IMMOLATION: Chapter 15

“I won't lie, having you here is making me nervous,” the man said as he lead Joan through the small shop.

The smell of stale pages had long since soaked into every inch of the store. Dust lay thick on the floor but not from lack of sweeping. Old binding glue flaked away with each page turn and, effectively, made the broom in the corner almost moot.

“But Melanie says you're fine, and, well,” He paused, looking sheepish, “Melanie said so,” His voice trailed off and Joan smiled knowingly. “Anyway, this will be your section,” he gestured to the shelves they'd just reached, at the very back of the store.

“Cozy,” Joan said, nonplussed.

“It's actually the part of the shop I need the most help with.”

Joan didn't know if he was lying or not but the disarray of the shelves was enough to make her more inclined to believe him.

“Sort by topic, then by author. All alphabetical.”

Joan nodded and he smiled uncomfortably before leaving her to her work. Joan didn't waste any time and began sorting. Melanie's boyfriend, whose name Joan had already forgotten, wasn't lying about the mess he'd assigned her to organize. Most of the books were so old and frail that she was afraid to open them in case their bindings split. Unfortunately, their age also meant that their covers had faded and the titles on many of them were illegible. In those cases, she had no choice but to try her luck and open them so she could read the title pages. A few broke as she'd feared, though most merely creaked. On more than one occasion she forgot the title or author, or both, after she'd already opened and shut the book once and she had to listen to the awful crackling of dry paper and binding glue again as she opened the books the second time.

It didn't take long before Joan went in search of some sticky paper so she could write titles and authors down and then label the books anew. The book store, though small, was a veritable maze with its stacks of books, towering shelves and narrow walkways and she got turned around more than once. At last she found the front counter, grabbed the stack of sticky paper she'd been looking for, and began her search for the place she'd been before.

After a few minutes of searching she spotted a narrow passageway that looked familiar.

“Finally,” She muttered.

Immediately she found her way blocked.

“Do you have this in paperback?” The young man gazed at her with brilliant green eyes.

Joan halted and her tongue didn't respond properly. The young man cocked an eyebrow and smiled, revealing perfect teeth.

He was charming. Joan's eyes raked over his thick hair, his lightly freckled face and then back to his eyes. They were almost florescent.

“Paperback?” He asked, shaking the book ever so slightly in his hand.

“Oh, right,” Joan shook herself out of her stupor. “Um,” She looked at the book. She looked back at him and then back to the book. “What did you want?”

He laughed. It wasn't a harsh or teasing laugh but rather a pleasant one. The kind of laugh that comes from genuine humor and not at someone elses expense.

“I'm sorry,” He said, “I didn't mean to jump out at you like that, you must be Joan.”

He offered his hand and before she knew what was going on, she was shaking hands with him.

“I'm Tom,”

Joan realized she was still shaking Tom's hand and let it go.

“Mike said he had a new helper starting today.”

“Mike?” Joan asked, still recovering.

“Yeah, Mike,” Tom gave her another cock of his eyebrow, “He runs the place, gave you the job...your boss.”

“Oh right, that Mike,” Joan covered lamely.

Tom nodded, then looked back to the book in his hand, weighing whether or not it would be worth asking about it again. He decided to try his luck.

“So, paperback?” He asked, hopeful.

Joan looked at the book, confused.

“No,” she said, “That's a hardcover.”

Tom laughed his laugh once again and rubbed his face with his hand to keep the tears out of his eyes. Joan frowned but for the life of her she couldn't figure out what he was laughing about.

“Okay,” He said at last and placed the book back on the shelf. “Maybe I'll have more luck with tomorrow's shipment,” He glanced a little to Joan's side. “You've got a keeper, Mike.”

Joan looked around and had to fight to keep from jumping when she saw Mike standing right beside her, a bemused look on his face.

“A few pages missing but a fun read all the same,” Tom called from somewhere beyond, hidden from view by the maze of books. A short time later the door chime signaled his final departure.

Mike picked up the book Tom had been holding before and then set it onto a different shelf, beside no less than three paperback versions of the same book. The hardcover copy slid neatly into a suspiciously vacant spot just big enough for it to fit into. Mike opened his mouth to speak, shut it, fought back a chuckle, then pointed to the book.

“Tom was asking if we had any paperback copies, not if the copy he had was paperback.”

Mike left Joan, only giving into his chuckling once he was out of sight. Joan looked back at the shelf, at where Mike had placed the book, at the attending paperback copies.

“But didn't he see the others?” Joan called out, knowing it would be faster than trying to find Mike.

All she got back in response was a laugh.

The rest of the work shift carried on without event and Joan found herself looking forward more and more to tomorrow. She'd be ready for Tom.