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Runville
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Chapter 1: Runville (London's POV)
"London!"
I stopped packing up my bag for today and looked down, through my bedroom window. "Charlie!" I grinned, waving down at the sixteen-year-old boy who recently became Runville's mailman.
"You've got mail!" he called out.
"Leave it in the mailbox for me, will you? I'll check it later!" I grabbed the black tote bag, pulling it over my shoulder, and grabbing my phone, heading downstairs. Dad was sitting in the living room on the lounge chair, reading the paper. "Morning," I mumbled, walking past the living room and into the kitchen, grabbing a muffin and a bottle of water, then heading to the medicine cabinet and grabbing his morning pills.
"Morning," he called back out when I entered the room again.
I handed him the bottle of water and then took out a pill from each bottle in my hand. "Bottoms up, dad," I sighed.
He clicked his tongue, setting the paper on his lap. "I wish you would just forget about these pills some mornings, London," he frowned, taking them one at a time from my hand and swallowing them down with a gulp.
"Have I ever forgotten?" I chuckled.
He shook his head while drinking some water. "But that only scares me," he exhaled, closing the bottle and setting it on the small table beside him. "You worry more about my heart condition than you worry about your future."
"Family is my future, dad," I said absentmindedly while shuffling through my bag for the envelope. "Here. It's from Nana." I handed him the letter.
"God, I can't believe your Nana still writes letters."
I stood there, eating my muffin. "What does it say?" I asked.
He skimmed over it and then folded it back up, putting it on the table. "She wants to visit your mother's grave," he cleared his throat.
I stopped mid-bite, blinking a few times. "I'll book her flight then. Don't forget your afternoon medication, I'm leaving for work, okay?"
He nodded, waving me bye.
I waved back and then left the house locking the door behind me before I started walking to our bookstore. The Last Chapter. My mom and dad opened it up together when they got married. And a small bookstore in a town like Runville is enough to feed a family. They ran it together until I was born, then dad ran it by himself, and once mom passed and I graduated high school, I took it upon myself to keep the store running. With Dad's diagnosis and all the free time I had on my hands, it only made sense.
I stopped by Black Marina Barista, the local café to grab a cup of coffee on my way, waiting in line behind the others.
"Morning London," Mr. Kit said while walking past me, leaving the café and heading to work. He's the town's mechanic.
"Morning," I smiled.
"Good morning London," Ms. Beatrice, the dance teacher at the local studio for kids, grinned and waved at me from the first table.
"Morning," I chuckled.
"Good day, Ms. London," Noah said, bowing his head dramatically. He's just a fourteen-year-old boy who goes to Runville High.
"Morning, Noah," I sang. I looked up at the counter since it was finally my turn.
"Hey, London. What can I get for you?" Georgia grinned.
"I'll take my usual two."
"That's one iced americano and one caramel frap. Anything else?"
"Nope, that's all."
"Five dollars." I took out my wallet and paid. "Thank you," she smiled.
"Thanks," I grinned back, heading to the side, waiting for my two cups. I grabbed two straws in the meantime and then took my cups, poking the straws through the top and throwing away the wrapper. "Bye, everyone!" I called out behind me.
"Bye, London!" Everyone chimed.
I walked out, heading to the store. I got there in no less than five minutes and unlocked the door, setting all my things down at the counter and then flipping the sign to 'open' before settling in my chair.
Dylan came rushing in with a cardboard box in his hand. Dylan likes to work at this store, especially over the summers he spends here in Runville. Dylan was still a college student until recently, but he would visit his parents here without fail every holiday. Now he's moved back home and he's working here, at least for the time being. "London," he panted, "new books."
"Thanks. Your coffee." I handed him the americano.
"Thanks," he nodded, gulping more than half of it down, choking on it.
I took a sip from my coffee, then grabbed the box cutter, pulling up the blade and slicing the box open. I peeked inside and then took all the books out, one pile at a time. I split the books evenly and got to work. I made a list for each of us, mentioning the title and genre of each book before handing his list to him. "Find where they belong in the store and shelf them. Let's get to work."
"Aye, aye, Ms. Captain," he breathed out, taking his share of books and dropping them on one of the carts while I took the other. From there on, we wandered around, shelving the books.
I would run-up to the counter whenever a customer came by and attend to them until I was done shelving all the new books and then I settled in the chair behind the counter while Dylan sat in the back, doing whatever he does.
He's an Art major, actually, so he spends the majority of his time drawing sketches for specific books here and leaves them in there. If a customer happens to buy that book, they get a little sketch for free.
"Welcome to The Last Chapter, how can I help you?" I smiled at the customer who came to the counter.
"London," she whined.
"Lily," I chuckled.
"I'm in desperate need of a copy of The Scarlet Letter."
"Oh, what for?" I asked while using the old computer, god knows how it still works, to find out where it was shelved.
"I need it for my theater class."
I nodded in understanding. "Eighth shelf, first row," I smiled.
"Thanks." She rushed away. I'm pretty sure she's going to our community college and studying theater there along with stage writing.
"Dylan!" I called out.
"Yeah?" His voice came from somewhere in the store.
"Take a round and help the customers, please!"
"On it!"
Then the telephone rang. I answered it, wrapping the cord around my finger absentmindedly. "This is London, how can I help you?"
"Why do you act like people actually call you on this phone? It's just me," Verena scoffed.
I rolled my eyes. "Believe it or not, I have customers who call for book deliveries too, Verena. What's up?"
"I'm bored," she huffed.
"Didn't you just get to work?" I laughed.
"Yeah, but this is Runville, London. We're only about five hundred people in this place and we can only get a few customers per day. This is a dental clinic after all." Verena was the new girl in town about two years ago. Her parents had moved here because her father was a dentist and one of his friends told him that our town would be a good spot for him to open his own clinic since the only dental clinic we had shut down due to the owner's personal problems. Now, Verena runs the counter for the clinic. "Do you want to meet for lunch today?" she asked.
"Sure. Just let me know when and where."
"Say one o'clock at Black Marina?"
"Sounds like a plan."
"Cool. See you later. Bye."
"Bye." I put the phone down and grabbed my coffee, sipping it on it while fishing out a copy of White Dialogues by Bennett Sims. An underrated psychology horror short story collection novel. I looked up as Lily came back with the copy. I totaled her bill, put the book in a bag, and then handed it to her. "See you around."
"See ya," she grinned, rushing out.
I got back to reading my book, looking up when Mrs. Kimberly, Ms. Nora, and Mrs. Abigail walked in. I've seen these three women age and stick together since I was a kid. They're a trio, all three of them sitting at the age of sixty, and they go everywhere together every single day. They don't usually come here to buy books, but they do love to sit at a table and gossip about what's happening in this town.
"Morning, ladies," I sang.
They all waved and settled at their usual table. I couldn't help but eavesdrop on their conversations every damn time. Now, I'm not generally one to gossip about people, but it doesn't hurt to know what's going on in this town. We're only a few people and we know everybody here, you can imagine how boring it must be, so people here love to dramatize things for their entertainment.
"Haven't you heard?" Ms. Nora whispered. "He's back in town."
"Who's back in town?" Mrs. Kimberly asked loudly.
"Him!" Mrs. Abigail hissed.
"Who?"
"You know who!"
I blinked in confusion.
Who's back in town?
"London."
I put the book down, looking up at the customer while biting the straw.
"Him," Ms. Nora mumbled, staring at the back of his head.
"Didn't they..." Mrs. Kimberly trailed off, watching me curiously before gasping in realization.
I stared at him, frozen. I didn't know what to do or what to say and I had no idea what face I was making right now. "Ronan," I breathed out.
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Chapter 1
I have a HUGE sweet spot for second chance romances
they are one of my god tier tropes
anyway, let me know what you think!!!
Hopefully, this one goes to plan
next chapter: home