2 Elaine's bookshop

*Note: This book contains strong language and some dark scenes.*

...

"Dan."

"Dan..."

"Dan!"

Dan opened his heavy eyelids, exposing a set of hazel eyes.

'What's all the ruckus about?' Dan thought.

He raised his head from the counter while adjusting his glasses and stared sleepily at the perpetrator.

He was too sleepy to even glare.

"What the hell Philip?" he said groggily.

The said person just smirked, happy at his accomplishment of having successfully woken him up.

"You have a customer, " Philip winked at Dan.

"And she's pretty cute too, " he gestured to the door, "at three o'clock."

The almost stiff movement of Philip's neck and his eyes oddly reminded Dan of a chicken with New Castle Disease.

Now that he thought about it, he actually saw a chicken in his dream.

'But why on earth would he have dreamt about a chicken?'

He sighed, adjusting his glasses again. He turned his head lazily to the entrance of the bookstore.

He saw a short, slightly curvy twenty-something-year-old with glasses walk into the store. She was wearing mittens and a very fluffy head warmer—the kind with a ball at the top. Dan's eyes widened and he felt his cheeks instantly warm up.

He averted his eyes as she walked up to him by the reception.

He cleared his throat and straightened.

"Welcome to Elaine's Bookshop, what book would you like to read today?" he said with a smile.

"Good afternoon. You have a lovely shop here." She returned the smile, which revealed a tiny dimple.

"I want to buy two books actually, " she said softly.

Dan nodded.

"Alrighty. Can you tell me their names?"

"Bittersweet' and 'In The Last Days'. You know, the books by the twin best sellers?"

Dan looked up, eyes wide.

He'd never actually read the books, and according to several top Newspaper companies—including the New York Times—referred to their books as beyond remarkable.

"Yeah, sure."

"Do you have them?" she asked hopefully.

He noticed her overly excited face.

He smiled.

"Yeah, give me one minute."

Two minutes later, Dan was back with both books. He wrapped it and handed it over to her.

She paid for the books and smiled kindly at him.

His heart raced for some unknown reason.

"Thank you," she said and she walked out the Bookshop.

He heard someone cough beside him.

"Ahem!" Dan blinked and turned to face Philip.

"I think you got a little drool on your chin, " Philip jested and Dan rolled his eyes.

"She's cute, " Philip continued.

Dan sighed, closing his eyes. Philip scowled a little.

"You've been single for too long, " Philip said.

"Does it even matter who I like? You always steal them from me anyway."

"Awn, cheer up Dan. I'm sure there's someone out there for you, probably some unlucky, unfortunate chick."

Dan opened his eyes, they lowered.

"Maybe, " he stated quietly.

"Uh, what was that?" Philip gave him a scrutinizing look.

Dan pretended to yawn.

"Never mind, " Dan replied.

Philip eyed him suspiciously then went back to his chirpy self.

"Alright, suit yourself." Philip went back to counting the money in the cash register.

Dan checked his wristwatch, it was closing time.

"Philip, I'll be leaving, it's 10."

Philip checked his wristwatch.

"Wow, so soon."

Dan removed his cap and shook his hair, freeing it. A few strands got into his eyes.

He tried smoothening it, but it seemed his hair had other plans.

Giving up, he left his unyielding hair, grabbed his cellphone on the counter and moved over to Philip's.

"Aren't you ready?" Dan asked.

"No, I still have one or two things to wrap up around here."

"You go, I'll lock up, " Philip chirped.

Dan nodded, grateful.

"I'll see you tomorrow then. Good night." Philip nodded already back to counting the money.

Dan grabbed his coat from the rack and walked out of the shop.

He was met with the full force of the winter air. Streetlights filled the streets.

He sniffed and put his hands into his pocket.

He needed a smoke.

Dan made his way to a dark alley, near his apartment.

As usual, he found druggies and stoners there. Just the place he needed to be.

He needed to warm himself up.

"Sup D, what's good?" A very lean guy with a lot of piercings walked up to him.

They called him Slim. Slim had AIDs, but that had never stopped him from smoking himself to stupor.

"I'm K, " Dan replied giving him a handshake and a shoulder hug.

"Whatcha need? You know anything you need I got, " Slim grinned at him.

His teeth were in poor condition due to excessive smoking, but he didn't care.

"I just need a little blunt real quick." Dan could feel his tremors.

"Hey Jimmy, get my guy here a stick, " Slim ordered.

"Yes, boss!" Jimmy, a boy no older than seventeen replied back. He seemed new.

Less than twenty minutes later, Dan had smoked four blunts. He was on his fifth.

He took a short drag and sighed—it was one of pure satisfaction.

His tremors were long gone.

By the time Dan left the place, it was already past midnight. He dragged himself up the stairs to his apartment.

Locking the door, he removed all his clothing, save his underwear and threw them in the laundry.

He brushed his teeth and went back to the bedroom.

He removed his glasses and placed it by his bedside drawer. He fell face-first into his bed and moments later, his soft snores echoed in the small apartment.

√√√√

The next day, Dan woke up feeling discouraged as usual.

He sighed deeply.

He sat up and grabbed the hand mirror by his bedside drawer and examined his face...it was blurry.

He rolled his eyes. 'His glasses.'

He reached for his glasses and put them on.

His chestnut hair and boring hazel eyes came into view. He spread his teeth wide—they were pearly white.

No one would have guessed he was a smoke addict.

His teeth were one of the decent things about his entire features and he really worked hard to keep it that way.

He was also 6'3—another bonus.

His alarm went off. He turned it off and checked the time...it was 6:30 am. He sighed.

He hated how he always woke up before the alarm.

He laid back down and closed his eyes.

The thought of going to shower filled him with such dread...because that would mean getting out of the comfort of his bed.

Apparently, he couldn't always have his way. So, he dragged himself out of bed, brushed his teeth and took a quick shower—all in the span of ten minutes.

He grabbed his phone, poured his cat—Tom—some leftover Chinese take out from two nights before and went out through the door.

His apartment was on the fourth floor. The elevator was busted so he had to walk all the way down.

Where he worked—Elaine's Bookshop—was not that far from his apartment, which was something he was really grateful for since he didn't have a car. So he walked there every morning.

That morning was particularly cold, so he'd worn his coat.

Fifteen minutes later, he got to work. He hanged his coat and looked around for Philip.

Unsurprisingly, Philip was already at work.

Dan secretly wondered if Philip slept in the store. He dismissed the thought with a smile.

"Morning, Philip."

Philip squinted at him.

"Well, morning to you."

"Is Elaine here yet?" Dan asked as he signed in.

He then sat behind his counter at the reception. He didn't wear a cap.

"Hey, has that girl been in here again?" Dan asked Philip.

"What girl?" Philip asked clueless.

"You know, the one from yesterday?" Dan averted his eyes.

A smirk was plastered on Philip's face.

"You mean the cute one that bought the two best sellers, " he stated.

"Yeah, " Dan said quietly, placing his pen beside his register, then he looked up at Philip.

"Actually, she literally just left 30 seconds before you walked in, " Philip said.

Dan's eyes widened.

"Really?"

"Yes. She came for a few more christian books, and then she asked for you."

"R-Really?"

"She said, 'Where's the cute, quiet guy I saw yesterday?'"

Dan's cheeks flamed.

"And?" he asked eagerly.

"Aaaaand...nothing." Philip deadpanned.

"What do you mean nothing?"

"I'm kidding, no one's come by the shop."

He closed his eyes.

'Calm down, Dan."

"Whatever, " he muttered under his breath and went back to his counter.

The bookshop was pretty cosy, he'd always liked the warm lighting and the systematic arrangement of the books by genre.

There were even a used book section and a cafe where people just came to read and enjoy themselves.

"Sorry, dude, " Philip said smirking, not sorry at all.

"You're an a*s, " he said, propping his elbows on the counter and leaning his chin on his hands.

'Breaking news, a 25m flood has ravaged the entirety of the city of California leaving thousands dead. One as terrible as this has never been see-'

Dan switched off the TV.

"Hey, I was watching that!"

"Not anymore." Dan hated the news, or rather, he hated bad news, which was all they've been watching and hearing for the past year.

He'd lost his entire family to the plagues. It was a time he'd never forget.

He was all that was left of his family.

"Dude, you can't keep killing the TV every time the news comes on, " Philip groaned.

"Actually, I can. I'm in charge of the remote remember?"

"Suit yourself, thank God for the internet." Philip picked out his phone and began scrolling through.

Dan shrugged and went to put on his gloves and apron.

He began his usual indexing and arrangement of the new books just delivered to the shop.

He arranged them by genre and best sellers.

After about two hours, he was done.

He coughed.

He was asthmatic and the dust kinda got to him. He removed the nose mask.

He sighed and began climbing down from the ladder from the impossibly tall bookshelf.

"Um, hello?" Dan heard someone say from under him.

He'd turned too fast and lost his grip on the ladder, falling off.

His back hit the cedar floor, hard, his glasses coming off in the process.

He groaned in pain.

"Oh my God! I'm so sorry." He heard the voice, which sounded too high pitched for his ears.

"A-Are you okay?" He turned his head and saw someone kneeling by his side.

Everything was blurry. The only thing he could make out were two small green blobs he guessed were eyes.

He tried lifting himself up. He groaned out as pain exploded at the back of his head.

He tried reaching for his glasses.

"Here." The small voice said.

He cleaned them and wore them.

"I'm so sorry. I didn't mean—"

"What do you want?" he unintentionally snapped.

Her eyes widened in surprise. He stood and placed a hand on his left temple—it was bleeding. He did the same for the back of his head and thankfully, there was no blood.

He sighed, lifting the fallen ladder with his other hand.

He was thankful the ladder wasn't broken.

"U-um, I'm kind of lost and I need directions, " she said.

Dan searched the aisles for Philip but he was nowhere to be found.

'Where's the douche when you need him?'

"Hello?" the girl said softly.

He turned to her, annoyed.

"What do you want?" he repeated thoroughly annoyed.

"I-I need directions." Now that he had his glasses on, he observed her.

She had long, auburn hair with striking forest green eyes.

She was dressed for the cold weather and had on a head warmer.

He couldn't help but notice she was pale. Too pale.

Dan huffed.

"Do I look like a map to you?" he snapped at her.

The girl's eyes widened and then they lowered.

"It's alright, I'll go. I'm sorry about your head, " she said, before turning and walking to the entrance.

She was stopped by Philip.

"Hello."

Philip walked towards her.

"How may I help you?"

"What seems to be the problem?" Philip asked.

"It's nothing, I just came in to ask for directions, " she said.

"It's fine, your colleague already helped me."

"Colleague?" Philip said puzzled at first and then he turned to Dan who then joined them.

"Thanks for the help." She averted her eyes and with that, she left the shop.

Philip faced Dan and glared at him.

"That's a potential customer you just scared off."

Philip's brows furrowed.

"What did you do?"

Dan's eyes widened.

"What did I do? 'What did she do?' is what you should be asking." Dan huffed.

"She just walked out with tears in her eyes. What did you say to her?" Philip pressed.

Dan gritted his teeth in annoyance, frustrated.

"Will you just shut the fuck up? She was the one who came in here asking for directions like a two-year-old."

"Who the hell doesn't know how to use their phones to ask for directions?!"

"Dude, chill, " Philip said calmly.

"I am chill, you're just annoying me right now."

Dan walked right past him and grabbed his coat.

"Where the hell are you going?!" Philip yelled after him.

"Anywhere but here."

He needed a smoke, quick.

...

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