A *Day in the Life of a Bookseller

You just never know who might walk into your shop.

*Just a regular day, I think it was a Wednesday — one very hot and sticky summer day at the book shop when the following took place.

The bookstore is always full of surprises.

11:05am - Running late, but decide to stop in for a coffee real quick. *I have five minutes, I think. I get to chatting (gossiping!) while my latte froths, and then in my rush to leave I forget my scone. I go back in to retrieve it and get caught up in another juicy conversation at the cash. Finally on my way out (again!) when a friend walks in. She’s about to tell me the latest news (more gossip!) when I see one of my regulars making her way towards me. Who’s minding the shop today, she asks, scrunching her face and pursuing her lips just so. Oh that would be me, I mumble, confirming her suspicions, and skedaddle.

*Nothing takes five minutes in a small town. You can spend half your day picking up milk, checking the mail, and buying a lightbulb.

11:33am - I flick on the lights at the shop just as my regular from the cafe turns up. I can’t help but get the feeling that she was trying to beat me here. I put out the open sign.

11:45am - After a quick cursory browse, she asks when we’ll have Tom Lake by Ann Patchett back in stock. I tell her hopefully by tomorrow. She nods, and heads for the exit. As she’s about to leave, she calls out: I'll be back again tomorrow. I trust you’ll be open on time. Noted. Customers: 1. Sales: 0. Day Total: $0.

12:15pm - Awfully quiet in the store. I walk out to the street, pretty quiet out there too. Maybe it’ll pick up after lunch.

12:23pm - A couple of daytrippers pop into the store, have a look around, and ask where they should go for lunch. I quickly list off some options, and they happily set off. Customers: 3. Sales: 0. Day Total: $0.

12:50pm - I drink my cold coffee and bite into my strawberry scone when a group of ladies descend on the shop. A lively and lovely bunch they are. Girls trip, I surmise. I can tell they’re avid readers by the way they size up the shelves, ooh and ahh as they spot the books they love, and pull out their phones to check their book club lists. Three out of five choose books for the weekend: Meet Me at the Lake by Carley Fortune, Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus and The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller. Customers: 8. Sales: $75.48. Day Total: $75.48

1:25pm - A customer pops in to see if her book club book is in. It’s not, I say. Maybe tomorrow then, she says. Maybe. As I can’t for the life of me recall the book or taking the order, I have this sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach. I make a note to double check that I did in fact order the book in question. Customers: 9. Sales: 1 Day Total: $75.48

1:49pm - Gone quiet again. I take the opportunity to finish my scone. I change the playlist for an instant mood booster: Relaxing Jazz Music for a Positive Mood

2:07pm - It’s really warmed up outside and the sun is beckoning me to go out and play. My mind wanders, and as I’m contemplating the merits of putting up a Gone Fishin’ sign and heading straight for the bay two women walk in. One I immediately recognize from the shop, the other I don’t but she’s strangely familiar.

2:12pm - I have this nagging feeling that I know this woman. She reminds me of someone. She has now planted herself in a chair by the door, eyes darting back and forth between her phone and to me, staring at her from my desk. Her friend is contently browsing.

2:15pm - A phone rings. The friend answers, steps into the other room so I can’t hear what she’s saying while the woman is nervously watching me. She’s tall with short dark hair, and though she’s quietly taking up no space at all tucked away in a corner I note that she somehow commands a large and looming presence. One of power, or of great confidence, I think.

2:18pm - I type in ‘tall, short dark hair famous women’ in Google. I can feel her eyes on me. She thinks I know, but what do I know?