Misfortune of the Best Kind.

Anna knew today would be a good day. All shipments arrived right on time. The customer flow was steady and not too hectic. No sign of Gabriel. Anna could sigh and simply enjoy the beauty of the day.

Anna looked up when she heard the chime of the bells on the door. She saw only a bit of brown hair, before it disappeared behind the stacks of books.

“Umm…if you need anything, just ask.” She craned her neck to make sure she was talking in the right direction. It happened more than once, where she was talking to an empty corner as her customer stood right beside her, the years had made her an expert; actually less of an embarrassment, but people really didn’t need to know that.

Anna hummed silently to herself, again getting lost in her own thoughts, unaware of the eyes that were watching her. It watched the deep concentration she gave the book in front of her, the slight hunching of her shoulders, and the quick licks she would give her dry lips. There was nothing provocative or purposefully seductive about her actions.Yet every action held the attention of the eyes.

The figure moved away from the stacks of dragon pictured books and moved toward the front desk where Anna sat. “Do you have any books on the seraph?"

Anna looked to the sweet voice and found herself looking at a face that she believed only to have exited in her dreams. The skin was paler, the hair was cut to a modern, shorter style, but the pouty lips, the blue eyes and the young face was that of the boy of her dreams.

Anna swallowed, not knowing if she should answer or not. Perhaps he wasn’t even there, perhaps she had simply fallen asleep while reading, and this was just some strange dream.

“Do you?” The sweet voice escaped the pouting lips again.

Anna looked away quickly, staring at random spots around her, “We only have three, and they’re in the mythology section.” She answered. She pointed to her left. “The mythology section is at the end of the row there.” She looked back at boy, hoping that he was walking towards his desired books, but found him looking at her.

“Could you show me the specific ones? I don’t want to accidentally miss one.” He asked sweetly, a small smile breaking across his face.

Anna hesitated for a moment, then left her secure little place from behind her desk and walked down the isle, very much aware of the young man beside her. She stopped in front of the mythology section and pulled out the three books she had spoken about. She turned around and presented them to him. He took them from her arms and examined each one. Even though he looked young, he stood a few inches taller than her. This made her feel strange. Sure, he wasn't the intimidating, overpowering presence that Gabriel was, but there was something about this boy, or young man, as the subtle sight of muscled biceps showed.

“These are perfect.” He concluded, looking at her with a boyish gratitude that made her smile.

“I’m glad I could help. Would you like them?” She asked.

“Yes.” He said and followed her back to the cash register.

They walked in silence. Anna glanced at the boy a few times, but he continued walking forward, not sparing her a glance. When they reached her desk, she rang up the boy's books. She cautiously told him the price, it was quite steep. The prices of some of the books she possessed still made her flinch, but she had to make a living. The boy did not hesitate in giving her the full amount, in fact he had a smile as he gave her the money.

She smiled back at him and apologized.

He looked confused. “For what?”

“Well, I’m not exactly proud of taking money from a kid. Feel like I’m stealing candy.” She gave a small laugh. He gave her a charming smile.

“I don’t like candy.” He reassured her. “And it’s fine. I haven’t been called a kid in a long time.”

She thought for a moment that he was like any other child that believed themselves grown up the moment their first pubic hair began to grow.

“A few months is a quite some time.” She said teasingly. Forgetting that he was in her dreams. Not forgetting, just not thinking about it. The boy looked at her, not severely, but resignedly.

Anna thought for a moment, perhaps she had hurt his feelings. And she wasn’t one to do that. All of a sudden she thought of something.

“Hey, I know that you don’t like candy, but I have this great chocolate, it’s delicious. I’ve been eating it since I was a child, it’s called Kinder. Would you like to try some?” She asked, hoping that it would make him a little happier, chocolate always did that. But also...also wanting to share something with him.

“Umm, okay.” He said shyly, looking at his books and not her.

“Great, just a second, I’ll go get it now!” She replied happily. She ran quickly up the stairs which to led to her apartment. She entered her kitchen and got out a bar from the fridge. She ran down the stars and went to her desk where the boy still waited.

“Come here. Why don’t you stay here with me little. And we can enjoy it together.” She asked as she pulled another stool next to hers.

The boy hesitated for a moment, but walked across and sat next to her on the stool. He put his books on the table and looked at her. She broke off a piece for him and one for her. He did nothing with the piece, only watched her.

She bit into her own and moaned. No matter how much she ate chocolate she would never get tired of it.

“Where are you from? I don’t believe that I’ve ever seen you around before.” She asked after having finished chewing.

“I’m…from far away.” he said and quickly put the whole piece into his mouth.

‘Doesn’t want to talk about home. Check. But how adorable he is like that.’ Anna thought with a small smile.

“Are you staying here long?”

“Probably.” He mumbled through the chocolate.

“Parents. They never tell us anything anymore.” She let out a little laugh.

The boy quieted, then replied. “I don’t have any parents, they died long ago.”<

“Oh, I’m sorry…” Anna berated herself silently. ‘Stop asking questions.’ She sighed. “My parents died too. Not that long ago, well it is pretty long but not too long… I’m sorry. I have a tendency to talk to much when I get a little nervous. Well not a little, and not a lot. Are there degrees of nervousness. I’m not counting the twitching, paranoid kind, just the normal kind…” Anna drifted off with her sentence as she heard small giggles coming from the boy.

She looked at him and he burst out laughing. ‘He has a beautiful laugh.’ She thought as she admired the way his face seemed to glow. He slowly stopped, his laughter lessened to a soft chuckle.

“I like you.” He told her shyly.

“I like you too.” She felt a gentle heat in her spread in her chest. She wanted to reach out and stroke his soft looking cheeks. There was no stubble on his cheek, so she knew his cheeks would have been soft.

There was a moment of silence in where they said nothing to each other, then Anna remembered.

She hit herself on her forehead. “How could I forget. I never asked your name! So tell me, what’s your name?”

“Oh, right. I’m Antonio.” He said. He swallowed nervously and glanced around the store, as if waiting for someone to jump out.

“I like that name… I’m Anna, by the way.” She responded soothingly.

She held out her hand and waited for him to take hers. He took it and gripped it strongly, but not painfully.

“Quite a grip you’ve got there.” Anna commented absently. He eyes opened wide, and he looked at their intertwined hands, he let go quickly.

“Thank you. I have to go. Thank you for the chocolate and the books.” He said hurriedly as he stood up.

“Thank you for coming.” Was all that came out before he was out the door.

A little while after Antonio had left, Anna decided that Antonio was nothing like the one from her dreams. The stress of the past days and the continues strange dreams were making her see things in other people that simply weren’t there. That was her conclusion and she was sticking with it.

Note from Author.

Not much to it. But I am so happy I’ve finished another chapter. And one who loves books and small book stores, I still am furious at the prices. I’m not made out of money, I live off of instant Ramen. And if you ever get a chance to try Kinder, it’s a German chocolate, do so, it’s delicious. They say it’s for kids, but I eat it as much as I can afford.
I hope I get a better sense of where this is going because I still have no idea, well I have a few, but not all of it. Sorry for any errors, I’m not reading it again because I’m anxious to get it up.