Chapter 9

The tiny bell above the door jingled as I entered the bookshop. It was a sound I had heard countless times and it always made me feel at ease. I was looking for the new volume of a series I had picked up recently, before Paula and I would meet up in the afternoon. Slowly I strolled through the store, heading towards the historical fiction section, where I always found the best novels. I let my fingers brush along the lines of the books as I searched for the one I wanted. It had come out three days ago, so it should have been here, but when I reached the series, the new volume wasn’t there. I looked around. Maybe it was on display somewhere. It wasn’t. When an employee walked by, I quickly grabbed a novel and pretended to read the backside. I should just ask. I didn’t want to. What if I mispronounced the name? What if they didn’t get it and I had to repeat it? What would I say if they didn’t have it?

A young woman approached the bookshelf I was standing in front of, so I moved aside. I watched her slide her fingers across the same series, just as I had done a few minutes ago. She glanced across the room, just as I had done a few moments ago, then grabbed a book and read the backside. I tried not to chuckle as she clearly had the same problem as me. Did I look that funny? I didn’t make fun of her as I knew exactly how she felt, but somehow I realized how unnecessary all of that was. I fixed my gaze on another employee, took a deep breath, put the book back on the shelf and walked towards the young man. “Excuse me”, I said. My voice squeaked a bit. Oh no. The man turned around and smiled at me. “How can I help you?” I took another breath. “Do you… already have the next volume of this series?” I did it, I said it. “Oh, yeah, I was just too busy to unpack it yesterday. Please wait a moment.” He was about to hurry away, when I took another step. “Could you please bring two of them? The lady back there would like to have one too.” He nodded and went away. I smiled. Mission accomplished. It took me a lot of effort to not jump up and down right at that moment and I couldn’t suppress a little squeak as I went back to the bookshelf.

I put the book down at the checkout, when something caught my eye. It was a flyer. Poetry slam competition. Sign up and tell your story to the world. “You like poetry slam?” Startled I turned around. It was the young woman from the bookshelf. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to… I just wanted to thank you for helping me out earlier.” She nodded in the direction of the shelf. “Ah, yes, no problem.” We paid and left the shop. “Do you also like poetry slam?”, I asked. She smiled. “Yes, but I could never do that. Just imagine the crowd.” Her head sunk down a little bit. “But I bet you could do it.” I blinked at her. What made her think that? “Aah, don’t mind me, sorry, I just thought of how you went to that shop employee so naturally. I could never do that.” – “It takes a lot more than that to stand on a stage and talk to an audience.” I chuckled. She looked at me with a shy smile. “You’re probably right.” We waved goodbyes and I went in the direction where I would meet up with Paula, but my mind still lingered on that conversation.