Broken Inside

32 - The Next Day

Alex was running in the park when her phone rang. She stepped aside from the running trail to check her phone. She was surprised to see Andy calling her.

"Hello?" she answered the phone. She was still breathing hard from the run.

"Hi, it's Andy."

It always makes her smile when he said that. "Good morning," she wished him.

"Right, good morning. Did I catch you at a bad time?"

"You caught me in the middle of my morning run."

"Right..."

Alex took a sip of water and said to him, "But it's alright, I can talk for a minute."

"Right, good," Andy said and chuckled nervously, "But I need more than a minute to apologise for last night."

Alex smiled and said, "I think you just did."

"Well, the apology comes with a side of explanation, so it, um, it will take more than a minute," he said. Then he asked, "Do you think you can come to the bookstore today?"

Alex looked at her watch. She had lunch plans with Ethan at noon. If she pushed the lunch an hour later maybe she will have time. "Yes, I'll be there at 10."

"Wonderful! Right, so I'll see you at 10."

*****

At 10.15am, Alex pushed open the door of the bookstore and listened to the sound of the doorbell go off. She would have been there sooner but for some reason, she couldn't decide on which outfit to wear. In the end, she settled for a white lace crop top worn over a red full midi skirt, matched with a gold clutch and gold heels.

Andy was with a customer. He was dressed as per his usual style. The arms of his old blue shirt was rolled up to his elbows, the collar unbuttoned, and he paired it with black loose pants. His thick brown hair was messy as usual. There was something boyishly handsome about his looks.

When he heard the doorbell, he glanced at the door and smiled when he saw Alex. He excused himself from the customer and went to greet her.

"Thank you for coming," he said to her and added, "You look... wow, beautiful."

Alex chuckled. "Thank you. Please, don't let me keep you from your customer."

"Right," Andy said. Then he took her arm and led her to the office, "Why don't you wait in here while I finish up? I'll be right back." Then he went back to the customer.

Alex walked into the small, cramped office. She left the door ajar and looked around. There was just enough room for a desk, a swivel chair and a bookcase. The bottom part of the bookcase was filled with thick files with years as the label. Alex assumed they were filled with invoices and receipts. The top part was filled with books. The desk was cluttered with stationeries and pieces of papers. Above the desk was a cork board. The board was filled with colourful drawings, which Alex assumed was drawn by Ashley. 

She heard the sound of the doorbell. A couple of minutes later, Andy came into the office and shut the door behind him.

"What if you have customers?" Alex asked him.

"I, uh, I put up the Closed sign," Andy explained. "I didn't want to be interrupted."

"Okay."

They both stood facing each other in the small room. 

Alex broke the silence first. "So..."

"Right, right, I should be apologising to you. That's why I asked you to come."