Leggere Books

Madalena was daydreaming when she felt the sunset come through the storefront windows, which told her it was almost time to close up for the day.

Her grandfather Bruno gifted her the small bookstore. She has so many childhood memories there, spending time with him on weekends, drinking orange soda and getting lost discovering new books to read in the stacks.

Leggere Books was the name he christened it. The store had been a local favorite for many decades and one of the few bookstores still standing. She felt obligated to make sure it survives for her grandfather and the neighborhood. She absolutely adores the store and was thrilled the day it officially became hers.

Her favorite part of the day, after a busy day, is when she can close, put on music and dance around while reorganizing the displaced books and clean out the back where the locals love to gather, read and gossip around the large communal reading table.

While straightening out on this particular day, see came across an old black notebook beneath the table, that clearly did not belong to the store. She noticed it was full of writings and sketches, but no identifiable name. She wondered if it belongs to one of the locals.

Just then the phone rang so she went up front to get it. It was her friend, Esther, they were meant to meet for dinner. Now late, she just crammed all her belongings it into her backpack along with the orphaned notebook.

In the café, Esther rushed in, so excited to tell me all that transpired since they last met. She had such a turn of luck and she attributes to her encounter with a sweet elderly woman in the consignment shop down the street from the bookstore.

She had gone into the shop after a stressful day and thought some shopping would do the trick. Her name was Iris and she noticed Esther was out of sorts the minute she walked in. She made small talk with her while rummaged through the racks of vintage dresses. She encouraged Esther to buy a purple dress, as it was a dress, she herself wore on a very special day.

Esther needed a special day herself, so after trying on the dress, which fit like a glove, she was up for the challenge.

Esther continued to say, while wearing the dress she was offered a job promotion and would be moving to Paris in a few weeks. She was over the moon and excited that she was starting to live a life she always dreamed. We planned a celebration for her last night before her bon vonage.

As Madalena walked to work the next day, she passed by the consignment shop and peered into the dark store window. After remembering Esther’s story, maybe she should stop in and buy herself a dress too, it was time that she had a turn of luck, she thought, as she walked to open the bookstore.

She turned on the lights and the smell of the books woke her up. She is still amazed how the smell of the books brighten her mood Instantly.

Unpacking her backpack, she spotted the notebook, stuck to one side of the bag. It seemed it have something sticky on one side, as if strips of tape were once there. Remembering she had found it under the table, maybe she could find other clues to its owner there. As she crawled under the table to investigate, she could see a small shelf where the book was place and then secured with tape underneath the tabletop. Something must have made the notebook fall from its hiding place.

She sat on the floor and began to read its contents. It started out explaining that the following poems and sketches were all for my one and only, who he met late in life. The first was a beautifully written poem and just as she started to get lost in it, she heard loud banging coming from the front of the store.

She jumped up and hit my head on the tabletop. As she regained my wits, she noticed it was Max at the front door. He was one of the locals who would stop by each day, after his coffee kicked in, to see who he could visit with.

Like clockwork, the other locals arrived as well, greeted her as they made their way to the back table.

Their voices and lively conversations filled the bookstore with life and was such a comfort to her. There was Max, Bernard, Louis and sometimes Scotty. All retired they had ample free time and the bookstore was their favorite refuge.

Listening to their stories all day was a treat. She could just make out what they were talking about from the front counter and each day was different, you never knew what topics would surface.

She found herself opening the notebook again. The next poem was about when he first met his love, she was wearing one of the most beautiful dresses he had seen, and right then she asked if the guys could watch the front counter so she could run an errand.

Minutes later she found herself in the consignment shop. As she entered, there was Iris, greeting me with a smile and offering a cup of orange tea. The items in the store were all just so lovely. She spotted a yellow dress and was so taken with it, she just had to try it on. Iris brought over some sandals that would pair well and said she would include the sandals for free, as Iris had a hard time selling that particular dress.

Madalena did not want to take the dress off. She was so excited that she decided to wear it, along with the sandals, for the rest of the day as she stuffed her clothes in her backpack.

Back at the Bookstore, Louis was keeping watch at the front counter and was shocked to see her looking so lovely in her new dress. He said, “you look like an old movie star. You should wear dresses more often”, as he walked back to join the others. She smiled as she stepped behind the counter.

It was the end of another day, but she couldn’t help with but continue reading the notebook. As she read, she noticed the author started calling his love, “my flower”. The endearing sound of that, made her tear up. It now explains the pretty sketches of flowers throughout the notebook.

As she was reading, she felt something scratching her leg, and discovered a tag inside the hem of the dress.

With a closer look the tag said, 20th Century Fox. Huh, that’s strange, did it belong to the movie studio? Was the dress an old Hollywood movie costume?

Just then, out of the corner of her eye she saw Iris walking by the bookstore and stop and stare into the windows, then continued on her way. She looked more fragile outside of her shop.

She packed up her belonging trying to catch up to Iris before she lost sight of her. As she caught up to her, she asked, “Hey Iris, is it possible this dress was an old costume from a Hollywood movie?

“Hello Madalena. It could be”, Iris mentioned. “I take in so many different items from so many different people. Ask Louis from the neighborhood, he used it work in Hollywood many moons ago.”

Madalena thanked her for everything and helped her onto her bus.

At home, she could not get the notebook out of her mind, she wanted more. She stayed up all night reading the entire notebook. It was not until the end she realized this might have been written by her grandfather and his mysterious unrequited love. The language in the poems were words he used and were so familiar to her.

The following day, with the dress and notebook in toe, she could not wait to ask Louis about the dress and the other guys if they knew anything about the notebook.

“Oh, you found it”, Max shouted. “That was Bruno’s notebook that he always kept with him. He wouldn’t show it to anyone.”

She told them it was filled with love poems for a woman he called, my flower. “Does that ring any bells for you guys?” They all shook their heads, no. but Bernard added, “he was a very private guy, a gentleman.”

As Louis walked in, he asked “why aren’t you wearing a dress?”

She laughed and asked him if he could help identify the dress to a specific movie. As he looked at the label, he said, “oh, yes this is an old Hollywood movie costume and could be worth a pretty penny. I know someone who could help you.” She hugged him.

On Monday, with the bookstore closed, Madalena made a point to go see Iris at her shop to tell her the news of the dress. Iris was making tea when she walked in and offered her a cup. They sat together drinking their tea and talked about the neighborhood and locals.

Madalena brought up the fact that the dress she bought might be worth some money, just waiting on Louis. “Wow”, Iris said, eyes wide.

Then she pulled out the notebook to get Iris’ take. She mentioned that her grandfather owned this notebook and wrote of someone, which he called “my flower”, who he met one sunny day while she was wearing a bright beautiful dress. They are lovely poems about an unrequited love, and they had shared wonderful conversations that would last hours, but it felt like minutes.

And just like that, Iris wept. It was her. She was, “my flower”.

She went on to say, she had the most beautiful friendship with my grandfather, and she has kept him in her heart until this day.

Both were married to others, but their friendship with magical to her and the unrequited love of her life.

She reached for the notebook and couldn’t take her eyes off it and touched each page. I was just speechless. I was in shock, trying to put the pieces together in my mind. Wow. It was her.

Iris gave me a huge hug and thanked me, as these are the words, she has been waiting for her whole life to hear. It was true. She had his words in her hands that she had wished were from his lips.

The next day, as she started her day at the bookstore. How do you have a normal day after yesterday’s events. How to process the pass twenty-four hours. She kept herself busy on the new shipment of books and wondered what life was like for my grandfather. She saw him in a whole new light now.

As the locals filed into the store, Louis was the last to arrive. He came straight to her and handed her a piece of paper. It contained the description and appraisal for the dress. It was estimated at $20K, but could go up in value, at an auction. I was floored. I bought the dress for forty-five dollars.

I had to tell Iris. She ran over to her shop to share the news and all she said was “it’s yours, keep it, what you gave me was so much more valuable than any dress could ever be. The notebook is all I need it is priceless to me.” they hugged for a long time. What a day, she thought.

And there she was at the end of another day. Music on, dancing around my beloved bookstore, with more bounce in her step than ever before. The phone rang, it was Esther.

She said, “Esther, are you ready to celebrate your new beginning in Paris? Just have to tell you, we’ll have more reasons to celebrate, as it seems both of our lucks have taken a turn.”

I’m ready, Esther replied.