Page 30 of Trust Fall
“More than ok,” Ivy reached out and gently ran her thumb over the furrow, “more of that wouldalso, be ok.” Her cheeks flushed slightly, even in this light, and Cleo felt her body relax as Ivy moved her hand in Cleo’s to let their fingers intertwine.
“OK,” Cleo smiled as she dropped her gaze to Ivy’s hand in hers, “and I’ll bare that in mind.”
“So, I know this seems like a bit of an odd place for me to choose for us to meet,” Ivy started, “but I promise you, my plan is awesome.” She grinned, and Cleo felt her belly swoop at the sight. On Sunday Cleo had learned Ivy had many different smiles. This one of pure joy, was quickly becoming one of her favorites.
“I have to admit, words other thanoddsprung to mind when I arrived,” Cleo confessed with a laugh as she looked around, keeping her hand in Ivy’s.
“Trust me?” Ivy asked, with raised eyebrows and a smirk.
Cleo took a breath, “getting there,” she said with a smile, surprising herself with how honest her answer was.
“Follow me,” Ivy said, as she led them down the side of the closed book shop and she took her phone out of her pocket. She brought up what looked like a QR code on her screen and turned her phone in her hand to face a reader on the wall beside the door of the building.
A run of ascending notes beeped from the reader, and the door unlocked and slowly swung open a couple of inches. Cleo couldhear muffled gentle chatter, and what sounded like the clink of glasses.
“Wait, I thought this place was a closed shop?” Cleo said, confused by what was unfolding in front of her.
“Well, you’re not entirely wrong, but you’re not entirely right either,” Ivy said cryptically as she opened the door and released her hand from Cleo’s to let her walk in ahead of Ivy.
Cleo walked into a dimly lit entry way and felt a light pressure on her lower back as Ivy’s hand guided her through a corridor to their left until her eyes adjusted to the low lighting. A doorway ahead of them on the right was open, where the light got a little brighter. Not enough that their eyes would suffer the shock of such extremes, which Cleo was relieved about.
As they entered the main body of the old book shop, Cleo gasped, and she felt her eyes widen as she tried to process what she was seeing. In front of her was something out of her dreams.
“Is this, ok?” Ivy asked nervously from behind her, she dropped her hand from Cleo’s lower back, and Cleo felt the loss immediately, only to feel that same hand slip into hers with a soft squeeze while Ivy waited on her response.
“It’s, perfect.” Cleo managed to get out, while her eyes were taking in her surroundings.
The old bookshop had been turned into a wine bar, but with the walls on all sides still being filled floor to ceiling with books. Small stacks of books of various genres were placed in the middle of each of the high tables that ran along the center of the place from front to back. There were couches and large reading chairs around the outskirts of the room with accompanying low side tables holding more small book stacks, and at the far corners were reading nooks sunken into the walls. The place was lit by old-fashioned downlighter reading lights and low-light sconces. The bar at the far end was the most lit, but even still, the place looked like an old-fashioned speakeasy.
“How did you even know about this place? It’s incredible.” Cleo slowly turned her head to ask Ivy, who was watching Cleo with a look of relief and excitement.
“Why don’t we grab a table, and I’ll tell you all about it.” Ivy led Cleo over to one of the reading nooks at the back which had a reserved sign on it. “Don’t worry, this is ours,” Ivy said softly with a warm smile once she saw the look on Cleo’s face when she saw the sign.
Ivy let go of Cleo’s hand and removed her coat and hung it on a hook on the bookshelf beside them that Cleo hadn’t even noticed. She was too distracted by the rich plum top Ivy was wearing that dipped down her back.
“Do you want me to hang yours up too?” Ivy asked with a smirk, having caught Cleo unabashedly drinking her in.
“Oh, yes, hang on,” Cleo fumbled with the buttons on her coat, and eventually took it off, handing it to Ivy.
“You look amazing,” Ivy said softly, barely above a whisper, as she took Cleo’s coat and hung it on the hook beside her own.
“Thanks, I had a little help from my sister.” Cleo blushed at the admittance and ran her eyes over Ivy, her eyes and necklace sparkling in the low lighting of the bar. “You look incredible, Ivy.”
“Thanks,” Ivy replied, cheeks flushing at the compliment.
They sat down and Cleo picked up the wine menu from the table. “So, tell me, how is it you know about this place?” she asked Ivy while looking through the impressive variety of wines listed before her.
“Lucas’s wife, Gabby. She owns the women’s gym over on 12th, and one of her personal clients is the owner, Gemma. Gabby has helped her de-stress throughout the whole process of getting it set-up and making it one of the city's best kept secrets. It’s invite-only and limited numbers each night to avoid noise and crowding.” Ivy told her. “Gabby said they still sell books onlineas well as bottles of wine, to help allow the limits for those who can be inside and still pay all their bills.”
“That’s quite the business model. The place is incredible though.” Cleo took another look around, she noticed the low hung swaths of velvet drapes hanging across the ceiling to reduce noise, and the rich deep-red-almost-black wall behind the bar. The glass shelves displayed behind the bar showcasing a handful of wines on angled clear holders, with uplighters highlighting each one.
“Each time we messaged in the evenings you seemed to have a book beside you, and on Monday when you said you’d had a rough day you had mentioned sitting and enjoying a glass of wine to relax. When I was trying to think of places to take you, I remembered Gabby mentioned this place a few months ago and hoped you didn’t already know about it. I’m so glad I got to be the one to introduce you to it.”
Cleo looked at Ivy as she spoke and felt the warmth in Ivy’s eyes as she looked at her. Ivy had listened to her, really listened to her. Cleo had mentioned those things as throw-away comments, it wasn’t even something she was aware of saying. Of course, they were true. She read every night because she was fed-up looking at screens at work all day to spend every evening watching TV afterward. If her eyes were particularly tired from a taxing day of detailed work, she listened to an audiobook instead.
“For someone who’s new to this whole dating thing, Ivy, you know how to make a girl feel special.” Cleo watched as Ivy dipped her head a little, probably to hide a blush, and reached up to run a finger along the braid at the side of her head before letting her hand drop to her lap.
“Thanks,” Ivy said. “Should we choose a wine? Do you want to share a bottle? I don’t mind what kind.”
