Happier Than Ever

starlight, starbright

Esther stirred, fumbling for her phone to snooze the siren-sound of her alarm. She lay with her eyes closed for a few minutes more, knowing there was no way she could get back to sleep before her extra ten minutes were up. Really, without the alarm she would be up before eight, anyway. Too many years working opening shifts at coffee shops or stock shifts in grocery stores destroyed any conceivable hope of sleeping through the morning. 

Even if she didn’t need to be at Seward’s until nine to be ready to open at ten, her alarm rang promptly at six-thirty. 

Sitting up, she rolled out her shoulders and craned her neck side to side to get a satisfying pop and loosen up her sleep-stiff muscles. After checking her notifications and texting Adam to have a good day at school, she tossed back the covers and slid out of bed to get ready for the day.

The nice thing about waking up early was the chance to workout, shower, and eat breakfast all without interruptions. When Adam stayed over on the weekends, he slept until nine or ten and then spent another hour or so in his room before finally shuffling out to ask if she’d make waffles. Sometimes she tried to start them before he was up but it was more fun if he could be talked into helping. Which was easier when he was five. At fourteen he was less and less inclined to spend time with his mom. 

Esther slowly worked through her morning yoga routine. It had stormed in the night and while the sound of rain pattering on the windows put her right to sleep, she always woke up extra sore and achy after a storm. After a leisurely, warm shower, she dug out her most supportive bra knowing that with the still-gray skies it would be a long day. 

The slow mornings were her favorite. The ones where she had an extra few minutes to enjoy her coffee. No call outs at Seward’s. No emergencies.

There were days when she had to pinch herself just before unlocking the doors of her very own bookshop. A reminder that this was real. She wasn’t dreaming. She wasn’t fifteen. Pregnant. Alone. Scared. She made her dream come true.

Creature yowled when she opened the door, the bell above it chiming and disturbing his morning cat nap. The shaggy, gray tabby beast yawned and stretched before abandoning his post at the counter to come and say hello.

“Good morning, beastie.” Esther crouched to scratch him under the chin. He purred for half a second and then darted away to some other dark corner of the bookstore. Humming softly, she bustled around crossing things off her morning to-do list.

Vacuum up the cat hair. Count the till. Dust the shelves. Open the boxes of new books. Fill the electric kettle and stock teacups and sweeteners. Turn on Linette’s carefully crafted bookstore playlist. 

And she also made sure Creature’s auto-feeder had enough food in it and cleaned out the litter box by the back door. 

She never pictured herself as a pet-person. Let alone a cat person. But Adam had found Creature half-dead in a box in the alley outside her apartment and begged her to help him. Her apartment didn’t allow pets and Adam’s grandparents were allergic. So after a lengthy (and expensive) stay at a vet hospital, Creature came to stay at Seward’s Books & More as the live-in mascot. And now, almost two years later, she couldn’t picture her life without the mangey, one-eyed beast. 

Linette arrived for her shift promptly at ten. She dumped her purse and cardigan in the stock room, twisted her graying brown hair up into a bun held with a pencil and clocked in. Flicking the lights on before joining Esther up front.

“I don’t know how you can work in the dark.” She mused, turning on the kettle to make a cup of tea.

“I like to think of it as saving on the electric bill.” Esther said, pulling a book off a shelf and comparing it to the order request on the iPad.