GOOD DAY

Morning rolls in like nothing ever happened. I wake up on the kitchen floor with shattered glass around me. Typical morning, but the day must go on.

I stand up to head to the bathroom but look behind me and make a mental note to clean the glass up and tape it up later.

The bathroom looks like a disaster rolled in and left it regards, my luck. I walk in and close the door behind me.

I like the feel of the hot water and the smell of my lavender shampoo. It reminds me of mum.

I end my shower quickly and head to my room and dress up. I hope I still have time to make it to work or else Lucia is gonna kill me. Last time she let me off with a warning.

Opening my door, I see no signs of dad. Betting he's still sleeping.

I softly knock on his door just in case he really is sleeping and sure enough, he is. Holding tight an empty bottle of whiskey and sleeping his misery away.

He wasn't always like this. He once was the best dad any child could wish for. Loving, caring, patient, comforting. Sadly everything faded away when she left. He lost his sanity and touch with the world and just became this miserable person who couldn't care less about what happened around him anymore.

I close the door and leave the house. It's a quick fifteen-minute walk to work. It's chilly outside but I don't mind it. It helps me remember that I can feel something. Anything.

Arriving in front of this small, old building with white painted walls and murals of the most beautiful flowers anyone could ever think of. From the bright red fire lily to the softest pink camellia. It was a work of art. Lucia always had a touch of colour to her.

"If it wasn't for those flowers and you staring at them every day, you'd at least be 5 minutes early for work," Lucia teases me while turning the "open" poster.

I laugh at her usual attempt to make me go in so I don't freeze to death outside. I always lose track of time when looking at the last job my mum did.

" Good morning Lucia. How are you?" I ask her when preparing the books that were ordered for today.

" Great, just that little problem with my back again. Ben says I should quit the book store and sell it." She looks at me naughtily knowing she won't ever do that.

I understand her husband's fears. For a sixty-nine-year-old, lifting heavy boxes isn't meant for her anymore. Gone are the days she'd carry all those heavy boxes by herself and tend to the shop. She was getting old, but never wanted to admit it.

"My granddaughter Suzy wants me to go for her birthday this weekend. Would you mind taking over the store while I'm gone?" She looks at me hopefully.

" Sure I wouldn't mind," I answer her while turning my attention to the door that just chimed. Our first customer.

His eyes caught me off guard. He had the most beautiful emerald green eyes I had ever seen. He had soft dark hair and a sad, gloomy demeanour.

His sober navy-blue suit didn't make things any better. He approached the counter with slow short strides with his hands in his pockets. He looked in his late twenties and was ageing well. Besides the neutral expression he had, he was charming in some sort of way.

"Good morning." He says looking straight at me. He is a good looking man.

" Good morning, how may I help you?"

" uuhhm, I'm looking for a book titled love letters in the wind. By any chance, do you have it in stock?" He looks at me expectantly. "It's a really old book. Published in the 1940s or 50s."

"Let me check, just give me a minute."

I walk to one of the shelves and start looking. The books in this section are dusty in an old kind of way. Very few people come to this section cause it's filled with old books that no one wants to read. Lucia always says this generation of young people wants books with heated passion filled with steamy scenarios, not the slow-burning flames of an old love story.

I scavenge through one specific shelf cause I know I'll find it there. All the old books go there. While looking through, I take a peek at him once more. He looks familiar but I can't put my finger on it. I come back to reality and realize he's looking at me. I turn away quickly knowing my face is beet red if I was a few shades lighter than my skin tone.

I finally find the book I was looking for. I pull it off the shell and stare at it, Love letters in the wind were written in a bold italic font, published in 1948. This is an old book. Thank goodness it was reissued 10 years later, otherwise, the pages would have fallen apart.

I head back to the counter holding the book I was assigned to find. Once he saw the books in my hands, his eyes lit up and this little tiny smile came across his face.

He looked better that way.

" would you like me to wrap it for you?"

" No, just the way it is would be great," He looked pleased to have found the book. " How much is it?"

" Twenty dollars," I replied keeping my voice in check, making sure I don't sound too excited.

He hands me thirty dollars and starts to walk away.

"Excuse me, sir, your money!"

He turns around and smiles at me. " A tip for finding a book that I spend a long time searching for ."

He walked away with a little step to his feet.

He looked happier when he left than when he came in.

I put the twenty-dollar bill on the counter and stuffed the 10 dollars into my pocket. Lucky enough to get a tip this early from one of my jobs. The college tuition fund is almost adding up.

I look out the window hoping to see my lucky tipper. Sadly I don't, but seeing from how he left, it's gonna be a good day.