CH2.02: Astronomical Odds (II)
【Suu】

A customer?
A customer at this time of day??
And they aren’t one of Prasanna’s rabid fan-girls???

Suu screamed with joy in her mind, grinning like a fool. There was a chance he was one of Prasu’s rabid fanboys instead, all things considered. She briefly wondered if the guy found himself in the wrong bookshop even, but she wasn’t about to let this chance slip away.

Fox-face, she named him in her mind, let’s see what I can get for you, Fox-face.

She stilled, watching the way his gaze lingered on the labels on the shelf edges. What looked like ‘labels’ under those books, were just unhinged ‘book summaries’ that she’d come up with in an attempt to get people to read and hopefully purchase. It was a risky marketing strategy because some of the labels were straight up speculative nonsense, but it got people to at least pick up a book every now and then. Even if they’d come back later to yell at her.

She bit back a proud smile as he stood there looking at them, because that was exactly why she wrote them in the first place: to get customers interested enough to read. A quick glance showed her he was staring at a historic romance, and the label she’d written read ‘Your parents’ love story, but they actually like each other this time. And they’re royals.’

She cringed at it in retrospect, wondering if the guy found it offensive for some reason. But whatever he was feeling, his face seemed to betray no emotion.

Until he looked her way, and their eyes met, locking in place.

His dark pupils quivered as he stared at her, his lips slightly parting only to immediately close tight. Somehow, he looked like he was about to bolt out of the shop any minute.

Her gaze raced across his figure in a quick once-over: comfy-looking clothes and piercings (that looks expensive, you can’t fool me), well-kept long hair (committed to the long-hair grind I see), and an intricate tattoo sprawled across his upper-arm (appreciates art enough to wear it forever? Nice). Suu had met hundreds of different customers over the years, but this one was a first. The odds of someone with that exact combination walking into the bookstore, were simply astronomical.

Fox-face over there was either a special kind of weirdo, or he had a very generous budget for books; maybe both, or maybe neither. Either way, she was hell-bent on finding out. Not in the least because of his impressive frame and his almost weirdly pretty face that threw her off at first.

He still looks like he’s gonna run away, she rued, and her smile faltered. Sh*t!

In a sudden wave of panic, she flashed him a warm smile again and began to inch towards him the way she’d approach a tiny, terrified woodland creature. Sure he was a muscular, tattooed man who nearly towered over her, but those scared puppy-eyes did not lie.

Easy, boy, eeeeasy, her inner-voice whispered, and she adjusted her apron in the hopes that he could tell she worked there. The man lowered his gaze, and up close, a faint strip of skin along his cheeks seemed to darken.

“Hi there, how can I help you?” her voice sounded calm enough to her but apparently not to the man, because he nearly flinched at her words. Immediately backing away, she cursed herself in her mind and put her hands up apologetically. “Ah, you’re welcome to browse, I’ll leave you alone,” she gestured her arms vaguely towards the bookshelves. The man’s eyes followed her hands, and she realized that she couldn’t quite read his face. “I’ll be at the other end of this row if you need me,” she slowly walked away, scrubbing her hand on her face as soon as she turned away from him.

Oh please don’t run away, Fox-face!

“Um, actually…” his deep voice caught her off-guard, and she whipped her head around to make sure it really came from him. “…I’m, I’m here to pick up a list, but,” he looked at the shelves and scratched the back of his neck. “But first, I, uh…I just wanted to ask…” his eyes locked with hers again for a moment, a few locks of hair sliding over his face and chest.

Suu took a moment to accept the fact that Mr. Fox-face over there had a low, velvet voice that altogether did not match his delicate features. To an upsetting degree. She frowned to herself, feeling shallow at judging people based off of their voices. Especially when she probably sounded like a cat with a throat infection on most days, in her opinion. Smacking those thoughts down like she were swatting flies, she slowly paced towards him again.

Get your sh*t together, Suu. He’s probably got several girlfriends. Or boyfriends. Or—wait, why am I thinking of all that?!

“What would you like to know?” she titled her head at him with a forced, retail-smile. Nodding, the man flit his gaze back to the shelves and brought his hands into his pockets.

“Um…” his eyes darted across the labels again, struggling to find his words, and she watched his blush deepen. “…if you don’t mind, uh…I just wanted to know if these, uh, these words? If all these words were written by the same person.”

For the second time that day, Suu blinked several times. “All by the same person, yes,” she smiled. “And that person would be me, right here.” She pat her chest the way some nurses did when they assured their old patients that they’d catch them if they fell.

Fox-face’s eyes widened at that, and an unknown emotion flickered across his face; confusion, or something else she couldn’t quite tell. She realized again that his face was very much hard to read aside from the strange blushing.

“Did you, um, did you also write the signboard outside?” his words were hurried this time, and when he raised his hand to gently point towards the door, she noticed the slightest tremble in his thick, rugged arm.

“Yes I did, this morning actually,” she smiled again, but it didn’t quite reach her eyes. When he looked back at her again with what looked like shock, she gasped. “I’m sorry, did I write something offensive—”

“No, oh no, not at all,” he interrupted, shaking his head slightly. His eyes met hers again, and the intensity of his gaze softened. “I was just curious, really.” He gave her a small smile that barely tugged at his lips. That did little to reassure Suu, and her eyebrows began to furrow.

Strange way to be curious, Fox-face.

She could’ve sworn that he’d looked positively shocked even if for a fleeting moment. But as much as she wanted to pry, she decided against it.

Customers are royalty, she reminded herself. We say nothing. Even if the King keeps scratching his ass for all to see.