ELYSIAN

Sunday, November 10

12:45pm

Noëlle swayed lightly to the smooth, soothing sound of jazz music, starting a new chapter of the book she'd been reading for the last couple days.

"Noey," her older sister, Jorja called for her. "Noey...?"

Finally entering the room where her sister sat at the cash register, in her own little world, Jorja tapped Noëlle, gently.

"Noëlle," she placed her hands on her hips, waiting for Noëlle to remove one of her earbuds. "How you expect to hear customers coming in and out with those things in your ears?"

"Sorry," Noëlle mumbled before pausing her music and putting her earbuds away.

"What were you busy listening to, anyway?" Jorja nodded towards the phone as it sat beside the book Noëlle had been reading.

"The 'crap you don't listen to,'" Noëlle air quoted, before flipping over to the next page. Her eyes never left the book.

Rolling her eyes dramatically, Jorja sighed, "I didn't say that."

Raising her eyes to meet her sister's gaze, Noëlle closed the book quietly, careful to mark the page she left off on.

"Whatever," she shrugged.

Feeling a little guilty about the exchange, Jorja sighed softly to herself before restocking shelves with a collection of new, best-selling books. Only a few brief moments flew by before the chimes on the door rang, signaling a customer. Craning her neck to see who entered the store, Noëlle noticed a tall, well-built figure. His back was turned, but she could tell by his stature exactly who he was—the same man had become a regular at their father's bookstore, and just about every other week or so, he'd come to purchase a new book.

She wouldn't admit it out loud, but Noëlle would get excited whenever he came by. They never said more than a casual, "hi," or "have a nice day," but the little exchange of words they did share, were pleasant. Jorja noticed it, too, and knowing that her sister hadn't been with a man in over a year, she felt it was her job to try and pair Noëlle with someone.

Finally catching her sister's eye, Jorja pointed in the handsome young man's direction, causing Noëlle's cheeks to turn pink upon seeing him. Finally, he turned in the opposite direction, browsing a different collection of books—one singular strand of brown, curly hair fell perfectly on his forehead. Eventually, his hooded, stone cold, ocean eyes met her slanted, chocolate, almond brown ones, and her heartbeat accelerated immensely. Looking away quickly, Noëlle steadied her breath once again, before reverting her eyes back to the sexy stranger, as he watched her keenly, with a small smile. Finally returning the favor and smiling back, Noëlle looked away, not as panicked this time, and busied herself at the desk, impatiently waiting for him to walk over and buy the books he held in his hands.

Grabbing her book and opening it up to where she left off, Noëlle hummed softly, not completely aware of her actions as she swayed to the music in her head. It wasn't long before she felt a presence standing over her. Assuming it was her sister, she sighed and rolled her eyes, mumbling something under her breath, before looking up and seeing the blue-eyed, brown-haired stud standing before her.

"Sorry," she mumbled awkwardly before quickly snatching her earbuds out of her ear. "Did you find everything alright?"

"I did," he nodded, looking down at the book in front of her. "New read," he said more so as a statement rather than a question, like he intended.

Ringing his books up, Noëlle nodded. "Yeah, I've been waiting to get it back. A friend borrowed it and kept it forever, it seems like. I had to-"

Noticing that she was rambling, she stopped, earning a chuckle from the young man before her.

"Sorry," she tucked her hair behind her ears and scanned his last book. "Your total's $10.50."

"There's no need to apologize," he handed her a $20 bill. "What's the name of it?"

"She Just Wants to Forget," Noëlle smiled down at the book. "It's volume two of r.h. Sin's women empowerment poems. It's a really good read, even for men. Acts as a guide for some, I guess," she shrugged, reaching to hand him his change back.

"Keep the change," he smiled softly, grabbing his bag of books. "I might have to look into that, though," he nodded towards the book. "I'm a big r.h. Sin fan myself. You wouldn't happen to have volume one, would you?"

"I've got the entire collection," she smiled. "Read them all at least five times."

"I may have to take them off your hands sometime, then." He smiled.

"Be my guest," she smiled. "They're yours, anytime."

"I'll hold you to that," he flashed yet another smile. "Have a good one."

"You, too," she smiled softly.

The handsome customer then sent Jorja a polite smile and a head nod on his way out.

"Bye, have a nice day," she returned the favor, waving.

"You too," he smiled again, giving Noëlle one last glance over.

Noëlle watched him exit the store before smiling softly to herself and sitting back down in her chair.

"They're yours anytime. Mwah, mwah, mwah," Jorja mocked her sister, making kissing noises.

"Stop," Noëlle smiled, rolling her eyes, dramatically.

Laughing at Jorja's taunting, the pair tidied up the store, waiting impatiently for closing time.