GIRLS DREAM
1202 Words
She quickly locked the store, hailed a taxi, and in no time, she was in front of her parents' porch.
Emily rang the bell and the housekeeper opened the door “Oh, honey”
“Pompei!” she squealed and jumped into her arms, giving a teddy bear hug “I really missed you.” she pulled away and hugged her again. They finally pulled apart from each other with a laugh. “I missed you so much”.
“I miss you too, baby.” Pompei smoothed her hair, looking at her admiringly “You’re coming right from work?”
“Yeah, I am. Work was cool but quite exhausting.” she walked into the parlor and saw her mum. Her mum was on a yoga mat, bent over with a hand and leg stretched “Oh hey mum, where is dad?”
“Hey baby, you’re here. Dad’s in the kitchen as usual.” Her mum stood straight and stretched out her hands “Come hug me, sweetie.” she walked to Emily and gave her a very tight hug.
“Okay, okay” she laughed “that’s enough you’re all sweaty.” Emily pulled away and jogged to the kitchen and jumped on her dad when she saw him “Daddy bear!” she kissed his cheeks repeatedly “Oh, I have missed you guys”
“I’ve missed you too, honey.” Her father held a bit longer before dropping her to the ground. “Well you came at the right time,”
She went to the cooker, opened the pot and inhaled the aroma. “Mmm, we're having what? Boiled chicken and potato porridge?”
“You guessed right,” Pompei said “I will just warm up the mac and cheese we made this afternoon and make you some salad to take home with you because I know you aren’t staying here for dinner.”
“You’re not?” her mom joined them in the kitchen “We barely see you and you don’t want to spend dinner with your old folks?” her mom said giving a childish pout.
“Oh, come on Ashley give her a break. She’s a big girl now” her dad pulled her and kissed her on the head “
“I need to go up to my room. I will be right back” she ran upstairs to her room, went up to her window and pulled it open “Miranda,” she called out, “I swear if you don’t open your window right now I-“
The window opened “Really?” Miranda leaned tiredly on the window, typing something into her phone.
“Miranda, yay!” she punched her two fists up “Oh my god, what happened to your hair?
“Dye went wrong.” Miranda’s hair was done in two piggy styles, dyed with green and green
Emily laughed “Why not just go to the salon. Well, the pink isn’t bad.”
Miranda rolled her eyes. “Why are you calling my name at this hour and disturbing this neighborhood?”
“Miranda, oh my God, you won’t believe what happened today!”
“Hmm. Let me guess. A customer came in asking for that favorite book of yours, what is the name again?”
Emily gasped. “How did you—wait, no! That did happen, but that’s not the big news!” she did a dramatic dance and stomped her feet.
Miranda finally glanced at her, unimpressed. “Then what?”
Emily pushed her head further out “I met a man.” She half whispered
“What?”
“I said I met a man.” she said it louder.
Miranda blinked. “A man?”
“A man.” Emily repeated, eyes wide.
That got Miranda’s full attention. She looked at Emily and tossed her phone aside. “Okay. Spill. Everything.”
Emily clapped her hands like an excited child. “Okay, okay, okay. So, I’m at work, right? Just minding my business, being a responsible bookstore employee, when he interrupts my little stretch and-”
Miranda squinted. “Who is he?”
“That’s the thing! I don’t know! He was just—ugh!” Emily smoothed her hair; she was so excited. “Miranda, he was like… a character. Straight out of a novel. The broody, mysterious, quiet type. The kind that walks in slow motion with the wind dramatically blowing through his hair.”
Miranda gasped. “Did he actually walk in slow motion, or are you just making that up?”
Emily laughed, “No, but I felt like he did. He had this whole aura of secrets and past—you know, the ‘I have a dark history but a heart of gold’ vibe. And his voice, Miranda. His voice.” She covered her face with her palms and screamed into them.
“Deep? Husky? A little rough around the edges?”
Emily pointed at her dramatically. “Yes! Like he only speaks when it’s necessary. Like he probably is an introvert.”
Miranda was already giggling. “Okay, okay, tell me more. What did he do? What did he say?”
Emily took a deep breath, eyes shining. “Nothing actually, I did more of the talking. You know, just made little talks about the books. At first, he was a bit dismissive but then after a while, he looked at me.”
“Oh my God, so mysterious.”
“Right?! And then—then!—Like, really looks at me, like he’s assessing my soul or something. And then I said goodnight, he smiled at me, like really smiled, then he said—” Emily dropped her voice to an exaggeratedly deep, gravelly tone, “Goodnight.”
Miranda caught her breath first. “Okay, but real talk. He bought your favorite book?”
Emily grinned. “Not just one but three”
Miranda gasped. “Oh my God. Oh my God. Emily. That means something.”
“I know! Like, what if this is the start of something? What if he keeps coming back and we talk more and more, and then one day, Bam! A beautiful romance?”
Miranda held up a finger. “Or a steamy romance,” she wriggled her eyebrows
Emily squinted her eyes “Ouu, that would be something.”
“And what if he comes in every day, buys one book at a time, and you guys have deep conversations about life and literature until one day he finally confesses he has been visiting the bookstore all because of you.”
Emily dramatically placed her hands on her chest. “I’d die. I’d simply die.”
“Why do I feel like you’re lying?” Miranda squinted her eyes with a knowing smile
Emily winced “No! well, I did. Just a little lie. He didn’t smile, but the rest are true, I swear.”
Miranda laughed “I knew it! Anyway, this is huge. This is bigger than huge. This is the start of your bookstore romance.”
Emily sighed dreamily. “A girl can dream.” And oh, she absolutely would.
- Writer
