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“Can I help you?”
A crisply polite 'No, thank you', makes it to the tip of Brienne’s tongue, but the way he’s looking at her provokes her into an edgy, “Where’s Pia?”
“She has taken the day off.”
“What about Pod?” Anyone but this man whose eyes appear to be far more scrutinising than her comfort levels would permit.
“He’s not in as well.” The handsome stranger glances at the list in her hand. “If you can tell me what you’re looking for—”
“Statistics reference books. I can help myself.” Turning away from the sharp focus of his inquisitive eyes, she busies herself with searching the shelf.
“I hate to interrupt but—”
She slides the slender paperback she was about to pull out back to its place and reluctantly turns to face him. He looks from her to the book she was fumbling with, slightly amused. “The Statistics section is the next row.”
Only now does she notice the title of the one she’d absent-mindedly picked. ‘How to make out if a man is interested in you?’ She glares at it, then leaves it on the shelf and steps away. “Thank you.”
Before he can carry on the conversation, she clears that aisle to move to where he’s directed her.
“The book you were browsing isn’t a bad one.” He’s right behind her, armed with that stupid love-life self help thing she’d accidentally gotten her hands on.
“Not interested.” She goes back to scanning the rows and rows of research material until she finds what she wants. She knows men would never show an interest in her. She doesn’t need a book to tell her that.
“You don’t seem to be the Stats type.” Then he pauses. “I'll take that back. You do look like someone who'll take an interest in a subject like that.”
His tone, but more so his assumption, demands her attention. She can’t make out if it is a condescending remark or genuine surprise. “What do you mean?” Is he trying to imply she’s too dull for his liking?
“Nothing.” He takes the Stats books from her hand. “I’ll bill those for you.”
He doesn’t lurk around, but she is no more in the mood to browse. She loves spending time at book stores even if she has nothing to buy. If Pia had been there to attend to her today, she’d have stayed on for some more time, but with this man breathing down her neck, it’s better to get away as soon as she can.
“That will be a fifty,” he says, when she approaches the counter.
She hands him her credit card.
“We’ve re-organized the shop,” he says, swiping. “Romance is back there, the fourth row from your left. You might want to check out—”
“Not interested.”
“So not the romantic type, huh,” he muses, typing away on his keyboard. “What else can I interest you with, Ms. Tarth?”
“How do you know my name?”
He smiles. It’s the smile gorgeous guys like him effortlessly toss at women they think will fall at
their feet. “Credit cards tend to come with the owner's name, you know.”
“When will Pia return?” If she’s going to have to deal with this new recruit, she’d have to hunt for other options. “How come both she and Pod aren’t around today?”
“They both unfortunately fell sick on the same day.” He reaches beneath the counter to take out a bag. “So I’m left fending for myself.”
“Hang on—” She frowns at ‘How to make out if a man is interested in you?’ stacked with her lot. “I don’t want that.”
“That’s complimentary.” She makes a face when it goes into the bag with the Stats books like a proud equal.
“I don’t want it, Mr—”
“Lannister.” He hands her her purchase, her card and the receipt. “Jaime Lannister. I own this chain of stores. And I insist you accept this little gift.”
Standing here and attempting to decline this gift would only rob her of time and energy. What’s the harm in taking it home and chucking it into the trash?
“I’m looking forward to seeing you again,” he calls out when she’s at the door.
Then I’m never coming back.
+++++
“This is interesting.” Sansa settles down in a corner of the couch with the ridiculous ‘How to make out if a man is interested in you?’ “I never knew you had an appetite for this kind of stuff.”
“The new guy at ‘Books are your best friends’ literally thrust it at me,” Brienne grumbles. “Arguing with him would only have jacked up my temper.”
“New guy?” Her roommate slams the book shut. She’s all eyes and ears. “Please tell me you’re going to see him again.”
“No!” Guys have flirted with her before and it has always been out of their vested interest, be it the need to wriggle a favour out of her or just to prove a point or win a bet against their friends. “I’ve decided to take my business elsewhere.”
Sansa doesn’t look like she believes her. “Something tells me you’ll be going back to him soon.”
+++++
Unfortunately, her friend’s prediction comes true the next day.
“This copy is defective.” Brienne flips the pages to the blank one. “See, there’s a whole page missing.”
Why is he looking at her instead of the book? “When I woke up this morning, I had an intuition I’d see you again,” he says, ignoring her complaint.
“I didn’t mean to come,” she explains, banishing anything he might imagine. “I only did because I had to.”
He puts the misprinted copy away. “Apologies for the inconvenience. A replacement is, of course, in order, but I’d like to offer you a something extra as a compensation—”
“That won’t be necessary.” She just needs the Stats book so she can be out of his way and get him out of hers.
“Please,” he implores with puppy eyes anyone would find hard to turn down. “I insist.”
+++++
“He gave you a gift card?”
Brienne thrusts it into her hand. “You can have it if you want because I’m never going back to his shop again.”
Sansa, much to her irritation, is still engrossed in ‘How to make out if a man is interested in you?’ “You can buy another of these stupid books if you feel like.”
“Oh, this is not stupid at all. It says here that the first sign that a guy is interested in you is if he keeps finding excuses to be with you.” She looks up from the book. “Does he do that to you?”
That the annoying Lannister took to tailing her doesn’t mean anything. And the gift card - that’s nothing more than customer service. She recalls Renly and Hyle Hunt and Ronnet. Men like them and Jaime don’t put themselves in the path of the likes of her unless—
“I don’t see any selfish motive here,” Sansa says, reading her mind. “He genuinely seems to like you.”
+++++
“Brienne?”
Something inside her picks up at the way her name rolls off his lips.“Yes?”
“Jaime Lannister from ‘Books are your friends’.”
Nah, he doesn’t sound hotter on the phone. It’s just her imagination and Sansa’s bloody fault that she’s been thinking about him most of her waking time.
“You dropped an envelope when you came here last time. I wondered if you realized it’s missing—”
“Gosh, how could I have been that careless!” That’s her mom’s last letter to her. She’d been reading it the night before she’d been there and must have sleepily tucked it into the Stats book she’d returned.
“I presumed it’s important,” he goes on. “I have it safe. You can collect it whenever you feel like.”
“Has Pia resumed work?” It’s safer to sail when the sea is friendly.
He takes longer than necessary to answer. “Yes.”
+++++
“This is exactly like one of those fluffy stories where the heroine forgets something and has to go back for it,” Sansa teases, excited for no reason. “A perfect excuse for her to see the gorgeous hero again.”
“He won’t be there.” And no, she’s not wishing for him to turn up just to hand her that letter. “Pia’s back. Pod must be, too. The boss isn’t needed.”
“You sound quite disappointed,” her friend points out. “You have warmed up to the handsome Lannister at last.”
“There’s no room for that. I’m going to be there for no more than a minute.” That’s true, because there’s nothing else she requires.
“You could window-shop,” Sansa suggests. “You love spending time with books. You could use that as a reason to hang out with him.”
“You’re assuming he’ll be there.” More problematic than that is the dangerous direction her friend’s taking. “And you’re assuming I’m interested.”
Sansa is cool as a cucumber. “Neither is an assumption.”
+++++
Brienne halts at the entrance when she spots Pia at the counter. While her intent had been to time her visit to his absence, running into him would not have brought her any lasting harm.
“Hello,” Pia greets her as she approaches. “Here’s your envelope.”
“Thank you so much.” No, the store doesn’t feel dull and lifeless without him. It’s the Sansa effect and nothing else. “Hope you’ve recovered completely. And Pod, too.”
“We’re both as good as ever,” the chirpy attendant replies. “Is there anything else I can do for you? You’d want to browse the new arrivals, perhaps?”
Pretending to follow her gaze, Brienne surveys the store. “Has Mr. Lannister stopped coming? I was—”
“—expecting me?”
She wheels around. No, Sansa’s words are not going to return to cloud her head. This isn’t about that at all.
“I’ll leave you two to catch up.” Pia vacates the counter.
Jaime searches her face. “Did you miss me?”
“Definitely not,” she mutters, cheeks growing hotter with every second his eyes are on her. “It was just a general inquiry. I was worried you might have fallen sick—”
“You were worried about me?”
“I—” She doesn’t know how to tackle that. “I should be going. Good day, Mr. Lann—”
“Jaime,” he corrects her with a smile. “I was hoping you’d hang around for a cup of coffee.”
“No, I—”
“Don’t worry, I’m not asking you out on a date.” That should’ve been reassuring but it deviates - by a large margin. “We’ll have it in here. I was going to order for us anyway.”
“No. Thank you,” she maintains, putting on an air of composure. “I really should be leaving.”
“I hope to see you soon.”
“I doubt it. I have nothing more on my purchase list.”
“The book exhibition’s next week.” He shifts a bunch of books to reveal a stack of pamphlets. “Since you enjoy reading, I think you’ll want to be a part of it.” He hands her one of the leaflets.
She doesn’t know where he’s going with this, only that he’s not making fun of the nerd in her.
The next second he transforms into helplessness personified. “There’s so much to do, and with only Pod and Pia to help, I could do with an extra hand—”
“I’d love to assist,” she offers.
The second thoughts come later, once she’s stepped out of his store, but by then, it’s too late.
+++++
Sansa suspiciously examines the notice. “They’ve never had a book exhibition before.”
“Any time’s a good time to start.”
“Meeting the right woman is the motivation to start.” Her friend points to the chapter she’s reading. “It says here that guys, when they’re interested in a woman, go to great lengths to impress her.”
“You should stop wasting your time with that lousy book.” Renly went to great lengths, too, only to sever ties when he found someone better looking than her.
“All men are not the same, Brienne,” says Sansa, surprising her with her uncanny ability to read her mind at times.
“Men like Jaime have greener pastures to look forward to,” Brienne quietly concludes. “Once this book fair’s over, I’m never going to see him again.”
Sansa returns to her chapter. “We’ll see how that goes.”
+++++
“Thanks to you it went off well.”
Brienne is blank for a moment. Dealing with compliments isn’t something she’s accustomed to.
He takes half the last stack from her hand and begins putting the copies back to where they came from. “I couldn’t have done it alone.”
“You had Pod and Pia.” After three days of continuous toiling, the two could barely stand by the time they’d closed the event earlier this evening. With the duo sent home an hour back, it had fallen upon Jaime and her to clear the last lot. “I only helped.”
Jaime stops what he’s doing to meet her eyes in a deeply intense gaze. “I couldn’t have done it without you.”
Suddenly it’s too warm in here. Her palms sweating, she shifts the rest of the books from one arm to the other.
“Ah, what do we have here—” He peers at the topmost hardbound in her arms. “Pride and Prejudice - one of my favourites.”
“Mine, too,” she says. “I love the push and pull between Lizzy and Darcy.”
“I remember you mentioning romance isn’t your type.” He relieves her of the weight and sets it down on the nearest empty shelf.
“That was not what I implied.” She recalls her impulsive response on their first meeting. “I select my love stories with care.”
“You have wonderful taste.” Work abandoned, he leans on the rack, giving her a better view of his collarbone, the chest hair peeking through his shirt. “Elizabeth was averse to Darcy at first—”
“That’s because he thought she’s beneath him.” While Jaime had not yet given any indication of that sort, would it not come naturally to men like him? “He was proud and arrogant and—”
“He changed,” Jaime softly points out. In the silence of the store, his voice sounds deeper, reaching far beyond her ears, her mind. “When he realized she’s the one, he strove to give her the world.” He shifts closer. She can’t decide what’s more distracting - his musky aftershave, the faint scent of his perspiration or the intoxicating blend of both. “And Lizzy eventually fell for him, Brienne.”
“Such things happen only in stories.”
“Oh, you never know,” he breezily counters her. “Someday, someone might walk into your heart.”
He dips down to a whisper, which in this solitude, sounds louder than that. “And you might end up in his.” He picks up Pride and Prejudice again. “You might not know it, but you might be giving some poor Darcy sleepless nights.”
“Such things happen only in stories,” she repeats, in a daze. “Highly unlikely.”
“Unlikely things happen at unlikely moments when you least expect them.” His eyes return to hers. “A leap of faith is all that’s needed.”
She wants to believe, to wander into this beautiful dream—
But Renly did the same. So did Hyle and—
She looks away as if burned by his gaze. She can’t afford to leap into something she’d find difficult getting out of. “It’s quite late. I should leave.”
“I’ll drop you home—”
“Thank you, but I can manage.”
If he’s disappointed, he doesn’t show it. But why would he be? For all she knows, he’s only probably trying to be nice. Sansa, and off late, she herself, have, perhaps, been reading too much into his actions.
“When am I going to see you again?”
“I don’t think I’ll be back, Mr. Lannister.”
This time, she vows to herself to stick to it.
+++++
The phone rings again.
Sansa frowns at her. “You can’t ignore him forever.”
Brienne can’t take her eyes off his name flashing on the screen. “I don’t have to. He’ll get tired of it and stop.”
But he doesn’t. He calls again.
And again.
And once more after that.
“I’ve had enough of this.” Sansa grabs her phone before she can get to it. “I’m calling him.”
“You can’t—”
Too late. Sansa is already on it. When he’s on the line, she thrusts the phone into Brienne’s hand. “Don’t do anything hasty.” She gets up to leave. “Or stupid.”
“Hey!” Words more than that don’t seem to be in the making when her heart leaps up to obstruct her throat.
“You’ve been avoiding my calls.” There’s a long pause. “And you left abruptly earlier this evening. I was pinning my hopes on you staying back for a coffee—”
“I don’t think—”
“Not a date sort of a coffee,” he hurriedly explains. “At the store.”
Of course she knows that. He doesn’t have to repeat it.
“Listen, I,” he begins, but falters, as if hunting for words. “Did I upset you this evening?”
Her mind flashes back to Lizzy and Darcy, then Jaime and her, to what looks good only in the realm of Jane Austen fiction. “No.”
“In that case, can I see you again?”
“Not for the next month or so, I’m afraid,” she stalls, instead of completely turning him down. “Maybe after—”
“Can I change your mind with the wonderful news of this upcoming book signing I’m planning to host?”
This piques her curiosity.
“K. D. Smith will be here next week,” he goes on, “for—”
“Missy Jones and the cave of wonders? ” Like a million other fans, this is the sequel she’s been waiting for, with bated breath for a good part of her teens and youth. “She’s going to be giving out signed copies?”
“I thought you’d like it.”
“Are you kidding me?” she squeals, like her pumped-up twelve year old self would. “I’d give an arm and a leg to meet her.”
“I’d prefer to have all your limbs intact,” he jokes, back to his usual playful self. “So all you have to do is be there on Friday morning at 10.”
+++++
Overcome by emotions she can neither express nor suppress, she gazes fondly at the book. “Mr. Lannister—”
“Jaime, please.” He looks offended at the formality. “At least now, after all these days.”
“Thank you, Jaime.” She opens her autographed copy for another look at her name and the author’s signature. “I’m going to cherish it.” She runs her finger down its spine. “Every time I look at it I’m going to be reminded of you.”
“It’s worth it then.” He clears his throat. “I - I mean, there will be a number of happy readers thinking about me, right?”
She nods. “I’ll leave you to—” She turns to the queue waiting to be serviced. “Bye, then.”
“Are you sure you don’t want to grab a coffee? I could—”
“Mr. Lannister,” Pia calls out. “There’s a publisher on the line who’s asking for you.”
“Some other time,” Brienne says.
“Some other time,” Jaime agrees.
+++++
“Well, well, well!”
Brienne immediately closes ‘How to make out if a man is interested in you?’ and puts it away. “I was just wondering what draws you to it.”
“For starters, reading it has brought me to conclude that he is drawn to you.” Sansa opens it to a chapter she’s bookmarked. “Look at this list.”
There it is, like a checklist.
- He’ll look for reasons to have you both run into each other.
- Until he’s sure what’s in your mind, he’ll dance around the line of friendship, flirt with you, drop subtle hints.
That’s not entirely correct. Our discussion about Elizabeth and Darcy was a literary engagement.
Or was it?
- He’ll go out of his way to find out what you like—
Brienne stops reading. “Did you tell him I’m a huge fan of Missy Jones?”
Sansa smiles. “Guilty as charged. He asked me what would make you the happiest and I couldn’t resist.”
“And the book exhibition—”
“I didn’t have a hand in that, but I’m sure that was one of his ways to find you a reason to meet him.”
She goes back a few more days in her head. “Mom’s letter—” It feels like a cloud has moved, bathing her in light. “Why do I get the feeling it fell off when I was there, returning it? He must’ve hidden it on purpose—”
“—so he could call you later with that as a reason for another meeting,” Sansa says, bringing together the rest of the pieces. “That shows he’s interested, Brienne.”
“He staged each of these meetings and didn’t breathe a word of it to me.” While it was all well intended, it doesn’t feel right. It’s like her fate had nothing to do with bringing them together. “He cheated, so—”
“—he could be with you.” Sansa hands her the book. “It’s time you stopped resisting and started listening, Brienne.” She gives her arm a friendly squeeze. “Your heart wouldn’t lead you astray.”
“It did,” she quietly recollects. “Thrice.”
“I don’t claim to be a champion in stats, but I do feel the odds might be in your favour this time,” Sansa encourages. “And you might not admit it, but you want him. I don’t need a book to tell me that, Brienne.”
+++++
She doesn’t mean to confront, but it ends up that way.
“Yes, all of it, including slipping you a damaged book on purpose and hiding your letter to prompt you into a next visit was my deliberate doing,” he unflinchingly accepts. “What about you, though?” He looks at her like Sansa sometimes does, reading what’s beyond what she wants to show. “If you weren’t interested, you would not have played along. You would’ve dealt with me with a phone call and put an end to it. But you chose to come in person. Why?”
It makes sense to confess to her side of it, but her thorny past crops up in her path again. Instead of taking Sansa’s suggestion, Brienne shoves ‘How to make out if a man is interested in you?’ under his nose. “You’ve been taking advice from this, I suppose.”
“When it comes to my personal life, I don’t turn to books,” Jaime claims, raising the barrier of tension between them. “I devise my own ways.”
“You sound like Darcy from the first half of the story,” she notes. “He wouldn’t admit to something like this.”
“He had his shortcomings, but he did love Lizzy sincerely.” His stance eases, eyes soften. They journey to her heart and make it there. “And she went on to fall for him.”
“Yes.” She drops her gaze to her shoes. “She did, because there’s this other side of him, this undying determination to bring heaven and earth together to do what will make her happy.” She looks up at him. “Jaime, I don’t really know if I can do this—”
“Why not?”
“Because I’ve never been lucky in these matters,” she admits, voice quaking when she revisits everything she’s been through, every insult still fresh in her mind. “I’ve tried thrice and every single time—”
“There’s a popular saying about getting lucky the fourth time,” he says. “That’s why a four-leaved clover is supposed to do you good.”
She racks her brain. “I’ve never heard that before.”
“That’s because I just made it up,” he quips, easing her into a smile. But he’s all seriousness the next instant. “These things happen when you least expect them. Take a leap of faith, Brienne. And when you do—” he takes her hand “—I promise, I’ll never let go.”
He doesn’t say anything beyond that, but does something better. He kisses her. Sweet and soft like a breeze swaying past her, there’s tenderness in his lips. There’s passion, though only a dash of it - the rest, she can feel it simmering beneath the surface. Hot and gentle, it is every bit the first kiss she has dreamed of all her life, better than the one Lizzy and Darcy would have shared.
“Isn’t it time we had that coffee?” he breathes against her lips, holding her in the warmth of his embrace.
“Only if we don’t have it in here.” She kisses him again, forgetting herself for another wonderful moment. “Only if it’s a date this time.”