Page 7 of Artifacts

“Aldric? You drifted away on me.” Elliot nudged his arm. “Did you eat breakfast?”

Aldric gave a half-nod. “Yeah, uh, yes, I had something.” Tea and crackers, but it was food. “Sorry, I was thinking about antiques.” He glanced up at Elliot.

Elliot studied him for a moment, then grunted. “You have a knack for antiquities, and a sharp mind like yours will be an asset to this shop. But you need to keep that brain fueled. Grab the box opener off the desk while I get a lunch sent over for all of us.”

One thing Aldric had learned in his short time there was not to argue with Elliot over food. He didn’t know if Elliot had, at some point in his life, been as poor and hungry as Aldric had been off and on for the past few years, although it seemed unlikely, but something must have happened to make Elliot so focused on providing for himself and his employees.

Aldric gave his glasses a quick clean then picked up the boxcutter and carefully pushed the blade out enough to cut through tape. He took his time opening the box, not wanting to risk damaging anything inside. He was working on the third and final box when Elliot returned.

“You didn’t open the boxes?” Elliot sounded surprised.

Aldric finished cutting the tape and stood up. He put the blade back in the cutter and set it on the desk. “No. You ordered this stuff, so you should get to see what you got.”

“Like opening gifts?” Elliot pointed to the first box. “Where’s the fun in that? Go ahead and start on that one.”

Itwaslike opening gifts, something Aldric had little experience in. He couldn’t help but smile as he parted the box top and removed the packing paper that was sticking out. The first item was a set of wooden bowls, their different sizes reminding Aldric of Russian dolls, because they all nestled into the biggest one, making them appear to be just one bowl. Their light color made him suspect they were pine. They felt very smooth and appeared to be newer than an antique would have been. He held the smallest one up and offered it to Elliot.

“What do you think of the set?” Elliot asked, taking the bowl and setting it on the desk.

Aldric had already reached for the second item but paused to answer Elliot. “They’re not old. No scratches, and the wood’s very thin. I thought it might be pine, but I don’t know. They don’t weigh much. They’re not antiques.” No way were the bowls over a hundred years old.

“Very good,” Elliot praised. “It is a cheap faux-wood bowl. We won’t put that stack on our shelves. You are welcome to take them home and use them. Otherwise, I’ll throw them out.”

“I’ll take them. Throwing them away seems wasteful.” Aldric flinched. “I didn’t mean that as an insult.”

“And I didn’t take it as one. There is nothing at all wrong with being frugal. If you can use any of the items in this shipment that aren’t going to be sold here, of course I want you to take them.”

Aldric was going to ask if Jonas would want anything, but the feel of cool, inlaid metal under his fingertips distracted him.A finger trap!He’d only ever seen or heard of ones made of thin wood or paper, but this ornate one was something else. Working at Intrinsic Value was an adventure, and Aldric lost himself in discovering new-to-him things from the blind sale. He almost hated to stop for lunch, but the scent of hot food from the brasserie opposite was too enticing to resist.

It surprised him how quickly his days passed at work. Before he knew it, Elliot was putting theClosedsign up, and Jonas had left.

“I’d say we did a good day’s work.” Elliot patted his vest pocket, where he carried his grandfather’s pocket watch.

Aldric had asked him about it when he’d seen the golden watch the first time, and Elliot had explained that it had belonged to his grandpapa. There were no such things for Aldric to inherit—not that he knew of, anyway. He was a little more envious of the connection Elliot must have had with his grandpa than he coveted the watch. It just made Aldric see how much his own familial ties were lacking.

“You’re off tomorrow, but if you’d like to come in for some overtime, you can make up the stock cards on the items we received today,” Elliot offered. The shipment had contained a few antiques amid the newer items.

Aldric had wondered what he’d do with his time tomorrow, and he was pleased to be given the opportunity to work. “I’ll be here when you open. Thank you, Elliot.”

“No problem. You’re a great help, Aldric. Are you sure you don’t want me to give you a ride home?” Elliot took his suit jacket off the coat rack. “It’s not a problem at all, and it’d be easier than you having to carry that box onto the bus.”

“No thanks. I appreciate the offer, though.” Aldric didn’t want Elliot or Jonas to see the decrepit garage apartment he lived in. “I’ll be fine. I can lock up here, if you want? I still have to tape the box shut, and I want to dust that back shelf we didn’t get to today.”

Elliot frowned as he put his suit jacket on. “I wish you’d let me take you home, but I won’t nag again. The back shelf can wait unless you’re just set on doing it.”

“My lunch break was a little over what it should have been. No way could I resist the gelato Jonas brought us.” Aldric hadn’t had anything so decadent in a long time. “Go on. I’ve got this.”

Elliot had given him a set of keys to the shop his first day there. That level of trust had hit Aldric square in the chest.

Elliot paused by the counter, where Aldric was wiping down the register. “If you’re not comfortable closing alone, I can hang around.”

“I’m good,” Aldric assured him while taking care of a persistent smudge.

“Okay. See you in the morning, then.” Elliot tapped the counter, then headed out the back. “I’ll lock the door behind me.”

“Thanks.” Aldric hummed as he finished with the register. It was his first time closing up, and he was both awed and excited. He almost felt like he was in a sacred place. To him, it was. The shop and those who worked with him were opening Aldric’s eyes to new possibilities.

He hadn’t realized he’d been living in a depressed state for years, and though he wasn’t educated in psychology, he did believe that had been the case. It’d only taken ten days of working a job where he was treated like an actual human being rather than a target for abuse to dispel the darkness that had permeated his mind for so long. Not that he was totally free of it, but the cloud had begun to lift, and he could see now that the world wasn’t all bad.

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