Vivien K. Wilk

In fact, Grace gave herself more time than might have been appropriate. She didn't come downstairs to the shop until about half past five to check on things. But her trust in Sidney and Kyle didn't seem unfounded. It was less busy than the day before, but the atmosphere seemed good. Sidney was laughing and talking to a customer while she was cashing out when Grace came down. She nodded briefly to her before turning back to dealing with the business. Busy with everyone, Grace used the time and rummaged through the offerings of the store herself. She was just getting to read books when someone cleared their throat. At first she thought it was the woman with the black, curly hair, right next to her, who was wearing a hat even though she was inside, but she quickly noticed that it was a woman behind her. A middle-aged woman who gave the impression that she was standing a little lost in front of the shelf with the books for teens. Her gaze made it clear that she wasn't sure whether to address Grace either. With a smile, Grace put down the book she had just held and walked over to the woman.

"Hello, can I help you?"

Grace had no idea about books. At least apart from the ones she read for her studies and read in her youth. But she also saw out of the corner of her eye that Sidney was still fully engaged. Maybe she could bridge some time before she could come here. The woman smiled apologetically.

"You are Evellyn's niece, am I right?"

"Great niece, yes, that's right," Grace replied, "Grace Lindman. I can try to help you. Even if I'm not sure how well I will do it."

"I think everyone knows more about books for teens than I do," replied the woman with a laugh. "I'm trying to find a book for my niece. It's her birthday and she really likes to read. But I have no idea what I could gift her."

"Do you have any idea what you like to read? Fantasy? Adventure? About friendship, love or ...?"

Grace already noticed how she was rowing. Her knowledge was almost exhausted and she glanced again at Sidney. But there was no help in sight from this side.

"She likes animals," replied the woman with an embarrassed laugh, "I know I should know better what she reads."

"I'll see if I can find something. If necessary, I can ask my colleague."

As she slid her finger along the spine of the book, she tried at least to get a feel for what the books in that section were about. The selection was smaller than in the large specialty stores, just because of the space. Therefore, she very quickly had an overview of most of the genres that were here. Her gaze fell again and again, however, on a book that had various animals on the cover. It was nicely designed, and when she took it out and quickly skimmed the blurb, she got the feeling that this couldn't be a bad choice. Without further ado, she passed the book on to the woman.

"I think your niece might like that. If she already has it or doesn't like it at all, we can still exchange it in the next few weeks."

"Many many thanks."

The woman took the book with relief.

"I'll let you know how she found it."

With the words she went to the till. Grace watched her go for a moment. Hopefully it hadn't been a complete dig into the toilet. She turned and immediately felt strange. The woman with the hat was still standing in the same place, obviously watching her. When their eyes met, she just gave Grace a friendly smile before she picked up a book and went to the checkout as well. Why had the woman watched her? The thought was absurd and Grace shook her head. Slowly her fantasy really got over her head.

After Sideny had collected the last of the customers, calm slowly returned to the shop. They were close to closing time and Grace was helping Kyle gather the dishes and put them in the small dishwasher. They were almost done when Grace noticed Kyle kept glancing absently at the back door of the cafe.

"Everything OK?"

"Hm?", Kyle seemed to wake up from his thoughts and then nodded, "Yeah, all good. I just realized ... it's such a strange thought that Evellyn won't come back. Somehow I expect her to come out of the garden. When she wasn't busy, she left the shop to us and went out to tidy up. She couldn't stand it if the back garden wasn't tidy. "

He shook his head, laughing slightly.

"I always told her that she was doing too much work. That it already looked good. Everyone admired her for her garden. But she couldn't sit still. "

"I know what you mean. Sometimes I'm upstairs and it feels like she might come around the corner at any moment and ask me about something. It's really strange. Sometimes I even imagine I can hear the footsteps."

Grace saw Kyle give her a quick look and then straighten up a little uneasily. He ran a hand over his black hair.

"Yeah ... strange isn't it?"

Before he could say more, however, the door to the shop opened. A tall young man entered with curly black hair and a neatly trimmed mustache and goatee. An engaging smile lay on his lips.

"Hey Sidney, you look lovely. Good to see you again."

"Mel."

The addressed woman nodded dryly to him.

"You should hurry up. Kyle is already cleaning up."

"How did I deserve the cold shoulder? That makes me really sad."

Sidney just rolled her eyes before walking towards the stock. Mel watched her go for a moment before shrugging and walking over to the counter.

"Is she still mad at me?" He asked, addressed to Kyle.

"Why shouldn't she?", Kyle replied, who was already making coffee, "Grace, may I introduce, this is Mel. Mel, this is Grace."

"Evellyn's famous niece. Nice to meet you. You look like your aunt. Just younger and a little prettier.

"Uh ... thanks?"

Grace had to swallow. The way he spoke to her made her uncomfortable. It felt a little tasteless.

"Don't worry," Kyle intervened without being asked, "He looks like a complete idiot and he is. But he's not dangerous."

"Okay? I know Sidney is mad at me, but how did I deserve this from you," Mel complained.

"I like Grace?"

Kyle grinned broadly at him before starting to fill the coffee. Mel leaned on the counter and sighed softly.

"What kind of picture is that of me?"

"That you are a fool and a complete idiot."

Sidney's voice came from the back of the shop. Grace found it hard to suppress a laugh. She had no idea what kind of situation she had gotten into, but it was obvious that the two employees wanted to make it clear to her that Mel was not good. He looked like someone who knew he was handsome. Before the conversation could continue, another person entered the shop.

Grace was surprised to see Mr. Hagreth again so soon. If she was being honest, she had at least trusted him to be  a little more tactful.

"Looks like my popularity just increased," Mel muttered while giving Kyle a meaningful look.

"Some people would say that wasn't difficult."

Mr. Hagreth came over to them and smiled at everyone.

"I hope I'm not late for coffee yet."

"If you want one on your hand, you're still in luck," Kyle replied, "What do you want?"

"Just a coffee, black," said Mr. Hagreth before turning to Grace, "It was a good decision to open the shop. People come here for a variety of reasons and why shouldn't you benefit from it. You study economics Miss Lindman? "

Grace knew that often she didn't have the fighting spirit of other business graduates. In fact, she actually hated this competition and didn't understand why it was so important to be the best of the best. But she realized it when her competitor was about to mark the field. Not only, he had evidently found out what she was doing professionally, but he also began to explore her motives in order to know which offers would fall on fertile ground with her. It was almost a little too easy to see through.

"People still had books ordered here and I wanted to make sure they got them," she replied simply. "Plus, people have time to say goodbye to the shop."

"Oh, so you are going to sell?"

Grace could have bitten her tongue. And a quick look at Kyle revealed that he was disappointed. No, not disappointed ... angry? Before Grace could worry, she spotted Sidney in the other part of the store. And of course she had heard the conversation too.

"I ...", Grace took a deep breath, "I don't know yet, Mr. Hagreth. As you will know yourself, there are a few things I need to consider."

"Of course. You live in Germany, have not finished your studies and will start at your family's company."

For the last statement, while Mr. Hagreth had no basis to assume, he didn't need to. He only needed to plant the thought, to stir up discontent. Slowly she began to understand why Sidney didn't like him.

“In a short summary,” she replied, “your coffee is finished. We'd like to close. "

"Of course," Mr. Hagreth smiled, "I'll see you at the funeral."