Ren & Wade

 

"Why do we have to call her Miss Lily?" Wade winces over to Ren. He towers over her and he's empty-handed. A shock of his blonde hair falls over his left eye as he leans in toward Ren. He's waiting to work, but the woman who runs the bookstore always comes back with one more thing to add to the lists of their job description. There will be book dusting, and learning everything at the coffee bar. They might need to alphabetize books too. Oh, and packing boxes of books to send to BETTER WORLD BOOKS on Mondays when the place is closed to customers. "It's a southern thing," Ren shrugs after Miss Lily's last drill, as if it's no big deal, "But then again, I never called anyone Miss Anything when I lived in Texas. Just go with it, OK?" She looks at him with a quick smile, she knows it might be intense, but ever since she got here, she's been woozy. She knows it has to be his fault. After all, Wade smells...she takes a deep breath, hoping she's not allergic to him. No, it's not that—pheromones from the woods. Ren tries her best not to stare at parts of him. But his feet are big. And so is his nose. She instantly feels a zing resting in her throat. Yes, it's attraction and she has to fight it. She hugs herself and presses her dry lips tight as if she's already told him too much while he looks around the cluttered surroundings, hugging himself as if he doesn't like any of this. Wade nods as if he'll be on his best behavior, but she'd smelled the nicotine earlier too. Maybe all he needed was a cigarette, Ren thought. "Does this mean I have to call you Miss Ren?" Wade practically winks at Ren and a giggle bubbles. She does her best to put her fingers over her mouth. Then Miss Lily shows up. "You two are dating aren't you?" She lets a smile slip as if she has a thing for romance, especially romance at the bookstore. Her voice is full of laughter and Ren finds they (she and Wade) sigh in unison. "You guys, have just got to know each other," She presses with her hand as if she's got the magic touch. Of course, Wade slightly jumps as if he might be untamed, after all. He clears his throat. "I don't think so," he shrugs and remains even-lipped. Ren can see the condensation on his forehead rising. The place is thick with humidity. Maybe they are done, but she checks the clock on the wall. Damn, three more hours. How will I ever get through, Ren thinks. Naturally, Miss Lily has other ideas, she waves them to come to the basement. She says something about having laptops, but all they see are more books. Piles of books. Old books. "I need help from you two," she smirks. "Can't get that fool at the register to do a damn thing," She looks to the ceiling as if that old fart up there might be the pain in her side. "You youngsters know the web better than I ever would." Wade nods. Ren watches him, hoping he knows what the boss lady wants. It leaves Ren elated to be here, yet not. She didn't sleep a wink last night. Auntie M kept waking her up. It felt as if she needed her very own Toto to alarm her. Miss Lily mentioned she was in dire need to get rid of these. "That's where you come in." She thinks Ebay is the key. She leaves. Wade shakes his head, no.

"I don't know what she's thinking, but this isn't a gold mine." He boots up the two laptops while Ren looks around the room. She doubts there is even a window. There is so much dust caked on these old things.

"What if there's a bookslide," she finds herself in a panic attack. She runs to the door, but it's locked.