Wolf Bite || BL

Chapter 13 || Quiet Day At Work

Isaac POV*

"Thank you, come again soon!" I smiled after the couple. They waved and walked out the door. I put the money away safely and dropped it down onto the stool behind the counter.

I let out a long sigh as I relax. I looked through the now-empty, store. As usual, we haven't had a lot of customers today.

It's not that the things we sell are bad or anything. Most of it is top quality. The problem, however, is that we don't have enough of it.

So when we do get a customer, it's pretty likely they won't find what they need, so they won't come back. It's easier for them to go to the store on the other side of the village.

Then again, when someone does find what they're searching for, they come back after personally asking my dad. That is part of the reason we have so little variation in our stock.

I've always thought that if my dad just taught me all I needed to know I could help him make things and we'd get more customers, just like when mom was still around. But he always has an excuse.

"I don't have time to teach you." Or. "You're not ready, I didn't want to send sick people out with something that won't help."

But I disagree, if he only let me try, he might be surprised at what I can do.

I sighed got out of my stool and headed towards the back. My dad was already unpacking his new ingredients and whatnot.

"Back so soon?" I asked as I walked past him. "Well yeah, there wasn't much to get." He sighed as he put away a box.

"Then did you collect anything?" I asked as I got a glass of water. "No, no time. I have a lot to make today." He sighed.

I stayed there quietly as I drank my water. My dad got off of his stepladder. Wiping the dust off his hands before stopping to look at me.

"Aren't you supposed to be running the store?" He smiled. I put down the glass and took a seat at a nearby chair.

"I am, when someone enters I'll hear it, you added a bell, remember?" I said back.

He nodded "Yeah okay," he said before returning to his stuff. I watched him quietly as he easily collected everything for tonight, before putting whatever he didn't need away on the shelves.

"Did you get a lot of orders?" I asked curiously. He took a breath. "Not necessarily. Just some really big and complicated ones." He explained.

"You know-" I started as I sat up. "I could always help you, that way you might have more time to do other things" I looked at him, waiting for an answer.

He didn't even look in my direction but I could see he was making up an excuse.

"You know what, you have a point." He said, turning around again. I looked up surprised. "Wait-" I stood up.

"Are you for real-" I asked as I walked up to him. "Yeah, I mean. You can't stay behind that counter forever, you have to learn at some point. Last time you did okay.. so I don't see the problem."

I stood there looking at him, both shocked and incredibly happy. "Yes finally!" I yelled.

"OK, but calm down. You promised you'd do the store today, we can start later this week." He stopped me. I took a deep breath and nodded. "Yes. Okay." I tried to calm down.

My dad kept staring at me for a while, waiting for something. When I realized he meant the store. "Oh right," I quickly turned back and went back to the front. Sitting back in my chair.

I couldn't believe he said yes this time. I thought last time would be a rare experience. Maybe he finally realized that just him isn't enough to run the store. Took him long enough.

I sat there excited for a while until a sudden voice pulled me out of my thoughts.

"What are you doing?" I turned around and was met with Ava's brother again.

"You didn't hear me come in? There's a bell and everything." He asked confused.

"I'm sorry about that," I said, walking up to the counter. "I was a little lost in thought," I explained.

"Maybe you should pay attention to the store you are supposed to be running." He scoffed as he stared at me.

I sighed and leaned onto the counter. "What is it you want, Callum..." I asked.

He stayed silent for a second, just staring before answering. "I'm here to pick up my dad's medicine." He said looking away.

I turned around and grabbed the medicine my dad had put aside already. "How is he doing anyway?" I asked before he could take it from me. He looked at me irritated, he tried to stay his usual grumpy self, but I could see he was struggling.

"The same, really" he sighed. "Your dad's potions seem to be helping a lot," He said, slightly smiling. I handed him the medicine. He nodded, "Thanks." He said before turning around, and leaving the store.

The rest of the day it was pretty quiet. I had found myself staring off into nothingness than actually selling stuff. So instead I went a little exploring, and with exploring, I mean looking around the counter in case I found something fun.

And I did.

After digging through some shelving and empty drawers I found one of my dad's old recipe books. I excitedly pulled it out of the counter and put it on top of it. As soon as it landed a huge cloud of dust flew off of it, making me cough.

After the dust settled I got up to it again, looking at it closer. Opening it my attention was immediately drawn to the small name, written inside the cover.

'Ayleen Bowman'

"This is older than I thought," I laughed to me as I traced my finger over my mom's name. So these were her recipes. I wonder if Dad even knows this is still here.

I kept going through them, admiring all the handmade drawings and writing. I must've gotten pretty distracted because I didn't notice someone come in until they called out to me.

"What are you looking at?"