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It is on slow days like these that Alex wonders who, in their right mind, deemed her patient enough to have her own bookstore.
And by ‘slow’, she doesn’t mean ‘shoot-there’s-barely-any-customers’ slow, but rather ‘it’s-so-fucking-hot-and-the-darned-air-conditioning-isn’t-working-and-how-is-a-second-melting-into-an-hour’ slow.
She’s really the only one working right now since Callie, Rajiv and Martha have already made their excuses and left. The fact that she, being their employer, could see through their excuses, and duly informed them so, didn’t really deter them from leaving either. It only served to provoke knowing smirks (Martha, who else?); guilty smiles (Callie and Rajiv, those adorable little fuckers) and unsolicited advice (“Al, baby, you’ve been working your ass off. Go out and put that sexy behind of yours to good use.” Martha had said, with a wink. Who else, really?)
Of course, she can always shut shop early and get the fuck out of here, and into the well air-conditioned comforts of her own home. But there’s a catch in that plan too (there’s always one in these stories, isn’t there?).
The catch is present in the form of one blonde chick who has been standing in front of the ‘Staff Recommendations’ shelf since she walked in fifteen minutes ago. And she hasn’t touched a book in that duration. Not. A. Single. Book.
Right now, she’s literally just standing there with her back to Alex - legs wide, arms folded, eyes trained on the books (at least Alex hopes her eyes are trained on the books – otherwise it’s even worse). And damn it if it isn’t already driving Alex crazy.
See, Alex understands perusal when it comes to things of taste, since she herself worships and devours books with a fervent passion. But ‘understanding’ doesn’t really equate to ‘allowing this woman to let her burn in this oven’. Not when all she really wants is to go back home and binge-watch Community. Besides, what this woman is doing barely counts as perusal since she hasn’t. Picked. Up. A. Single. Book.
Let’s get this over with. A nice ass is NOT an excuse for testing my patience.
And with that, she pushes to her feet and approaches the woman.
“Excuse me, can I help – “
Midway through Alex’s sentence the woman turns towards her and Alex can see that she’s been taken by surprise. Of course, Alex’s next (and probably only) thought in that moment is that this woman is beautiful. Her mind processes no embellishments to the description, no poetic verses. Just that this woman is breathtakingly beautiful (okay, so maybe a little embellishment there).
So then obviously, Alex tapers off and stares, only to receive an inquiring (and sexy – especially sexy) rise of an eyebrow and a smirk.
And you call yourself smooth. Damn Vause, you are definitely out of practice.
She pushes the self-deprecation out of her head takes a breath, attempting to put herself into a more eloquent frame of mind.
“Is there something I can help you with?”
Okay. That sounded okay. Definitely not like “I’m kinda-maybe thinking of pushing you up against a wall and taking you right there”
Nope. Definitely not like that.
The woman’s smirk gives way to a genuine smile and Alex can now physically feel the pheromones surging through her body.
“Well, yes, actually. There are really a lot of books on your recommendations section here and I was wondering if you could help me shortlist the better ones out of all these.”
“Oh… well, I could probably help you better if you tell me whether you prefer fiction or non-fiction.”
“Fiction, please.”
“Well then, there’s absolutely no debate. You can blindly pick ‘Solace in The Winds’ by Piper Chapman. Of course, Emile Hurst’s ‘Bleed Blue’ is also really close but….”
As Alex turns to the woman to hand her the former book, she’s once again rendered silent because the woman is smiling so hard that her face is probably going to break.
She’s still smiling like crazy when she reads the blurb and then her eyes dart back to Alex.
On seeing Alex looking at her, her expression immediately morphs into a questioning one.
“Ahem…..are you sure about this? I mean, I haven’t really heard of her before.”
“Of course you haven’t. But that’s because she’s ghost-written both her books so far, as Adeline Morgan. Her first book was actually kind of meh, though – “
“Kind of meh?” the woman exclaims loudly, eyes widening suddenly.
Geez, she looks like I called HER ‘kind of meh’.
“I’ve actually read Morgan’s books. I don’t think they’re ‘kind of meh’!” The woman is scowling pretty hard now.
Okay, she’s kinda intense… That might be good during the sex...
“Please, let me explain.”
“Oh, my pleasure.” she snaps.
THAT look doesn’t indicate any pleasure really though, does it now?
Alex tries to push that out of her head so she can switch into complete book-critic mode as she proceeds to justify her opinion.
“Okay, so her first book, ‘Days’ End’ - she really put in a lot of effort in trying to find her voice and settling into a specific perspective. And you can actually see that, and I appreciate it too. But the thing was, she seemed like she was trying too hard to be something she wasn’t. She seemed to be putting on a voice. And she really really made things just black and white. You see that when Aliya, the main chick, gives her monologue near the end. That was really pretty bland and preachy – and real life doesn’t have that lack of ambiguity either. Besides, a lot of the situations in the book did warrant for ambiguity and debate. But those arguments never really came.”
The woman’s scowl deepens and she looks like she’s about to interrupt.
“No, wait, let me finish. See, the plot, the characters – they were all really well thought out. But a lot of the characters’ choices – specifically Aliya’s – were really just about conformation or political correctness. And the voice – the voice just didn’t have the privilege of being her own.”
At this, the woman seems to calm down slightly, her eyes now downcast sheepishly. Also, her neck is kinda turning red.
At least she’s open to listening to reason.
There’s a pause and Alex can see that her customer is thinking.
“So is that how you perceive the second book as well?” she sounds genuinely curious now.
“Nope. See, with ‘Blue Hues’, the book lacked in story and intrigue what the first book had achieved. But honestly, I really liked it. And that’s because in a lot of places, you can see Chapman’s own voice starting to rear its head.
In fact, her voice isn’t really the poetic and prim and proper one she tried out in ‘Days’ End’. It’s more sardonic and gives in to dark humour a lot of times.
And that’s really where you see her evolving as a narrator – because she’s already a good creator. She’s taking herself a little less seriously. She’s also growing confident.
I mean, she kills off that Larry dude! She wouldn’t have killed off that kind of character in the first book, for fear of going against expectations or something, I guess. Like, honestly, I never would’ve believed she’d do it – despite the asshole he was.”
The woman is smiling pretty wide now and her ears are definitely turning red and she’s really looking at Alex like she wants to hear her talk further.
“So yeah, the second book was good. I liked it.”
And there’s a silence between them now.
Until.
“So pretty AND brainy.” the woman says to herself, in what can only be assumed to be her own version of muttering under her breath.
And by the immediate look of horror on her face and its subsequent scrunching up, the woman probably realizes she’s been heard.
“Why? Thank you so much!” Alex says with a cheeky grin because this, flustering people, this is her ball game.
The woman squeaks something inaudible which Alex can only guess is “You’re welcome. ”
She’s also pretty sure the woman is wondering where this level of volume was when she was trying to be covert in her (very accurate, by Alex’s opinion) assertions.
“So would you like to hear my opinion about the third one, since that’s the one you’re interested in?” Alex asks with her trademark smirk, because damn her if she’s going to miss an opportunity to make a beautiful woman blush.
“Yes please…if uh…. If it isn’t keeping you from…. Doing your book stuff ...”
“Honestly, doing my book stuff right now doesn’t seem half as attractive an option as doing you - well, I mean, helping you. So please, don’t worry.”
And Alex can swear the woman’s entire face turns red at that.
“Uh...okay.”
“So the third book, yes? Well, ‘Solace in The Winds’ is actually just pretty fucking brilliant. And not just in comparison with the other two but on its own, and against other authors as well.
It has Chapman’s voice, not Morgan’s. The story spinning skills are all there too.
It’s much more gruesome though, I’ll give you that. But I really love the fact that Chapman makes the effort to play well with the gray areas. She isn’t judging or classifying or sorting things – she’s allowing for moral conflict and tough choices. She isn’t just focused on the protagonist’s character development. She isn’t siding with any characters and she is definitely letting the conflict play itself out.
With that, keep in mind that I’m not saying I believe her stuff is going to be all perfect after this, but I do believe this is the beginning of something really brilliant for her. She’s more confident in her choices. She’s recognized her style and she’s comfortable with it, too. And that’s what really matters for an author, I guess – learning who you are and being happy with it.”
And damn! Blondie is pretty much fucking glowing and she has smile she’s radiating in megawatts.
Some fan….
Alex feels herself starting to fluster at the woman’s expression when she looks down at the book and then back at her, face-breaking smile still in place.
See, Alex has elicited lust and she has elicited fawning and she has elicited distaste.
This is none of that.
This is just pure happiness radiating all around this girl.
And there’s a silence lurking between them both as the woman is staring at the book in her hands and Alex is mentally counting how many times they’ve both made each other blush now.
She’s reached ‘three’ on her count when the woman lets out a breath and then turns to the shelf to pick out a copy of Hurst’s ‘Bleed Blue’ and hands it to Alex.
“Thank you so much! That was pretty helpful. Can you bill this for me please ... uh …”
“Alex.”
She’s officially speechless now.
Dude, weren’t you just going all fangirl-mode over a completely different author?
So let’s add ‘crazy’ to the list too.
And then,
Well, the crazy ones are supposed to be good in bed too….
“Alex. Yep, nice name.”
“Thank you. I was born with it.” Alex replies, the blonde’s cheery demeanour still shocking her.
A light laugh rings out and Alex catches herself wondering how a simple laugh can sound so sexy.
Definitely crazy, but also definitely hot.
“Ah well, you’re lucky you liked it. I never really liked mine because I found it a bit …… bland, I guess. I really wanted to change it to another one legally for a while there.”
“Oh.”
“Yeah. But I think I’m more comfortable with stuff now. And now I find the entire charade so cringe-worthy when I think of it. And to think I was an adult for such a long part of it as well. God, I was stupid!”
“Nah, I mean, we all have our own history, right? Yours is befitting for the person you are today.”
“I guess…. Fuck, I don’t even know why I’m telling you this. I’m sorry, I don’t usually ramble this way…. Well, only a teensy bit actually…. Just please bill this for me and I’ll get out of your hair.”
“Okay.”
“Okay”
Who in the hell listens to long-ass monologues, about three different books, only to buy an entirely other one, by a completely different author, without even reading the blurb, or asking what it’s about?”
“Cash or credit?”
“Credit. Just hold on a sec.”
The woman fumbles around her purse for a bit before triumphantly fishing out her card.
“Here you go.”
As Alex turns it to swipe it over, she gets a glance at the name. And there it is, in sliver bold letters at the bottom – Piper Chapman.
Her eyes go wide and her jaw hangs open.
Piper Chapman.
I’ve been gushing to Piper Fucking Chapman about her own book.
I told her that her first book was ‘kinda meh’.
I’ve been checking out Piper Chapman.
Somewhere in there, Alex starts losing count of the mental face-palms she‘s done in the last two seconds.
“Is there a problem?”
She sounds so fucking proud of herself. And Alex looks up to that now-familiar upturn of the lips.
Of course, she’s smirking. Why wouldn’t she be?
“You’re Piper Chapman.”
“And that’s a problem?”
“Not so much a problem, as much as a shock.”
“Hah, it’s fun shocking the ones like you.”
“Now what does that mean?”
“You know, the self-assured, flirty, hot types.”
And then she clamps her hand over her mouth again over the last part of her sentence.
And who can blame Alex if she finds this weirdly-awkward-but-also-kinda-hot woman slightly endearing in all her verbally klutzy glory?
“You seem to do that a lot, don’t you?”
It’s Alex’s turn to smirk now.
“What do I seem to do a lot?”
The woman - no, Piper - smiling sheepishly now.
“Try to be a smart-ass and then end up saying stuff which gives it all away.”
“Hey, that’s rude! You shouldn’t call strangers out on their supposed-to-be-perceived-as-adorable flaws!”
“Oh it’s adorable, all right.”
“Oh.”
“Yeah.”
Alex then proceeds to swipe the card, which has been neglected for far too long now.
“Well, MIss Chapman. That’s that. Thank you for choosing us for your patronage and vanity boost!” Alex says, as she returns the card to the blonde.
“Excuse me?” Piper’s fingers are clenching around the card now.
And Alex thinks that maybe that didn’t come out as funny as it sounded in her head but then she sees that there’s no anger in Piper’s eyes, only shock.
“Hey, joking! Though you are kinda vain…”
“I have never been called that in my life!” and she looks genuinely appalled now, as if that possibility has never really struck her before.
“That might be true, princess. But that doesn’t make my words invalid. I mean, you did come in here and then quiz me on how I found your books, while nicely standing there - turning red while I blathered on about them and you..”
“Rude.”
“Also the truth.”
“But mostly rude.”
“Sorry, I’m just not a take-comfort-in-delusion type of person.”
“Ignorance can be bliss though. At times, yes?”
“Do you want to sit somewhere nicely and discuss that?”
And then Piper is doing that blazing-smile thing again.
“Did you just ask me out?”
“Well, I did have to make up for my earlier rudeness...” and Alex has lowered her timbre again as she tapers off, the gleam back in her eyes.
Piper seems to have taken in the sudden shift in the tone of their conversation, because she’s stuffing her credit card back into her wallet before turning back to Alex with a reciprocating smile.
“Why, that does indeed sound good.”
“What do you suggest?”
“Coffee, maybe?”
“Hmm… okay.”
And they’re both grinning at each other like idiots now, smirks and blushes forgotten.
“Wait for me while I shut shop?”
“Got nowhere else I’d rather be.”