I was a warm day in April. Wait, take that back. It was hot—like shirt stuck to your back in the car hot. The air felt stale and thick, and the breeze was vacant. In this type of heat, even your eyeballs somehow felt like they could sweat. However you want to describe it, it was way too hot to be April. Even in the South, this was a hot day for spring. Temperatures were about to hit 90 and humidity was at 85%. Thunderstorms had been called for, severe ones. What was this? July? Nope. April. April 30th exactly, just a week and a half after Easter.
And thus, the shop was dead. The street was dead, and Nikki was bored out of her mind. She flipped a magazine and sighed. The dusty old black and white clock said 4:40pm, an hour and 20 minutes until she could go home. Maybe her boss would close up early that night. It wouldn’t be the first time the shop closed up before business hours ended.
They had had four customers that day. Mrs. Maple had come by on Wednesday instead of her normal Monday, so that was kind of exciting. Then a college kid who had just now realized he needed some Shakespeare books before finals. He had completely bought out the used Shakespeare section, frantically dumping his arm load of chosen paperbacks on the worn Plexiglas counter and scoffing when Nikki told him they didn’t sell CliffsNotes.
“You’ll have to go to Barnes and Noble for that…”
“Ugh, but they are on the other side of town!”
This was a common conversation.
Two stay-at-home moms came in after their lunch at The Flower Pot, looking for the next sexy murder mystery by Ursula Towers, maneuvering their strollers, curving through the tight aisles of the musty store like professional Formula One drivers in Monaco. She was able to get one of them to buy almost $100 worth of books, so the day wasn’t a complete waste. She just wished her boss would emerge.
It happened often. Her boss would come in early, go into her office and shut the door, only to appear at the end of the day or when food became a priority. She’d been back in her office all…damn…day. Nikki just assumed she was working on a really, extra-special scene so it didn’t bother her. But it would be nice to be able to have a conversation with someone. They barely spoke this morning, and at first Nikki thought maybe her boss was mad at her. But then at lunch they ordered bagels from the coffee shop next door and sat in her office and Google image searched cute baseball players for 45 minutes. So things were fine.
But, the shop was still dead. And even if it was, who cared? They could never have one customer walk through the doors and it wouldn’t matter. Customers weren’t what kept this place open. J. B. Hann kept it open.
The sleigh bells hanging from the front door knob rang out a clear pitch in the shop and Nikki didn’t look up from her magazine, “Welcome to Reader’s Corner.”
After a moment, she quickly glanced up and smiled at the two handsome men that had walked into the store. Normally cute guys didn’t come in their shop: women did, college kids did and old professors did. But 30-something hotties? No, this place was like the plague to them. No TVs, no booze—not including a couple bottles of wine kept stashed in the stock room—and even though she considered herself a fairly attractive woman, Nikki knew men needed more than just one pretty lady to have them interested in a old, dank, dark bookstore in the back corner of an ancient strip mall across from Walterville State University.
So this moment right here was a welcome and pleasant distraction from her issue of Vogue.
One was cute, with brownish sort-a curly hair and a curious glance. The other was tall, blonde, big—in that I-work-out-all-the-time-and-I’m-one-giant-muscle way. He was carelessly gorgeous. Ok, so they were both pretty much the same height and build and to the objective person they probably had equal levels of attractiveness, but something about the manner and the cocky smile on the “other’s” face was enough to give him all of Nikki’s attention.
The cute one nodded his head with his hands in his jeans pockets and said, “Pretty cool place.”
The Fabio Beast one stared right at Nikki.
“You guys looking for anything in particular?” she asked, shifting her weight, sticking her hip out just ever so much more than before and licking her thumb to get traction to flip the page of her magazine. Her eyes met the one she wanted when she licked her thumb.
“No, just checking out the businesses in this area. We’re new in town.” He smiled, biting the corner of his mouth just barely. She noticed.
“Really?” She drawled out.
“Yeah, you own this place?” Her eyes connected with his. He was wearing a button-down, blue plaid shirt, sleeves rolled up, top two buttons undone. She could tell there was nothing underneath and the blue of his shirt brought out the dim blue in his hazel eyes. She cleared her throat and silently hated her boss for showing her that particular scene she was working on after lunch. The one that involved a kitchen counter and an ice cube.
“No, no. My friend Julie does. She’s a writer.”
“What does she write?” Whether it was his intense gaze or the thought of her boss’s writing, she blushed profusely and tried to turn away from both of them that were now leaning against the counter.
“Stories…”
“Ah-ha, so now we’re intrigued!”
“Yeah, you probably should be.” She was trying to flirt; hoping that the one she wanted would take a subtle hint and figure out what Nikki really wanted from him. It had been too long since she had had a man in her bed. Longer since she had had a date. She made up her mind right then that he would do for this occasion. Nikki was like that, determined and forceful. If an idea came to her, she acted on it immediately. And she got what she wanted. She reached under the counter and slid a book across the surface.
“Ok, she’s going to kill me but here’s one of her books.”
“Breathless?” He asked.
She smiled as she heard the title of her friend’s book read aloud. The paperback was a dark green color with the black word ‘Breathless’ in a boring font across the front. No damsel in distress with a long-haired, chiseled man holding her from behind, no title in golden lettering and bold cursive. Just a plain, boring cover.
“Just read the first page and you’ll understand…”
The man pointed his thumb over his shoulder at his companion. “He’s the reader of the group. I’m more of a people person.”
“Really?”
He gave her a beaming smile and leaned further over the counter while his friend plucked the book from the counter, looked the book over as if he was inspecting an artifact, before opening to the first page.
“Yes, I’m more interested in what your name is.”
“I’m Nikki, or Nik.”
“Hello Nik, I’m John…” They shook hands, lingering momentarily. Nik leaned over her side of the counter, purposefully using her upper arms to push her breasts together just slightly.
“So when’d you get here, John?”
“Just two weeks ago. Got a job out here, little brother has to tag along.” She nodded. So they were brothers! After spending a few seconds just smiling flirtatiously at him, she finally glanced over at the brother. Nik stifled a laugh. Little Brother had his nose buried in the book. His eyes scanning rapidly, his mouth moving softly and quickly as he silently read to himself.
“You ok there, bro?” John looked as well and chuckled.
"So, you say your friend writes this...." He asked slowly, not looking up.
"What on earth are you reading?" John asked and walked over to glance over his brother’s shoulder.
"Porn!"
"It’s not porn,” Nik defended. She waved her hand in the air. “It’s romantic fiction.”
"Umm….” The brother snapped the book closed and asked, “Is your friend here right now?"
"Yes, would you like to meet her? Maybe she will let you keep that copy of the book and sign it for you," Nikki said sarcastically, rolling her eyes. Julie would kill her if she sent this guy back there to see her. But on the other hand, it would get her alone with Mr. John. Maybe this was what they both needed. Get Julie out of her comfort zone and make her chat with a hot man, and Nik could chat with his wonderfully sexy brother. This was a good plan.
The man slowly nodded at the idea of meeting this mysterious writer while Nik took a deep breath and said a silent prayer that Julie would at least be willing to entertain this man for five minutes.
“Wait here.” She walked back through the store to an opening covered with a curtain that had “employees only” painted on it. Julie really needed to let her spruce the place up. It was starting to look like an old camp site for homeless people. Ok, it wasn’t that bad, but Nik was sure that a fresh coat of paint and some new flooring and signage could help the place look better. Julie just maintained that musty and dark were what people wanted out of book stores. But now, with these new guys in the store, Nik felt slightly embarrassed that she worked in such a swampy hole.
The stock room door was open and she peeked in first just to make sure Julie wasn’t hiding out. A shipment was supposed to come in today but had been delayed until tomorrow. It was partly why Nik was so bored at work, until now. As soon as Mr. John and his brother walked in, her boredom vanished. Julie’s office door was closed and had a sign that had been up for four months and was barely hanging on with one single piece of tape. The paper was ripped in the corner and read in thick black sharpie: Please knock before barging in. If you hear music, then I’m probably dancing (and you should join in). Otherwise KNOCK!”
At the soft sound of ‘come on in’, Nikki opened the door and held onto the knob as she leaned into the door way. Her boss was there sitting Indian style in her chair, green eyes glued onto the computer screen, fingers typing profusely. Her light brown hair was pulled up in a messy bun on top of her head.
“Sooo Julie…”
“What’s up?” She did not look up.
"There’s someone out here who would like to meet you." Julie’s fingers stopped mid click-clack and she slowly moved her gaze to Nik and opened her mouth. She stared for only a moment before going back to typing.
"Like someone important? Because I’m in the middle of this. Can it wait?"
"I think you want to meet him.” Nik moved to lean against the door frame. “He’s pretty sexy. I got dibs on his brother, though."
A slow sigh escaped Julie’s mouth. "Really Nik, really?” she asked unamused. “A guy? A sexy guy? You are just saying this so you can get alone with the brother. "
Nikki protested. “No Julie! He really is hot. And ok, yes, of course I want to get the man alone, but I swear, once you see his kid brother you'll understand. Plus, it wouldn’t hurt for you to flirt with him. Or anybody.”
"Well then why don’t you go after him? Kid brother? What is he, like twelve?" she said exasperatingly.
“Pleaseeee Julie.” Julie glanced up again and just stared at her friend with a scowl. “He’s like all into your book, too.”
Nik jumped slightly when Julie’s palms suddenly smacked against her desk that was littered with papers of all sizes and colors. Lists of every kind, ideas, notes, things to remember, things to do—you name it, it was somewhere on that desk. "You let him read my book?!?!"
“Whoops?” Nikki shrugged.
"I hate you some times. I’m not moving from my desk, I have to finish this today. Make him come here, if he’s so desperate!"
Nik beamed. She had won this round.
“And he better be older than twelve!” Julie called out at her.
She laughed and walked back through the curtain and held it open for the brother. “She’s in there….” She pointed to the door that she had left half open. The man quickly scooted over with a smile on his face and the book held tight against his chest. “Watch out, though. She’s rough sometimes.”
Nikki left him with a half shocked-half intrigued look on his face and sauntered back into the store front where his brother was smiling, still leaning against the counter top. At this point she didn’t care what Julie said or did. This guy, this John guy, was new in town—which was good, ‘cause she had run the gamut and had yet to find a guy worth dating in this stupid town. This one was sexy and flirty, and who cared what happened? She was going to plant a seed in his mind and see if it grew. Julie could put up with his brother for at least five minutes while she watered her potential hot-ass garden.
It was typical of Nikki to do this: to just force some guy, or girl, or dog (yeah, that happened once) on her to take care of while Nik explored her sexual options. Too bad Nikki’s brother was her lawyer, and too bad her lawyer was probably her closest friend, and too bad she kind of really liked this sister of his. There was something about her--something Julie couldn’t ever have for herself—a fearlessness, a boldness. If Nik saw something she wanted, she got it whether it was a Coach bag, or an Oreo Milkshake, or a man. And she never had one regret.
Last fall, Blake said to Julie, “Hey, my sister needs a job. You’re looking for someone to run the store, right?”
She should have said no. But she said yes, and here she was about to babysit a little brother of some sexy man. She prayed he really wasn’t 12 and prayed Nikki hadn’t really given him a copy of one of her books. Especially if he was 12.
The door shut and she knew the kid had entered. She didn’t look up. She couldn’t get this one thing to work. She hated Excel, math and anything called a formula. "I'll be with you in one moment..."
She knew she was being stared at, but she didn’t care. Nothing was worth this and Nik should have known better. She figured out the formula was pulling from the wrong column and said a silent, “ah ha!” before finally looking up and taking in the person staring back at her. He was leaning against the closed door, wearing a God-awful orange Tennessee t-shirt and relaxed jeans. He was attractive, with light brown hair that curled just a little and piercing blue eyes that didn’t move from her.
He wasn’t twelve.
He didn’t say anything, just stared at her. So she dipped her head down a bit and opened her mouth. Finally,
he said in a small, shy voice. “Hi."
She rolled her eyes and went back to typing. "Hi there."
"So....." She glanced up as he drawled out the word. A half grin came to his face and a deep breath was let out making his shirt tighten then loosen around his chest. He no longer looked shy, but confident and determined. "You write porn."
She didn’t look up, but pulled her cardigan around her. Despite being a million degrees outside, her office always seemed to be cold. This wasn’t the first time her employee had given her secret away and she was forced to deal with a guy who cared about nothing but the fact that her writing sometimes had sex scenes in them. It was tiring and annoying and pretty pathetic. She just hoped her friend was at least getting the number of whoever was outside. Someone ought to benefit from this encounter, since clearly she wasn’t.
"Nice to meet you, too. My name is Julie."
"It's hot."
She was unimpressed and kept typing away. "Why thanks. That copy in your hand is $19.95. I'll sign it for free if you want."
It was silent for a moment and Julie glanced up from her screen. He was pouting a little. He really was pathetic. Maybe she was wrong, maybe he was twelve. “You’re actually going to make me buy it?"
"Well, if you don’t want to purchase the book, you could just sit right here…” She pointed to the ratty old couch against the wall of her office. “...and read it until you get done, but I have a lot of other important things to do and would rather not babysit right now." She nodded to her computer monitor. That was a nice comeback. Maybe he’d take the hint that she didn’t really want to have a conversation. It was the end of the month, and these damn expense reports weren’t going to magically do themselves.
But he didn’t take a hint. She had only encouraged him. His eyes sparkled and he shuffled closer to her desk, around the side, still holding the book carefully in his hands. "Lemme see."
Julie rolled her chair back just slightly and turned her monitor away from him, holding her hands up over the screen, but not doing a very good job of blocking him from it. “Um, excuse me sir, I don’t know who you are. Don’t know your name or anything and you are coming over here invading my personal space and trying to view my private documents. Have some respect.”
He shook the book in his hand and shrugged, “You got it in book form, doesn’t seem that private to me. And I'm Justin. And I’m disappointed you’re working in Excel and not typing some hot sex scene right now."
She ignored his extended hand and tried to hold back her anger when he plopped on the edge of her desk, crumpling the papers that were on top of the surface. His one leg dangled off the desk. They were just notes, but still—no respect! “Well Justin…” She reached over and violently pulled the papers he was sitting on out from under him, tearing a few of them. He laughed at her and she grumbled. “I'm quite busy so unless you have anything else, I need to get back to my work.
"I have some questions." He was exhausting her, and she knew now she was going to have to go all out bitch on this guy or he wouldn’t leave her alone. Julie threw her glasses off, leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms over her chest, blinking at him slowly. He was cute and excited and comfortable. But he was a pathetic guy, only concerned about one thing. It was all a sham. And a shame.
She could feel a migraine coming on.
"Ok one...” He held up a finger. “Where do you come up with your ideas, like are they experiences you've had or just all fantasy?"
She narrowed her eyes just slightly. "None of your business."
He held up another finger. "Are you single?"
She tilted her head and could feel her hair falling out of its holder. "Does it matter?" She scoffed and pulled her hair down only to throw it back up in some sloppy fashion.
"Well yeah, I mean you write this hot kinky shit, and I only read three pages and well, I wanna read more." He bit his lip at her. Every other woman would have melted by now, she knew this. They would be making out with him furiously by now. He was attractive, sexy even. He knew what he was doing—he was working all his charms hard to get her to give him something back. But she wouldn’t give in. "I wanna know more."
"Yes. Single and lonely, got a drawer full of dildos right here." She pinched the bridge of her nose with one hand and tapped the drawer right below his knee with her other. He really was annoying her, just coming in and sitting on her desk like he was her boss or something. Who was this kid?
"Seriously?" His voice was now breathy and excited.
“Look for yourself!" she shrugged and moved her monitor back to normal so she could finish her report. Maybe if she ignored him he would leave. She couldn’t believe he was actually there, a foot from her, leaned down, opening the drawer. She laughed. How hopeless! He left the drawer wide open and she looked over at the drawer that had a box of blue pens, an empty hanging file folder and box of Cheez-its.
She looked up at him and his eyes narrowed at her. "You lied."
She just smirked and picked up her glasses, putting them back on so she could read a receipt, entering it into the spreadsheet. Lunch at Burrito Mama with Nik? Yeah, sure, that was a business lunch. She typed it into a column.
"So you wanna play this game?"
"No, no game." She shook her head ‘no’, still not looking at him.
She sucked in a harsh breath as he pulled back her chair from under her desk and pressed his hands into the arms of the chair, leaning over her. Most women would find this irresistible, and Julie made a mental note and filed this away as an idea. She needed to write it down in her idea book, but honestly couldn’t keep her gaze off his. Suddenly she could hear the blood pumping in her ears. He was leaning in. Was this guy really going to make a pass at her? He knew nothing about her!
She could smell him. Whatever his cologne was, it was nice. Not like the coffee breath professors she was used to in the store, or the bathed in Axe Body Spray 18 year old boys who’s scent would linger for hours and cause her and Nik a headache. This was barely there, but noticeable when you were close. Damn, he was close, inches from her face even, a smirk on his lips.
“You’re playing some game, I know you are. You gotta teach me the rules."
Julie gulped. This had gone too damn far. But normally her strong voice and bitchy attitude would show up. Instead she found herself looking closely at him, trying to figure him out. His eyes were a deep shade of blue, dark and navy, and his left eyebrow had a small quarter inch scar slicing the edge of it. A small freckle rested to the right of his nose. He was clean shaven, but a shadow was beginning to appear. She went back to his eyes, they were smiling but there was a worry in them. Intense worry. The wrinkle in his forehead confirmed this. He had more going on with him than what appeared to be a cocky, aroused man. But she didn’t care. She didn’t have time to care. All he saw in her was what she wrote—and not even the stuff she wrote that mattered the most. And that would get him nowhere.
So she had to stop this.
She uncrossed her legs and slid her bare feet back through her flip-flops and stood up, forcing him to step back from her, only inches away. He was taller than her by quite a bit. It wasn’t hard to be much taller than her. Julie was exactly 5 feet tall and she rarely wore heels. She glared up at him when she knew he was looking down at her cleavage. She pulled her cardigan tight over her front.
“That’s quite close enough, mister. I should get outside and help Nik and you should probably stop being so forceful and get out of my office.” Julie marched over to the door and opened it and pointed. “Out!” she commanded, as if he were a dog.
He sauntered over to her slowly. He looked deflated and a little mad, but there was still a curious glance in his eyes. He walked passed her and turned in the small hallway before the green curtain. Five feet separated them, but Julie could still smell his cologne. She was going to have to figure out what it was. It could be a present for Blake. “I’m going to figure out this game you’re playing. Have no doubt about that.”
He exited through the curtain and Julie immediately remembered the book, still clutched in his hand.
“Hey!” she hollered and slung back the curtain, busting back through the shop. “You gonna pay for that book or just steal it?
"You gonna sign it like you said?" he asked, mimicking her snarky tone.
She walked over, snatched the book from his fingers and put it on the counter. She plucked a red pen from the mug on top of the counter and pulled the cap off with her teeth. Nikki looked insanely amused and Julie said to her in a mumbled voice, “I hate you. Charge him for this and get him out of my store.”
After scribbling on the title page for less than two seconds, Julie threw the pen down and walked away from the entire scene, flustered with herself for being so stupid and for letting this dude get to her. He was pathetic. She knew that. But why was she the one feeling pathetic? She busied herself with looking at the poetry section of her store, thinking about what she may need to reorder for the summer. Maybe she would completely redo this section, move it over to the back corner—fill this slot with beach reads. She hadn’t even looked at the other one, the brother. It didn’t matter. None of this did. She could hear Nik ring the guy up, say something flirty to both of them, laugh. Ugh! Julie glanced over her shoulder when she heard her say, “Have a great day fellas, see you soon!” The sleigh bells rang out as the door opened and shut.
It didn’t take more than five seconds after the door shut before Nik sang out, “So Julieee….”
Julie didn’t stop from straightening the poetry books. “Don’t.”
“What did you write to him?”
Julie looked over and her friend was sitting on the counter, smiling devilishly at her. “My name.”
“You did more than sign your name, I saw you.”
Julie moved away from the bookshelf and went around the young adult rack and put her hands up. “You’re getting nothing from me, ‘cause I hate you with all my life right now.”
“Julie, come on.”
She stopped and sighed, her shoulders slumped. “Did you at least get the guy’s number?”
“No…” Nik stood up straight off the counter, making her long, lanky frame look thinner and taller than normal. She pouted a little, looking down at her nails. “I actually got a little intimidated by him ‘cause he was just so freakin’ awesome.” Her downturned eyes moved back up to Julie and she smiled. “…but he said he’d come back in soon.”
“You? Intimidated? Dang. Kind of wish I had actually looked at him then!” Julie smiled, happy for her friend. She then glared at nothing in particular, picking random books from shelves. “Hopefully he’ll leave his brother at home next time he visits.”
“He was cute!” Julie put the books she had picked on the counter. She didn’t acknowledge the “cute” comment, and reached over the counter, blindly feeling for the red 20% off roll of stickers on the shelf below the counter. “What happened back there?” Nik asked.
“What do you think happened?” Julie didn’t look at her and started placing a sticker by the barcode of each book.
“Julie. Come on…you know I’m just looking out for you.”
“And you know first impressions aren’t my forte. You finish this. I’ve gotta get back to it. Any of the books we carry for classes can be marked down.”
Nikki laughed as Julie walked back towards the stock room and her office. “Did he inspire you to write?”
“No, but to work on my April expenses?” Julie smiled over her shoulder as her friend rolled her eyes. “Yes, he did inspire me to do that.”
Back in her office, Julie let out a deep breath, pulled her glasses to the tip of her nose and pressed her thumbs in the corners of her eyes where pressure was building. She felt like a moron and crumbled into her office chair. She knew what was about to happen. She was going to be around this dude. Nik was going to get with the brother and situations would happen when she’d have to be around him.
He’d bother her about her writing, ask her personal questions, try to flirt and finally, she knew she would just have to give it to him straight—straighter than she did today. All out psycho-bitch straight. She wasn’t interested and never would be. Julie didn’t date. She wasn’t interested in a boyfriend or a husband, a fuck buddy, a one night stand, or even a pen pal. She was beyond that and had settled her fate a while ago. It wasn’t that she was so damaged she needed therapy, or that she was some raving lesbian feminist. No, she was just a writer—a lonely, closed-off writer. She wasn’t going to change that for anyone. Not for blue eyes, not for a smirk, not for an eyebrow scar. She was an observer, not an actor. It was safe that way, comfortable that way.
And despite the judgment that everyone else threw her way and the thoughts she knew raced through her family and friend’s minds about being 30 and alone and completely uninterested in dating, she didn’t care. She was happy and she was fine, completely and utterly fine with being alone.
Story Notes:
I hope you guys enjoy this and fall in love with Jules and Justin just as I have. It's been a long time since I've been on the writing scene, but it's good to be back in the saddle.
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