Page 25 of Surprise! I'm Engaged To My Boss
“Not everything in life can be bought with money, Evy.” Look at me, already talking like a millionaire, even though I was the complete opposite of that.
“Not everything, but the land next to your grandmother's bookstore could be purchased. And you could do the expansion you want so much.”
Okay, she had hit a nail on the head.
Like many physical bookstores, Collins Books—founded years ago by my mother and grandmother—was going through hard times. However, we had a plan to try to save it: expanding the space by opening a café and a room for events: literary meetings, lectures with authors, book signings, things like that. There was an empty lot for sale, right next door, which was perfect, but the owner wouldn't accept any negotiation other than cash payment. We didn't have much cash available, and it would probably be much harder to keep saving for it now, since I was unemployed.
Michael Turner's proposal could be our salvation.
However, I remained convinced of my decision not to accept that, for the reason I explained.
“I'm not risking it, Evy. If I get arrested, how will my grandmother support herself? Not to mention that you know Michael Turner's reputation. And I've heard a lot of stories about his father in the company. What if this 'just saying you're my fiancée' thing is just an initial pretext and he starts demanding other 'favors' from meto justify his investment? I won't be anyone's high-class prostitute.”
Evelyn opened her mouth to respond, but a female voice invaded the room where she was.
“Teacher, are you encouraging someone to prostitute themselves?”
She turned her face towards the door, and, in that way, I could also see the three girls, who couldn't have been more than fourteen or fifteen years old, standing there, looking at her with surprised expressions on their faces.
I confess that I was embarrassed, but my friend didn't seem to be at all.
"So what? I encourage you to study every single day. Does that actually work? Go on, head back to the classroom—recess is almost over. I’ll catch up with you there."
The girls left and Evy looked back at the camera.
“I gotta go, girl. We can talk more about this tonight.”
“Good luck explaining this to your students now, because I bet by the time you get to the classroom, everyone will already know.”
“I’ll do more than explain. I’ll take a poll asking for their opinions on what decision you should make.”
“Evelyn? Are you insane?”
“Never underestimate the power of a freshman class’s opinion. Oh, but don’t worry, I’ll keep your names out of it. Love you, I’ll call you tonight.”
“Evy, wait...” I couldn't even finish, because she immediately hung up.
And I knew my friend well enough to know that she was actually going to take that poll in class.
I decided to put it aside and try to focus on my resume. However, my head was too full for that.
Finally, I gave up. I’d leave it for later. At that moment, I needed to clear my mind a little.
Chapter eleven
CAMILA
I fed Waffle, changed his water, cleaned his litter box, and left the house. My grandmother’s bookstore was on the same street as our building, so I got there in less than five minutes.
As soon as I entered, I found, as was becoming customary, the place empty, which always filled me with sadness.
I had fond memories of my childhood in that place. I loved going there after school and sitting in a corner on the carpet, reading a children's book, while watching people come and go. All kinds of people. Men and women returning from work, elderly people alone, or as a couple or with their children or grandchildren, teenagers looking for fantasy books, romance novels or biographies of their favorite artists.
People of all kinds, looking for books of all kinds.
I didn't even understand why, but I simply loved it. It was like being in a separate universe, where, by immersing myself in my reading, I became a princess, heroine, witch, fairy, or anything I could dream of being. And, when I got distracted from my reading to look around me, I saw other people also diving into other worlds as they leafed through the titles. Becoming rock stars, young women living beautiful love stories, medieval knights... traveling through different places and times.
It wasn't that the magic of reading was fading, but it didn't seem to happen as often here anymore. In the digital age, people were buying their books online and were losing the habit of going to places like that. And I understood that perfectly. The place had stopped in time, but I was sure that new attractions could bring the public back.
