Chapter Three – A New Start

As the alarm rang out for 7:30am Clara begrudgingly swung her arm around to turn it off and climbed out of bed. With a huge yawn she stretched out and wandered into the kitchen. Danielle was already up and making breakfast as she entered.
“Mornnnnnning”. She sang as she danced around the kitchen in her dressing gown.
“Eurgh, how are you always so cheerful in the morning”. Clara groaned as she took a seat at the kitchen table.
“Mornings are the best time to get things done, plus we have a sexy bodyguard for the day, I mean what else could we want?” Danielle pointed a spatula at her as she span back around to the bacon on the stove.
Clara’s smile grew. “Well since you asked, I’ll have fresh tomato’s, not out of a tin like last time, poached eggs, tofu only I’m not a heathen, rye toast only slightly browned crusts cut off, quorn sausages in olive oil not animal fat, aubergine bacon well done but not to crisp, oh and V Pud”.
Danielle looked at Clara quizzically. “Firstly screw you, secondly what the hell are you talking about, and most importantly what in god’s name is a V Pud”.
Clara tutted at her. “Tsk you commoners are so out of touch with the good people in society. It’s a totally humane mixture of barley, water, oatmeal, rolled oats and a variety of herbs and spices to allow for a much tastier substitute than the murder of innocent animals”. She stood smugly, her hands on her hips as she looked down her nose at Danielle.
Danielle looked down at Clara completely unimpressed. “You read that online somewhere didn’t you?”
Clara was taken aback. “What! No, I’ve always had strong beliefs in veganism”.
Danielle burst out laughing. “Since when?”
Clara tried to stifle her own laughter. “Since I saw that hottie yesterday”. Clara winked. “But then again that bacon does smell soooo damn good…yeah screw him and gimme that delicious meat”.
“That’s what she said”. Danielle called over her shoulder as she plated up the food.

As they dug into their breakfast a knock on the door caught their attention. They both looked at each other, worry mixed with fear.
“Oh shit, sorry, it’s me, I saw your light was on and we didn’t arrange a time. I was wondering if you girls wanted to get breakfast at the diner on the way?” Stephen called through the other side of the door.
They both jumped up and headed for the door to greet their bodyguard for the day. Stephen was dressed rather smartly in a bright white, short sleeved shirt, black tie, black jeans and combed back hair.
“Whoahh”. Danielle exclaimed. “You scrubbed up well”. she eyed him up and down.
Stephen laughed. “Well, you never know who you might meet, got to look my best and thought it went well with the whole bodyguard look”. He flexed his arms stretching the shirt sleeves which looked ready to rip at any second.
Clara put her hands up. “Whoa there big boy, don’t ruin that shirt too early, unless you’re after that biker thug look”. They all laughed as the smell of breakfast wafted into the hallway.
Stephen sniffed at the air. “Mmmm smells like you girls are already wining and dining in luxury, I’ll leave you to it and I’ll meet you at the store?”
Danielle jumped in first. “Yeah that’d be great thanks, we should be there about 8:30, but we don’t open till 9:00 so don’t rush yourself”.
“Perfect, that’ll give me time to flirt with that cute guy at the diner”. He winked at them both before bidding them farewell.
Clara shouted down the hall to him. “Don’t forget about us or you’ll miss your beating”.
Danielle whispered to herself. “That’s what she said”.
Stephen shouted back. “8:30, book store, bring a date, beat posh git to a pulp. Got it”. He waved behind him and headed down the stairs.
They both shook their heads and headed back in to finish their breakfast before getting ready for work themselves.

When Clara looked at her phone after breakfast it was already 8:20. “Come on, you’re up at stupid o’clock and yet you’re never ready. What takes you so long?”
Danielle called through from the bathroom. “Hey, perfection takes time and like Stephen said, you never know who you might meet”.
Clara sighed and started wandering around the apartment aimlessly. Another five minutes passed before Danielle emerged from the bathroom. She was dressed in a thigh length skirt with long black stockings, knee length high heels and a tight white shirt. Her hair was tied with a ribbon into a ponytail trailing down her back. Compared to her own jeans, t-shirt combo and brushed out hair Danielle looked like she was going clubbing.
Clara was speechless for a moment. “What the hell are you wearing?”
Danielle looked insulted. “What? You think it’s a bit much?”
Clara smirked. “Depends who your trying to attract, if we stick you in the window to advertise the manga section of the store we’ll make a fortune. Get a picture with a hot anime school girl with every purchase”. Clara began laughing hysterically.
Danielle wasn’t the least bit amused. “Ha ha, very funny, I was trying to be more like Stephen with a professional look”. She looked down at herself. “This outfit has got me tons of jobs in the past”.
Clara began laughing even harder. “Oh my god you seriously wore that to interview’s. I mean I’m not surprised you got hired, who wouldn’t want to spend eight hours a day looking at a sexy librarian, I don’t think I’d even need to go through the interview, just an automatic hire”. Clara jokingly held her phone up to take a picture and started making camera snapping sounds. “That’s it sweetheart give me your best pose, oh yeah work it girl”.
Danielle began posing dramatically puffing her lips out and putting her hands on her hips. “Oh darling, you couldn’t handle all of this”. She blew a kiss to Clara and spun on her heel before posing over her shoulder and winking.
“Meeeeowwww”. Clara wolf whistled as they made their way to the door.

They arrived at the store after twenty long minutes of Danielle hobbling in her high heels down the uneven paths and Clara constantly stopping because she was laughing too much. Stephen was nowhere in sight.
Clara lent up against the door as Danielle searched for her key. “So what’s your guess, he pulled that guy, he forgot about us, or he’s mopingly drinking his rejection away?”
Danielle laughed. “Why not all three? Maybe he pulled then was a disappointment in the bedroom”.
Clara winced. “Ooooo that’s harsh. Did he break your heart that much just by being gay?”
Danielle smiled at her. “Shut up and get to work, what do you think I’m paying you for?”
Clara shrugged. “Recent events would suggest to look pretty and put up with your stalkers?”
Danielle thought for a moment then nodded. “Yeah, to be fair, I’ll give you that”.

They set up the store ready for opening, flipped the sign and before Clara could walk two steps away the door chimed behind her. Stephen strolled in, a huge smile on his face.
Clara turned and chuckled. “Looks like someone got lucky!”
Stephen grinned. “Well not with the one I went in for but some really good-looking guy started chatting with me, apparently he’s new in the neighborhood but the place he’s living at is a complete dump so he’s looking for a new place”.
Clara gave him a look. “And let me guess, you said how about your place?”
Stephen countered. “Of course not, what kind of stalker do you take me for? I said I have a queen bed and two gorgeous girls across the hall”.
Clara and Danielle burst out laughing as Stephen took a bow. “I could tell he wasn’t interested from the start so thought I’d mess around, you know, what’s life without a bit of laughter, and anyway he took it like a champ and we actually got along pretty well…Oh and I said he should check out the apartments in our place seeing as that old girl down the bottom is moving out”.
Danielle cut in. “Awww noooo not Mrs. Applecake, she taught me how to cook so well”.
Stephen continued. “Yeah, she’s lovely but I think she’s going to a retirement place or something. Anyway enough of all that. What do you want me doing?”
Clara turned to look over at Danielle for instruction as Danielle stammered. “Errrm, stand around and look tough and just amuse yourself really, grab a book if you want”.
Stephen started off towards the fantasy section. “Don’t mind if I do”.

The day passed as it always did, a steady amount of potential customers, mostly browsing out of boredom before circling the store, picking up books every now and then before heading back out the door. Others would search for books they might enjoy give them a quick skim through and then proceed to finding it on their kindle and leaving the book behind. Then you had the actual customers, mostly regulars that made purchases out of loyalty to the store or because they preferred real books and hated online shopping. After a few hours Stephen came calmly waltzing over to the main desk where Clara stood. He whispered to her quietly, ensuring he wasn’t heard by the customers in the store. “Don’t look now but I think I have a stalker”.
Clara gave him a puzzled look. “What?”
Stephen flicked his head behind him hinting for her to look, Clara glanced over his shoulder towards a guy wearing a black V neck shirt covered by a baggy leather jacket that was at least a size too large, loose boot-cut jeans covered by a pair of thick soled steel tipped boots.
Clara stuttered. “Who’s that?”
The man turned and smiled as he approached the desk, his shoulder length hair flowed loose behind him as he approached. “Hey again Stephen, didn’t realise you worked here. Or are you a professional at predicting people’s movements”. He winked at Stephen.
Stephen laughed. “Nah I’m just helping out here today, this is Clara, and Danielle…Wait, where is she? Well anyway, she’s one of the gorgeous girls I was talking about that lives opposite me”. He nudged the newcomer and winked at Clara.
The man looked at Clara before responding. “It’s a pleasure to meet you Clara, I can see Stephen was in no way exaggerating. I’m Jacob, I take it you work here and aren’t on voluntary duty like Stephen here?”
Clara giggled nervously. “Oh yeah, my best friends the manager and I do all the work…I mean not all the work but like all the non-managerial stuff”. She giggled again nervously.
Jacob smiled at her. “Sounds like the pair of you have a lot to do. Doesn’t anyone else work here?
Stephen smirked to himself. “I’m gonna go find Danielle, see if there’s anything she needs doing. Catch ya next time Jacob”. He waved as he went towards the back room.
“See ya Stephen”. Jacob called back before returning his attention to Clara.
“So what do people do for fun around here? I just moved to the area and don’t really know anyone or anything”. Jacob ran his finger along the desk, not looking Clara in the eye.
Clara coughed. “Erm honestly, I don’t really do much exciting, I spend all my time with Danielle and we spend most of our time here, go shopping or just hang around at home”.
Jacobs eyes widened. “Oh, I’m so sorry, I didn’t realise that you two were together in that way, sorry”. He slid his hand behind his head before looking down at the floor.
Clara blurted out. “Oh no, no, no, it’s not like that, we’re just really close friends, and us living together made things a lot easier because her family and…”
Jacob chuckled. “Whoa, slow down, you don’t need to tell me everything…Unless you want to of course, over dinner maybe?”
Clara stood in shock. Her lips were moving but no words would come out she simply gazed into the distance.
Jacob waved a hand in front of her face jokingly. “Woo hoo Clara, you there?”
Clara snapped back. “What… Sorry what did you say?”
Jacob laughed again. “I asked if you’d maybe want to go out for dinner, tonight perhaps?”.
Clara’s thoughts raced as she stumbled over a thousand different answers before blurting out. “Yes, definitely! I mean I would love to”.
Jacob smiled widely. “Great, erm which number is your place? Stephen told me you were in the same apartment block as him?”
Clara smiled after gaining her composure back. “We’re number thirteen”.
Jacob rubbed his hands together. “Ah unlucky for some, but hopefully not tonight. Pick you up at eight?”.
Clara beamed. “Sounds perfect, see you at eight”.
Jacob returned the smile as he spun on his heel and headed towards the door then span again and called back. “See you at eight, I’ll try to look more presentable”. He gestured downwards to himself before backing towards the door and leaving.
Clara turned as soon as he was out the door and was faced with Danielle and Stephen right on top of her, causing her to jump back in surprise.
Danielle spoke first with urgency. “Well? What happened? What’s going on? Is he coming back? Is he single? What’s his favourite colour? What’s his shoe size…?”
Clara put a finger to Danielle’s lips. “Ok, first, please slow down, second I didn’t even catch half of what you just said, thirdly why the hell would I need his shoe si…?” She paused for a moment then laughed. “You’re such a pervert”. Danielle shrugged and stood eagerly waiting for answers to her questions.
“Ok, so we talked for a bit, he asked me what we do around here for fun, I said not a lot I spend all my time with you, then he assumed we were together, then I embarrassed myself trying to explain we weren’t, then he asked me out for dinner”.
Danielle’s mouth slowly opened as she grinned like a Cheshire cat. “Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god, you said yes right? Of course you did, he was hoooooot! Stephen was telling me about him and then we were spying on you from the staff room…Sorry about that, but I’m so proud of you!” Danielle grasped Clara in a hug and shook her from side to side.
“Ok, ok, ok calm yourself”. Clara just about managed to gasp before Danielle released her. “Now more importantly, what do I wear? I didn’t ask him where we were going, or even get his number…” Reality dawned on her in that moment. “Shit! What the hell do I do now?” Her face grew red and flushed.
Danielle took her by the shoulders. “You’re fine. Everything’s fine. I mean, look what he was wearing, hardly think he’s the posh nosh type, you’ve got plenty of nice clothes and if all else fails we can go shopping”. She smiled gleefully at the idea of shopping and Clara couldn’t deny, she liked the idea too.
Clara nodded. “You’re right, it’s fine. Everything’s fine, He’s not picking me up till eight so that gives us three hours to shop and get ready”.
Danielle looked around the shop at the various people doing their circuits of the store. “To be fair we could always close up early again. I mean when’s the last time we made a sale after three anyway, all our regulars come in on their lunch break so it can’t hurt”.
Clara’s eyes lit up. “Are you sure?”
Danielle smiled excitedly. “Of course, but only on one condition, you’ve got to ask if he has a brother for me”. She winked at Clara before running over to help an elderly lady trying to reach a book on one of the higher shelves.
Clara couldn’t believe her luck after the cute guy yesterday, takeout with Danielle, potentially getting rid of their stalker thanks to Stephen, the perfect breakfast this morning and then getting asked out by another cute guy today. Her heart was doing somersaults, minus out the creep incident she couldn’t remember the last time she was this happy.