Aerin set her pastry on the table, picked up a cleaning cloth, and walked over to the floor where the red stain was. She crouched down and reached out. With the cloth in hand, she began slowly wiping at the red stain.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
The red mark did fade, but it didn’t disappear completely. Aerin fell silent for a moment as she continued staring at it, puzzled. Eventually, she gave up, stood, and put the cloth back. She left the faded mark as it was.
The sound of the small bell above the door broke the silence. A boy around nine years old entered, carrying a backpack almost as large as he was. Aerin greeted him with a warm smile.
“Good morning.”
“Morning! I’m just going to look around first.” The boy walked along the bookshelves.
Aerin merely gave him a small nod. A few minutes later, the boy approached her with a book in his hands.
“Is this white bird really real?”
Aerin looked confused. The boy pointed at the picture of the white bird on the book’s cover, his eyes shining.
“This one.”
Aerin fell silent, staring at the picture for a few moments. For some reason, the bird looked familiar to her.
“I don’t know... Maybe it really does exist,” she murmured.
“I’ll buy this book, then. Thanks!” The boy pulled money from his pocket and handed it to Aerin.
After the boy left, the bookstore grew quiet again. Aerin sat behind the checkout counter, propping her chin up with one hand. Her gaze followed the cobblestone street beyond the window, which was beginning to fill with pedestrians. Some people hurried along, while others opened their umbrellas just before the drizzle began to fall and soak the city.
Before long, the sky, which had been covered in fog since morning, grew even darker. The drizzle slowly turned into a light rain that wrapped the entire city in gray. The streets emptied again. Even the sound of vehicles grew increasingly scarce.
Aerin glanced at the wall clock.
Almost noon.
She let out a quiet sigh. The day felt slower than usual, even though the wall clock continued ticking as it always did. Not long afterward, the small bell rang again. The shop door opened once more, and Aerin reflexively turned toward it, ready to greet a customer.
Instead of a customer, Elliot appeared from behind the door with a slightly sour expression. The man let out a long breath as soon as the door closed.
“I give up,” he grumbled, staring at the rain outside the shop window. “Rain again. I’m starting to suspect the sky in this city is being paid to drive my business into bankruptcy.”
Aerin chuckled softly in response to Elliot.
“What can you do? This city is always like this. Instead of grumbling nonstop, why don’t you help me straighten up the books on that second shelf?”
Elliot quickly nodded, as if he hadn’t needed to think twice about helping Aerin. “That one?” He pointed at the second shelf.
“Okay, it does look like it’s asking to be cleaned up.” He studied the shelf.
Aerin nodded and walked toward the shelf in question.
“Yeah. The books on this shelf sell pretty well. Once enough of them have been borrowed, the arrangement gets messy again.” She chuckled softly as she began returning several books to their places.
Elliot moved closer. Without saying much, he took the stack of books from Aerin’s hands and began arranging them on the upper part of the shelf, where Aerin couldn’t reach.
“Being tall must be nice,” Aerin murmured, looking up.
Elliot chuckled. “In that case, I’ll charge you a fee for renting my height next time.”
“Why would you do that?”
“Fine, fifty percent off for a neighbor.”
Aerin merely shook her head, holding back a smile. A little while later, the two of them were busy straightening the shelves again. Every now and then, Elliot read a book title aloud just to comment on it, making Aerin stifle her laughter several times.
“How to Get Rich in Three Days,” he said, holding one of the books. “If it were that easy, my coffee shop would already have three locations.”
“Maybe the person who wrote the book hasn’t succeeded either,” Aerin quickly replied.
“Now that makes more sense,” Elliot said, making them both laugh.
Before they realized it, the shelf that had been a mess was beginning to look neat again. Elliot told her about a customer who had accidentally walked into his shop that morning because he thought the place sold flowers. Aerin nodded and responded now and then, though her hands remained busy arranging the books.
Without thinking, she glanced at the wall clock.
2:53 p.m.
She refocused on the shelf in front of her.
“...And then he ordered coffee without realizing he’d actually meant to go to the flower shop,” Elliot continued with a small laugh.
“That’s pretty funny.”
Several minutes passed. Elliot pulled a thick book from the highest shelf. “Hey, is this your book, or is it just decoration? It’s covered in dust.”
“That’s a history book. Hardly anyone borrows it,” Aerin replied.
“No wonder.” Elliot blew gently on the dust, sending it everywhere and making Aerin instinctively cover her nose as she laughed.
“Elliot! You’re getting dust everywhere.” Elliot merely laughed in satisfaction.
Aerin’s gaze lifted again. The hands of the clock moved slowly.
2:58 p.m.
For some reason, her chest began to feel tighter too. The fingers arranging the books paused. She turned toward the door.
Silence.
“But luckily, the customer still bought the coffee. So it worked out. Maybe he was too embarrassed after walking into the wrong store.” Elliot continued talking about his customer from earlier, chuckling.
“Hmm...” Aerin murmured softly, her attention fixed instead on the still-closed door.
Elliot stopped and turned toward Aerin, realizing that the woman didn’t seem focused on their conversation.
“Aerin? Are you listening to me?”
Aerin didn’t answer. Several seconds passed.
“Aerin?” Elliot called a second time. His voice startled her slightly.
“Sorry... What did you say?”
Elliot fell silent. He followed Aerin’s gaze to the door, then glanced at the clock.
3:00 p.m.
“Are you... waiting for someone?”
“No,” Aerin answered too quickly. Her hands immediately returned to the books on the shelf, which was already neat enough. But a few seconds later, without realizing it, her eyes flicked toward the door again.