Save Riley

One


(Riley)


One year ago

I was standing behind the customer service desk at work trying to get through all of the online book reservations. It was Tuesday morning and since that was usually new release day, the reservations had exploded over night.

I grabbed the stack of papers off of the printer and ran off to find the corresponding books. Ninety nine percent of them were for the new Stephen King book, while the one lone one was for a self-improvement book. After I gathered all the books, I went back to the customer service desk and began to wrap the corresponding papers to their books while checking YES on the reservations in the computer so that the customers would know their books were available for pick up.

I glanced at the time on the computer and sighed. It was only ten thirty in the morning and I already felt like I had worked a full day. I grabbed a basket from the side of the counter and piled the books into it before I walked quickly to the front of the store. I ducked behind the register and put the books in alphabetical order on the shelf before I grabbed the small stack of returns and ran back to the desk. I could already tell that today was going to be a long day.

I pushed my brown hair back behind my ears and grabbed the print out schedule and scanned it to see when my break was. Two more hours. I can do this.

Now again, because it was release day, those two hours flew by rather quickly. I punched out the clock for lunch when my cover person had arrived and went into the back room to retrieve my purse.

I decided that today I would eat in the small café inside of the store. As an employee it would be half off and I was struggling a little bit for money until I got paid again on Friday. So I ordered a plain bagel, cream cheese, a cherry coke, and sat down at one of the corner tables.

I was one of about five people in the café. Usually this was the busiest part of the store but the rush for the new book had lead most of the consumers elsewhere. Either way, it was job security so I didn’t care where they went as long as they bought something.

I got up and went to the magazine stand to browse for something to read while I ate. I looked through the gossip magazines before I went over to the travel section. I crouched down and grabbed Afar, Travel + Leisure, and National Geographic Travel.

I mean I knew I couldn’t go to any of the places in these magazines, but sometimes I would like to look at the pictures and read the articles as if though I were there too. When I stood up and turned, I bumped directly into a customer and my magazines and some books hit the ground.

“Oh my God, I’m so sorry,” I said as I fell to my knees to retrieve the scattered books.

A friendly laugh met my ears as the customer dropped to their knees to retrieve my magazines.

“It’s alright. You didn’t hurt me if that’s what you think,” the accented voice said teasingly.

A pair of strong hands held out my magazines and I glanced up. Wow. That was the only thing that I could think because ... wow. He had a big bright smile on his face, gorgeous light brown eyes, and straight, blonde hair that fell just below his ears.

“See? No harm done,” he said getting to his feet after taking the books from me.

I nodded and stood up. I suddenly felt so tiny standing in front of him. He was tall and well built, but not unreasonably big; he didn’t look like he was in pain like a lot of those guys tend to do. He ran his hand back through his hair, his smile deepening, and dimples started to slowly appear on his cheeks.

“Well, thanks Ms. Riley,” he said peering at my name badge.

“You’re welcome,” I mumbled before I walked quickly back to my table and set the magazines down. I checked the time on my phone and realized I wasted fifteen minutes trying to find magazines and then assaulting a customer with them.

I sat down and quickly spread the cream cheese on my bagel and opened one of the magazines. As I was eating and flipping pages, I felt someone suddenly standing near me. I looked up slowly and saw my victim standing there.

“Mind if I sit down? It’s a bit crowded in here,” he said gesturing around.

I didn’t realize the sudden explosion of customers in the café area, so I nodded and motioned toward the empty chair across from me with my half eaten bagel.

I went back to magazine as he set his backpack down and opened his bag of food. We sat there in absolute silence as I flipped through the magazine and he read his book. I glanced at the time on my phone. I had five more minutes before I had to punch back in.

I sighed and got to my feet, collecting the magazines when he finally spoke.

“Leaving already?” he asked.

“My lunch is almost over, I kind of have too,” I explained with a small smile.