The Walkers (Twilight Fan Fiction)

Chapter Four

Chapter Four

I tried not to look at Collin and his friends when I left, but it was very tempting. As I rode the escalators down, I chanced a glimpse at their table only to find it empty. Losing all sense of discretion, I scoured the food court, looking for the bizarre group, but was ultimately disappointed. It didn’t make any sense, though. There was only one entrance and exit to the food court; how could they have left without passing by Renee and me?

The question was still haunting my mind as we headed to the car, and in my distracted state, I almost passed the small bookstore nestled into the far corner of the mall. When I finally noticed the tiny shop, I guided Renee toward it and had to keep myself from running inside. My speed increased even more when I noticed a handwritten sign in the front window that said, “Help Wanted.”

The bookstore—it was called Pages—was half the size of my house, with multi levels and the smell of old paper. The walls were a dark mahogany with matching shelves, tables, and chairs.  There was no fluorescent lighting; instead, the entire space was illuminated by Tiffany lamps of varying heights. Smiling at the otherworldly ambiance of the shop, I found the front desk at the center of the ground level.  Behind the register was a tall, brunette woman, wearing black-rimmed glasses and a purple cardigan.

“Hello,” she said, smiling when I approached her. “How can I help you today?”

“I saw the sign in the window,” I replied and pointed over my shoulder. “I’d like to apply for the job.”

The woman brought her hand to her chest and released a breath of air. “Oh, thank goodness! I’ve had that up for almost a month, but no one’s applied. Then again”—she motioned for me to follow her—“it didn’t help that they opened that new chain store. You know, the one with the half-naked models plastered on the walls?”

“Yeah, I’ve seen it.” I glanced at the endless shelves as we moved deeper into the store; this place was a lot bigger than I thought. It wasn’t wide, but it was very deep. From what I could tell, the bottom floor was mostly reference books—travel guides, automotive repair, and such. “How long have you been open?”

“Five years now,” she answered, pushing through a pair of doors that led to a stock room. I stopped outside the doorway, not sure if I should go back, also questioning if the store should be left unattended. However, when she spied me in the threshold, she waved me in. “Come on back.”

I hesitantly acquiesced and glanced behind me. “Is it okay to leave the store front?”

“I don’t usually get busy until seven,” she commented and pointed to a tiny black box hanging on the wall. “I also have this little doo-dad—it chimes when someone walks through the entrance.”

I felt like an idiot, but if I had said the wrong thing, she didn’t say anything. Instead, she started flipping through a filing cabinet like crazy, tossing papers aside and letting them fall to the ground. Without thinking or being asked, I bent over and started picking them up, piling them in a neat stack on the green, wooden desk beside the cabinet. When she finally found what she was looking for—an application for employment—she held it over her head and shouted, “Voila!”

“I’m going to be honest with you.” She attached the application to a clipboard and offered me a pen. “This is really just a formality. You’re hired.”

I couldn’t help but laugh at the frankness of her answer—she almost reminded me of… someone. Seeing how I didn’t want her to think I was a total nutcase, I stopped the line of thought that was obviously leading to the Cullens, and instead, I took a seat at the desk. It didn’t take me long to fill out the application—the only work history I had was a month-long stint at Newton’s, Mike’s family’s shop. Charlie had turned in my resignation when it was obvious I wasn’t bouncing back from Edward’s rejection, and I deeply hoped that my new employer wouldn’t call them; Karen Newton was a gossip.