45

"You're hired kid."

That was pretty much the sum of my 'interview' with the owner of the bookstore, I mean I had shown up before the appointed time, greeted him, was led to a back office room, but then after he did a quick last minute glance over the resume I had submitted to he he just looked over at me with a smile and declared so thusly.

"huh?"

"That's right, you're the only one to bother applying and we need help, plus you look sociable enough for the position so if you want it it's yours."

"Oh, uh well... thank you?"

"So when can you start?"

"Well actually I could start right now if that's fine?"

"Perfect, I'll have my other part-timer train you then. Amelia can you come back here for a second?"

"Okay!"

In walked an incredibly cute young girl, her hair was cut short, almost in a sort of bowl type cut, but her black hair was incredibly glossy and smooth.

"How can I be of assistance boss?"

"This is Nox, he's a new part-timer, do you mind showing him around and getting him trained up?"

"Sure thing! Nice to meet you Nox! I'm Amelia glad to be working with you."

"Ah... right, please take good care of me."

- -

I started following Amelia around the bookstore, she taught me everything which honestly was not all that much, when new books came in we'd pull them from the boxes in the back and stock the shelves, or if a popular book was running low on the shelves we'd restock.

Beyond that was manning the basic cash register which was manual in that you entered the cost of books in yourself rather than scanning them, and after that you'd offer special services, such as basic or gift wrapping for the book/s purchased, then selling nicknames such as page savers, or bookmarks being sold up at the till.

After that, well she dropped into what I would only ever be able to call an uncomfortable silence.

She just stood there at the till almost like a zombie.

"Amelia?"

"Huh? Oh yeah sorry, I mean that's really it, pretty simple job to do, when there's nothing to do we're free to do pretty much anything we want, play on your phone, read."

"Or we could talk?"

"Talk?"

"Yeah, I mean we are working together why not spend the time getting to know one another better since we're 'stuck' here anyway?"

As I looked at her I just couldn't wrap my head around it, how could this cute girl have such an innocent personality be genetically related to such a bastard like her brother.

"Well... oh ok? What's you clothing size?"

"Pardon?"

"Tehe no not like that, I mean we'll need to get you a uniform after all, though i'd imaging you'd be wanting pants and not a skirt."

"Yeah skirt might be easier to move in but I certainly would prefer pants, and I'm a M with a 32 Long pantsize."

"Ok I'll be sure to remember and check the gear in the back on our break."

"Thanks,"

"No need to be all polite with me, pretty sure I'm younger than you..."

"Oh? I'm 18 myself."

"Oh! So we're the same then."

"Really well then, we should both speak as equals then."

"That works for me, way better for both of us."

"By the way..."

"Yes?"

"I hope you don't mind me asking but... i noticed that earlier."

Pointing towards her stomach as I spoke.

"Is that keychain, no is that a limited edition Uno sub-sub from last year?"

"Eh! You know what it is!?"

"Oh... well I mean yeah, I'm a fan of Uno myself."

"Unbelievable!!! This is my first time ever finding a fellow Unoion whose also my age, and outside of the gatherings! Hurrayyy!"

My studying had paid off, I had learned almost everything there was to know about Uno, and honestly I could actually call myself an Unoion to an extent, as I did see a bit of appeal in the character, though I could see why everyone else couldn't get themselves behind the character.

"Hey. Hey. So when did you become a fan?"

"Well I mean I missed the debut from when the anime first came out, so it would have been a few months later."

Ding-a-ling.

Just then a crowd of people all entered the store and our conversation stopped, Amelia left the register to me, and went to go chat with the customers to see if they needed help finding what they were looking for.

Unfortunately the crowd remained strong for the rest of the day preventing us from talking anymore than when we were both departing after the boss closed up shop.

I returned to another shift the following day, pleasantly surprised to see Amelia was also set to work again, and better than that sunday was a slowday for book sales.

"Do you remember in that one episode..."

"ha ha ha and then uno went and..."

"I can't wait to see the next season..."

We talked almost endlessly and also exclusively about Uno.

In Amelia's eyes, Uno was legendary.

But I had yet to really realize just why she was a follower of Uno.

But it really didn't matter to me.

It was odd, I felt kind of weird, I feel... happy?

Is talking to a girl always like this?

I mean last time I think I felt like this was talking to her way back when.

But now Amelia is a bright and clever girl,

She also really pays attention to people too as seen from her work ethic.

In the end Amelia left for the day, while I still had to stay for another two hours, but I didn't mind this was a job and it netted me more money, so it was still worth it.

"Nox! How is everything? Getting used to the job yet, I mean I know it's only your second day and all?"

"Yeah, I am. But it's all thanks to Amelia being so helpful."

"I'm glad to hear that, since you're both students you'll get to work together quite often since your schedules are pretty much the same."

"Oh!"

"Yeah, plus it's good to hear you two get along, we used to have another part-timer before but, Amelia tried becoming more intimate and drove the other girl away?"

"Intimate?"

"Oh no, not like that, she was just wanting to talk deeper topics with the girl."

"Oh well no problems there so far for me."

"Ok great, see you later!"