Chapter 9

“Greetings, bud,” the man shouted out from behind his counter before the bell above the door had even finished ringing. “How goes the next bestseller?”

Jude had noted that many of Mister Mo’s sentences, especially his questions, often ended in an ‘ah’ sound, and whilst he had initially dismissed the quirk as perhaps a reminder of the younger man having presumably been brought up speaking both Cantonese and English, he couldn’t help but find the habit endearing and often infectious. For hours at a time after conversing with the man, he often found himself adopting his habit, much to the confusion of those around him.

Reaching the counter, Jude offered a warm smile.

“Slowly,” he answered, slightly sheepishly.

“Is it a sequel?” Mister Mo probed. “Because, bud, I loved the last one, that bit with the girl and the goat monster, and her shadow just eating him up and—”

Hastily, Jude waved his comments away.

“Yeah, yeah, I know, I wrote the thing, Mister Mo, remember?”