Closing up {Simi} shop

Curran ignored the bell tinkle that signalled the entrance of someone into the shop and instead concentrated on trying to remove the envelope from beneath the counter with one hand, whilst simultaneously trying to keep the books it was wedged behind, and apparently, within, from falling onto the floor. If he didn’t have a hand on a couple of hundred dollars, this would be a much easier task, but alas, his hand did lay on the crumpled dollar bills, the beads on his leather bands pressing into his wrist.

Needless, he was not expecting a voice to suddenly appear above the counter, causing Curran to bang his head as he jumped and spill the books all over the floor anyway. Straightening, he winced and rubbed the top of his head, ruffling the dark strands of hair. “Ow!” he growled, his mind registering that , at least he had the envelope. Dropping his hand from his head, he smiled back at that pretty blonde in front of him (of course he was going to notice that, he was male) and stuffed the money into the envelope, opening the cash register once again and placing it inside. ”No, Not a thief. My family owns the store” He replied as his hands worked.

“ Teachers planners books?” It was a rhetorical question as he glanced at the floor. Sure enough, they were littering the hardwood floor right now. He was supposed to have take them into the back a few days ago, but had not got round to it. “Oh! Yes, they’re here... 2 secs” The dark haired boy dropped to his haunches, quickly arranging the books into a pile and lifting them back up to the desk – luckily they hadn’t been damaged in their tumble. “Here you go. Teachers planners... things”

”Don’t worry about it” Curran smiled, putting the books into a bag and taking the credit card from her. His head hurt sure, and it might leave a bump for an hour or two, but it was nothing to worry about, to get worked up over. He could be such a klutz sometimes anyway, the only time he really worried was if he did something stupid with silver as a dare. Now those – those where the time to be truly worried. Not over silly little head bumps – not that he said any of this allowed. He just smiled and processed the car, every bit the perfect little shop keeper his mother wanted him to be. ”No really, my own fault for being too lazy to walk to the back of the shop for an envelope, and instead try and get the award one at the back” He laughed – this type of small talk, as his mother had always taught, was appropriate.

Curran waited for the card to process, absent mindedly scratching the side of his face for a second, a sudden itch having appeared on his jaw. If his sister was here she’d make a comment about fleas, and that maybe he should shower more – but as it was it was just the two of them in the little shop, surrounded by hundreds of dusty old books, all waiting for the perfect owner. His mothers shop specialised in the kinds of books that people didn’t always think they needed, but really kinda wanted once they walked in. Most of them were first editions and beautifully crafted – it was rare that they had an order for anything as main stream as teachers planners.

”Ye” he smiled, looking up from the cash machine. The internet was being slow today, and the card was taking forever to process. Eventually it dinger at him, and he passed the machine over so she could tap in her pin. ” She doesn’t talk about us often I don’t think – and I don’t often work in the store front. My sister’s the one in here being sociable, I’m usually in the back stocking and filling out orders.” he winked conspirationally at her ”You know, basically skiving off – don’t tell mom. A teacher huh? I love kids – the skinny ones can be a little chewy at times though...” he teased, plucking the receipt from the till and plonking it into the plastic bag. The shops name, Pattelli’s, was written in cursive writing on the front in a horrid garish colour. His mothers idea.

Again, he laughed and returned her grin, removing the card and handing it, and her bag, over the counter. ”I shouldn’t worry so much Simone – the shops been kinda quiet today, and it’s nice to have a little bit of human conversation rather than staring at a cash register and playing with cd changer. I’m Curran by the way.”

Curran had to stop himself from laughing. She didn’t like Simone, but he had to admit, if only to himself whilst he tried very hard not to laugh ( though it really didn’t work since his eyes had a tendency to give everything away)that he preferred to the Gretchen or any of the other names her parents might have chose. Curran was certainly an interesting name – he had never met anyone else, who shared it with him, but he liked it, and he liked that it meant dagger (made him feel all dangerous) so he was pretty happy with it. Besides, if all else failed, he could just tell people his name was Dave, as his trainer tended call him, and save all confusion. Lots of people were called Dave – hell he knew three himself.

Instead, Curran busied himself with finishing up with the cash register, slipping his copy of her receipt into the envelope and shutting down the machine. Whilst she leant on the counter, he simply grinned and tucked the envelope safely away under the wooden top, slipping it into the side behind the stacks of books and other junk his mother kept there. There was only a hundred or so dollars takings today, and nobody would find it there, for he had wedged it actually in the shelf itself (he had once kept his porn there when he was younger, having carved the little panel. Now it held the shops money when he couldn’t be arsed to put it in the safe upstairs till later) and besides, he’d simply grab it on the way past when he went upstairs to bed. He did, after all, live in the apartment above the shop most of the time, though he still had a room at his mother’s house. He kept his hunting gear and other such stuffs here though, out of his mother’s way and inquisitiveness.

“Well, sometimes its nice to have a bit of human conversation. And i know i can talk the mouth of a horse, if so prompted.” he told her, straightening up once more. He glanced around, and shrugged. “Why not? I can murder a coffee, this place is dead, and i have a free afternoon.” Curran grabbed his keys and hopped over the counter, landing neatly on the other side. He was pretty graceful when he wanted to be – but his grace was somewhat supernatural in tendency, and there where very few humans who could match it. “And I’m pretty sure i can look after myself” he smirked, heading to the door, he opened it. “After you, Simi”

It took Curran only a minute to flip over the open sign to closed, switch off the lights and close up the shop. This done, he span on his heel and zipped up his jacket - it wasn’t great for this kind of crisp winter weather as the material was thin, but he didn’t get cold easily and tended to run at a higher temperature than most people, so he wasn’t too bothered. He shoved his hands, and the keys, deep into his pockets, and returned Simi’s grin, half listening to the Christmas music that floated through the air towards them, and half trying to avoid the cracks in the pavement. Currans ADHD meant he was distracted easily, and spent a lot of time doing things simply to amuse himself. it wasn’t as bad now as it had been when he was younger – now he could keep a conversation at least... he could just multi task well enough to make any woman proud.

He answered her questions as they crossed the street, kicking up some slush as he walked across the tarmacked road. ”Fun? Well, i play a lot of sports – like I surf in the summer, I jog a lot, and my trainer is trying to get me to join the Archery team right now. As for the bookstore... i guess i just do. Like... my dad’s out of town at the moment and my sister is travelling” It half surprised him how easily that lie slipped from his lips these days. He sister had been missing just over a year... yet... well. He could still see her stood over -”I finished University last year, so I just help her out” He shrugged, and grinned. Again, he listened, whilst dodging cracks in the pavement –bad luck you know- and nodded in a greement. ”I don’t read often, but I know what you mean. When i do find a good book, i can’t put it down.”

As they neared the coffee shop, Curran could smell the coffee beans on the air. It made his mouth water – he was a bugger for coffee, he really was. ”Don’t worry about it,” He laughed, pushing open the door to the coffee shop and letting her pass by him, shutting it behind them and joining the end of the queue. ”I can ramble too when i get started, it’s refreshing to hear someone else voice.” he stopped to order their coffee, paid, and headed over to a table, setting hers down in front of her. ”So why teaching? Like, what level?”