Saturday morning 8:30 am, in the shower and getting ready to leave for The Book Store. If I wasn't so focused on a resolution to my feelings about Reg I would probably have stayed in bed and slept off this vicious hang over.
That's what I get, I muttered to myself. It's punishment for being bad. Thank God Neil was a nice guy, it could have gone a lot worse! Maybe Nessa was right, these one-nighters are going to get me in trouble one day.
Freshly showered, moisturized and no make-up. I usually didn't wear any makeup on the weekends unless I'm going clubbing. I put on a nice pink tight t, seemless sports bra, then a pair of loose white shorts that came to my mid-thigh. Still a respectable enough length. I didn't look like I was shopping for more than books, but my seemless bra showed I was still a sexy girl. Didn't want to give anyone the wrong idea, even though I could smile in a man's direction and he got the wrong idea. The story of my life, I chuckled to myself.
I slipped on my tiny flat sandals, no heels for me today after last night, and I was ready to roll.
I had the cab driver, who kept ogling me in this rear view mirror, drop me off in front of the Starbucks I needed something strong this morning to wake me up. I popped an aspirin from my small messenger bag, and was ready to go to "Thee" Book Store. I crossed the street and stood in front and looked up at that black and white old fashioned façade. Then my eyes went up to the other two stories above where it was obviously apartments, with black-out blinds on all the windows. I bet everyone was still sleeping, like I should be, I rubbed my forehead
It was a beautiful early summer morning. The sky was blue with a few scattered unintimidating clouds and there was a gentle breeze flowing down the narrow street. There were few people on the street this early on a Saturday morning as most of the shops didn't open till 10:00 am. It was 10:01 am, I was waiting for someone to unlock the door and let me in.
I waited patiently or pretended to be patient when I was actually screaming inside my head for someone to open the fucking door. I sipped on my extra sweet strong coffee and thanked God for it, as I really needed it this morning.
At 10:05 am, a rotund 20 something guy, wearing a Pokemon t-shirt, plaid extra long shorts and sporting a spiky hair do with a very long goatee came and unlocked the door. He smiled as he opened the door and waved me in from the sunlight.
As I stepped over the threshold the shop seemed dark in contrast from being outside and it took my eyes a few seconds to adjust. It had the smell of an old library and wood polish, I could smell the words, sort of made me chuckle to myself.
When I was able to look around I saw it was bigger than I thought it would be from the outside. It was chilled inside and my nipples instantly hardened. That was always my trouble, my nipples were always sticking out of everything I wore. It's got to the point that now I just embrace it and consider it an asset or a feature I was simply born with. So I stood up as straight as I could... in my sandals and walked further in. Goat-man smiled or was he laughing, and nodded. I just continued my look around he seemed a bit creepy for me.
All around the edge of the store were wooden tables and chairs which I suppose were used for reading and studying. There were rows and rows of books running from left to right all the way to the end of the wall. And then I saw it, just past the cash register counter on the right hand side, past Mr. Goatee, was another archway that led to another section, behind a long thick black curtain. Above the archway a very large sign said in bold red letters. ADULTS ONLY BEYOND THIS POINT. Then underneath in smaller letters. Must be 21 or older, picture ID required.
Since goat-man was looking at me and I wasn't sure if it was my nipples or me standing there gaping at the ADULTS ONLY I decided to just casually walk down the non-adult isles first, then I would mosey through that archway when he wasn't looking.
I found myself in the used book section looking at history and geography. I sighed rather loudly and walked around the corner and looked up at the signs for something more interesting. Ah ha! Mystery! I loved a good mystery to curl up with at night. I rounded the corner and I could not believe my eyes. Standing in front of me with an arm load of books was Reg! I blinked as I thought after everything I'd been through this past week to find him standing in front of me was shocking...exciting and my heart started to beat a little faster.
He was looking at some mystery books and turned to me when he saw me.
"Ah, Mel!" he smiled.
"What took you so long?" He asked gently.
I was frozen and probably smiling like a fool, finally here he was and he was magnificent! His dishevelled blonde hair, his grey-blonde manicured barely-there-beard, his lips, and his eyes...sigh...his eyes. He was wearing loose navy slacks that didn't hide his assets very well and a light blue golf shirt, that stretched over his muscular upper body. It had a little logo of something on it I couldn't quite make out at this distance.
"Mel?...are you well?" He asked concerned, walking towards me.
"You look pale and ill, would you like to sit down?"
He took my arm and led me to a table against the wall. Electric shocks ran through me when his bare hand touched my arm and I jumped slightly. He half smiled and pulled out a chair and guided me to sit.
"Yeah, errr...yeah, hi Reg!" I managed to stutter out. I was feeling a bit ill actually still hung over and overwhelmed that he was here in front of me.
"I was...I was just passing by and remembered you telling me about this place..." I lied.
He suddenly looked very stern and put his books carefully on the table.
"I see." He said without emotion.
"Yeah, and I thought I would get some books, you know, more suited for me." I said nervously.
"Hmmm, ......in the mystery section?" he waved an arm behind him pointing to the isle we were just in.
"Yeah, well to be honest I was a bit worried about going past goat-man...I mean the guy at the counter." I said trying to pull myself together but this man had me flustered and always had the upper hand.
"Goat-man, huh?" He said laughing.
"You know, the guy at the counter, he kinda creeped me out or something, I dunno..." I said fidgeting with my finger nails and tapping them on the table.
"Well, I'm sure goat-man doesn't bite, you are perfectly safe here with me." He said frowning at me.
