Chapter Text
Cordelia found that there was an odd charm to secondhand bookstores that was often underappreciated. They were usually found hidden in corners, tucked away from busy main roads and those who would not appreciate them, as if they almost wanted to challenge those who sought them out to look where no one else thought to. Inside were books you’d be hard pressed to find physical copies of anymore, giving the stores a niche only they could fill.
A niche that includes vintage romance novels.
Her greatest pleasure was romance novels of any kind, and it was also her greatest shame. At work, Cordelia held a reputation of being an upstanding, dedicated worker with equally respectable hobbies. To maintain that, she attempted to keep the lowest profile possible during her first visit to Pegasus Books .
Before she entered, she gazed through the glass, taking in the glorious sight of rows and rows of nothing but hand-me-down books. Other stores had shelves of novelty items but here, there were no distractions from the star of the show. Even from outside, the atmosphere radiated a unique type of homeyness.
Looking all round her quickly, she pushed open the door, pulling off her scarf as she did so. It was early winter and the chill was just starting to settle in, so she shut it quickly behind her. On a table which not visible from the window there was an antique tea set, and from the smell wafting her way, it was freshly filled.
Despite the fresh pot of tea, there was no clerk in sight.
“Hello...” she moved to the counter, drumming her fingers on it, “Hello?”
Seconds before she had just resolved to go search the shelves herself, the was a loud clatter in the back, followed by a cry of pain, then loud footsteps...and from the back door stumbled through the most adorable woman she had ever seen, as well as the most disheveled.
“I'm sorry I didn't hear you come in! I was organizing our latest donations and--!” The woman spoke frantically, panting out huffs of breath. Once the shock had subsided, Cordelia looked her over, and noticed a blood dripping down from her forehead.
She pointed to it, “You, uhm, cut yourself.”
“I did?” she raised a hand to her forehead and flinched when she touched the small wound, “Oh my. W-Well, I can take care of you first!”
Despite the strangeness of this whole scenario, Cordelia found herself laughing at the woman who offered to help her search for a book whilst bleeding. She shook her head, “I can wait for you to clean up. I have awhile.”
The clerk rubbed the back of her head, bending down to grab a first aid kit behind the counter, “This happens a lot,” she said sheepishly. Cordelia patiently watched as she rubbed her head with antiseptic wipe and expertly managed the small cut. As she finished, Cordelia took the opportunity to peak at her nameplate.
“Sumia.”
“Muh?”
She lifted her head up at her her name be called, and Cordelia felt herself heat up, “I was just reading your nameplate and sort of spoke out loud, sorry.”
Sumia smiled at her, so brightly that Cordelia felt the need to look away. She had always loved romance stories with love at first sight, enamoured of the concept, but she never thought it could possibly be real. But what she felt now...it was at least “I want to hold your hand and make you feel special” at first sight.
Now that she was done attending to her injury, Sumia stood up straight and brushed herself off, “Well, now that I’ve thoroughly embarrassed myself, what did you need?”
“I was wondering if you had a specific book. I can’t even find it on the internet, but I heard about this place from some college interns at my work, and they said you have things you can’t find anywhere else.”
That sentence instilled some pride and confidence in Sumia, who nodded enthusiastically, “We sure do! I inherited this place from my mother, who never threw away any book! Neither did my grandma, so we had a collection going in, and then everyone in town is so very kind as to donate often to our book drives, and I sometimes take part in auctions and-” she stopped talking, her face fallen, “I’m sure you don’t want to hear me ramble. I’m sorry. Oh, I’ve made such a fool of myself today!”
Usually interested in retail transactions being as expedient as possible, Cordelia was surprised to find she would be perfectly content with listening to this woman talk all day, “It’s no problem. I’m guessing you're new at this?”
“Yes. My mother got too old and passed it on to me a few months ago, but without her guidance I’m sort of lost.”
“You’re new, and there’s no need to worry so much over small mistakes. Give it time and you’ll forget you weren’t ever perfect at it,” as she spoke, Cordelia realized she had never thought those words at herself. When had she ever allowed herself to make any mistakes...?
However, her pep talk seemed to encourage Sumia, who perked up, “You’re right, I know, I’ll try my best. Let’s start with this: how about I see if we have that book you want. What’s it called?”
No longer able to avoid her embarrassing confession, Cordelia looked away as she spoke, “It’s called The Flowers In Sacae .”
“I love that book!”
“Huh?”
Sumia’s eye shone with excitement, and she looked nearly ready to jump ten feet in the air, “We definitely have that book! Several copies of it! Me and my mother would read it all the time and we made it a quest to collect all the copies we could for the store. Wait here!”
Without giving Cordelia a chance to speak again, Sumia ran around the counter into the sea of books, quickly coming out with a worn volume, shoving it into the other woman’s hands. It was a well bound tome, the title engraved into the cover in swirling golden letters. She turned it on it’s side and saw the page were rough from frequent turning. The thought that the book might be so rare because this little book shop downtown had bought so many was amusing, and put a smile on her face.
Too pleased to worry about coming out to a total stranger, Cordelia spoke, “Thank you. I have all of other books by this author and was missing this one. She was one of the first LGBT authors to get proper recognition, and still one of the best out there. It's hard to find books about people like me,” Considering I've read almost every other lesbian romance out there I would know, she thought jokingly.
“I know, isn’t it wonderful?” Sumia said dreamily, “From the few interviews with her, the leads in that book are based off of her and her real partner. I’ve always wanted a romance like in the story. Just me and the woman I love alone with nature...”
Cordelia started. The pretty, charming, and quirky book keeper had all but flat out said she was attracted to women.
Her heart couldn’t take it.
“I understand what you mean. I can’t wait to read it.”
“You can just have it, honestly,” Sumia said, putting her hand on the end Cordelia’s wasn’t, “No one ever asks for that book, or really any by her. I’m just so happy I found someone to talk about them with.”
“For free?”
“Uh huh.”
Pausing, Cordelia considered her options. take the free book, leave, and never look back. Or...
“I could pay with my time.”
“What?”
“I don't get to talk about these books much myself. I could come by after work and we could talk. I can even help out if you need it.”
Sumia flustered, “I couldn’t ask-! I just met you and...” she looked torn between propriety and the tempting offer, “...I would like that very much.”
“I think I will too-”
The loud ringing of a phone startled them both. Apologizing and asking for a minute of patience, Cordelia angrily reached into her pocket, but her voice was entirely professional by the time the device reached her ear.
“Yes? Yes. What? I...” she turned to look regretfully at Sumia, “I'll be there as soon as I can. Yes, I'm still in the city.”
She hung her phone up, sighing loudly, “I have to go back to work. Someone under me made a mistake and I have to go fix it.”
“Oh,” the tone in Sumia’s voice broke her heart, “Well, come by any time.”
“How about...” Cordelia swallowed the lump in her throat, “I give you my number? That way I can tell you ahead of time if something comes up.”
Sumia’s face lit up and Cordelia knew she had said the absolute correct thing. She was ever prepared and pulled out a small notebook from her shoulder bag, scribbling her number on it. She let her hand linger when it brushed Sumia’s.
“I’ll see you tomorrow,” she said as she slung her scarf over her shoulders again, in a way she hoped was smooth.
“Definitely!”
When Cordelia was sure she was out of Sumia’s range of vision from the window, she skipped the whole way back to the office, and didn’t stop smiling until she fell asleep later that evening, dreaming of a text from the cutest bookstore clerk ever born.