My human mate

#11

*Beep Beep Beep Beep Beeb*

It takes a while before I realize my alarm clock goes off.

I get out of bed to grab my phone and turn it off. I've taught myself to put my phone out of reach if I have to get out in time. If I don't, it's too tempting to turn around again after I've turned off the alarm.

I grab a towel and go to the bathroom to shower. It's best to take a shower right away, then I wake up well.

After getting dressed, I put on a little bit of make-up. I look at the time and see that it is only a quarter past nine. Still plenty of time for breakfast.

I grab my usual cup of tea and some fruit. As I sit down to eat, I realize that I have absolutely nothing to take for lunch. Then Pam walks by and I have an idea.

"Good morning Pam, maybe a silly question. But can I bring some sandwiches and a bottle of water for lunch? I just realized I forgot." I ask and she smiles.

"Good morning Haily, but of course. I'll pack some for you, be right back." She answers.

A few minutes later she returns with a small bag. "Thank you very much!" I say.

"No problem."

I look at the time. A quarter to ten, time to go to the store. Luckily it's not that far so I'll be there in a few minutes.

When I arrive I knock on the window. I have to wait a while but then Monique comes to open the door.

"Good morning, you're early." She greets me.

"Good morning, Yes I'm really looking forward to it!" I reply.

She walks ahead of me to a door at the back of the store. "You can put your stuff here. There is a fridge if you want to keep your food and drinks cold. If you want you can use the coffee maker or kettle. Glasses are in the cupboard above." She tells as she points out everything.

After I put my stuff away we walk back into the store. We walk around the shop so I can see where each gerne is.

"We also have a small cupboard with second-hand books. They are of course cheap, but people sometimes come here to sell their books. If that happens, you first check whether the book is damaged. It may of course have damage from use, but not too much. If that's okay we usually give people a quarter of the original price, unless it's in really good condition then a little more but never more than half."

I listen carefully and nod. We walk to another door. It's a small room, but the cupboards there are almost empty.

"Every Monday afternoon a new stock comes in. Each shelf is labeled with a gerne. It goes without saying." She explains.

Then we walk back to the cash register.

"Do you have experience with cash register work?" She asks.

"Yes a little bit, but that was a long time ago." I answer.

"It's not that difficult. Just scan the book and when you're done press checkout. Then you press pin or the amount they give if they pay cash." She says.

"Okey sounds simple. That should work." I say.

"Okay, this is the computer, of course. It's already logged. If people want to know if we have something in stock, you can see that right away. If not, you can also order it here if they ask." I nod. It can't be that difficult. "Is that all?" I ask.

She smiles. "Of course it is also important that you can provide people with advice if necessary. But I get the impression that that won't be a problem." She says.

I get a wide grin on my face.

"No, no problem at all. But I had to ask. No offense, but it doesn't seem that much of work. What do you need me for?" I ask.

She shrugs. "I got the impression that you would like it. And yesterday I thought, because you are a writer, maybe you like to keep a blog on the website. For example, you can recommend a different book every week? " She told me.

My eyes widen. "Really? That seems really fun!" I say enthusiastically.

It is now a quarter to 11. "Shall we have a drink before we open? Would you like coffee or tea? Then we can arrange your contract right away.

"Oh, I would have forgotten that. And tea, please."

"You don't think I'll let you work for free do you." She says with a laugh as we walk to the staff room.

"And how do you like it here so far? Have you met some people yet?" She asks while making tea.

"Yeah, okay I think. After I was here I went to eat something in the cafe. That's where I got to know Jady. She introduced me to some other people." I answer.

"Jady huh, yes I know her. One of my regular customers." I smile.

"That doesn't surprise me. She's just as much of a bookworm as I am. We found out that we're both big Harry Potter fans." I say. Monique laughs. "The beginning of a good friendship then. She will probably come by this afternoon. She comes every Monday after the new stock comes in." And she gets up. "Time to open the shop."

I look around a little hesitantly. "Uhh, what do you want me to do?" I ask a little unsure.

"As long as there are no customers there is not much to do. I have to check the stock myself." She thinks for a moment. "You know what, why don't you try writing something for the blog? To introduce yourself and what you're going to do?" She suggest.

"Okay, yes that's a good idea." I say.

"When you're done and it's on the site, we can share it on our social media. That way, we reach more people." She tells.

I grab a pen and paper to think about what I want to say. I always find it easier to write when I've already written down roughly what I'm going to write about. When I've just finished and Word open on the PC, I hear the doorbell. The sign that someone is coming in.

A girl enters. I'm guessing about 15 years old. "Good afternoon, can I help you with something?" I ask with a smile.

She looks around doubtfully. "Um, yes I'm looking for a schoolbook. But isn't Monique there?" she asks.

"Yeah, she's here, but maybe I can help you too?" She looks at me for a moment and thinks. "No offense, but I still want to ask Monique something." She says a little shy.

"Oh okay, wait a minute and I'll get her for you."

As I walk away I think it's a little strange, but it must be because she doesn't know me. "Monique, do you have a minute? There's a girl in the store asking for you." She turns and walks along.

"Oh hey Shelly, do you need anything for school again?" she asks the girl. She nods.

"Now give me the list and I'll take a look for you." She read a paper Shelly gives her and walks to the used bookshelf. She takes out 2 books and gives them to Shelly.

"Here, you can go ahead again." Monique says with a small smile. "Thanks Monique." And she walks out of the store I look at Monique questioningly.

"That's Shelly. Her family is not wealthy and has no money for school books. Sometimes she comes here and I give her something for the reading list." She clarifies.

"That explains why she didn't want to be helped by me. That's nice of you to help her like that." She smiles briefly.

The rest of the day passed quickly. I was able to help a few customers and I finished my introduction for the blog. Monique closes the shop at 5 o'clock. When we are chatting outside for a while, I see Jason approaching.