’d noticed how she responded to me.
Hazel opened her mouth to speak, but looked momentarily stunned, unsure of what to say next. Suddenly, I noticed a book on the counter.
“What are you reading?” I asked before she could answer.
She looked at me, confused, then glanced behind her.
“Oh... yeah. It’sAll the Bright Placesby Jennifer Niven.”
“Can I see?”
I noticed that fleeting look in her eyes—sadness, tinged with melancholy, hardly there but enough for me to catch it. She quickly masked it, though, handing me the book. It was well-worn, suggesting this wasn’t the first time she’d read it.
“I enjoy revisiting my favorite books among the new ones I buy. It gives me comfort,” she said as I skimmed the synopsis. “Sadly, I have to admit—the movie was better. Even though the book has more content, it somehow lays the emotions out right there in front of you.”
Suddenly, the oven timer went off, signaling that the croissants were ready. Hazel disappeared from my sight. Whenever I saw her, she was always carrying a book. Sometimes I tried to sneak a peek at what she was reading. Her choices mostly surprised me. I flipped through the book in my hand, noticing multiple colored quotes marked throughout. One was about the pain of watching someone you love suffer and knowing there’s actually nothing you can do to ease the pain, to make it better.
“Oh... this is a sad book,” I muttered. I made a mental note to check it out later. Meanwhile, Hazel returned, but strangely, I didn’t want to leave just yet.
“What else is on your ‘favorite books among the new ones’ shelf?” I asked.
“Well, unfortunately, I won’t surprise you since I’m a reading geek.” She paused dramatically.
“Austen novels,” I guessed just as she spoke, and we both laughed.
Ahh, that sound. Like a rush of dopamine. I wanted to ask which one was her favorite, but she was halfway to the door.
“It’s 10 AM. I have to open now.” She unlocked the door, greeting the waiting customers. I thanked her for the coffee and left.
In a freshly acquired good mood, I strolled downtown to my favorite spot and weekend joy—the bookstore. I wasn’t ashamed of it, but I kept this pleasure to myself. It didn’t fit the persona that people around me assumed. After all, a party boy didn’t usually spend his free time in bookstores. But whatever.
Fifteen minutes later, I stepped into the brick building, already familiar with the scent of new arrivals.
“Ernesto, my man,” I greeted him as he was moving boxes around the shop.
“Hey, man, the new ones are on the second floor,” he said. I was probably one of the most frequent visitors here. After helping him hook up with some of my female acquaintances, he probably knew me better than I knew him. Plus, I had a suspicion he worked every shift, given that the counter never had another face behind it, no matter when I came by.
After hours of browsing the shelves and fueled by coffee, I returned to the first floor with the zillion items I’d chosen. I had more books than time to read them or space to keep them, to be honest, but I refused to learn from my mistakes. I paid for the books and headed back to my apartment, already preparing for the workweek ahead.
3
Hazel
“You’re WHAT?!” Mady shouted into her phone, making me pull away.
