pressed the employee.
No answer came to her. Her thoughts gunned through her head, increasing her anxiety. I just want to pledge my ring—why this inquisition? Why these questions I have no answer for? What should I say?
Other staff behind the counter took notice of the awkward silence. Someone in the line behind her emitted a loud “Bah, alors!” Heat flooded Lily’s face. A glance confirmed that all eyes were on her. Employees, customers at the counter, customers in the queue watched her drama reveal itself. They whispered among themselves. She thought she caught the words “thief” and “police.” She couldn’t be interrogated. She had no answers. She just wanted to pawn her ring, that’s all. And that Mademoiselle? Mademoiselle? kept repeating in her head. She felt stifled, trapped, her ring already out of her hands on the other side of the counter and no proof that it was hers. She had to leave. She had to get out of there. She couldn’t deal with the police. In total panic, Lily stared at the cashier and he, too, was speechless, dropping the Mademoiselle?
A woman’s voice, not one in the line behind her, said, “You’ll be fine,” and Lily snapped out of her stupor.
She darted her hand under the grille and snatched her ring from the tray. Turning, she ran past the stunned onlookers and fled into the courtyard, stopping only in the porte cochere to slip it back on her finger. She ran and ran, not knowing where she was going, pushing past pedestrians on the sidewalk. She finally stopped on a deserted side street and tucked against the wall.
Hidden in a doorway, hands on her face, Lily cried bitterly. She didn’t know what to do, or where to go. She felt terribly alone in the world.
“Why? Why?” she cried. Her throat tightened and she tried to fight the tears back. Why, when just before leaving Denver, things were starting to get better. Her job, a potential columnist position, Daniel. The thought of him made her cry even harder.
SHE HAD MET Daniel on a sunny day right before her trip to France. Spring was working its usual magic, making everything buzz with vitality. Couples strolled up and down Colfax Avenue, not noticing Lily running back to work from the Japanese noodle restaurant, clutching her book instead of a lover. She arrived at Capitol Books, crowded with customers on their lunch break. Valerie called her over to look at some books a customer had brought in to sell. Lily popped a mint in her mouth and headed to the back room, relishing the thought of going through a stash of books. A CD was playing Van Morrison, and Lily hummed along.
A young man in a red baseball jacket waited, surrounded by several cardboard boxes. Lily skirted the mess and stepped behind the desk, where she assumed an air of authority. Beginning with the box closest to her, she began assessing the books. She glanced at the seller, who wore his blond hair closely cropped. He leafed through a copy of The Urantia Book with a look of disdain. Surely the baseball jacket was an ironic choice. He didn’t appear to be the sporty type, and shuffling through his books confirmed it.
It took only a glance to see that this was a great buy. Great buys included lots of interesting books in excellent shape that didn’t need to be checked against the stock list. His books included a range of religious texts, spanning Confucianism to Judaism and some of the more liberal Catholic scholars, like Emmett Fox and Teilhard de Chardin. Lily made a stack of the certain buys and the few she would need to research, sneaking peeks at him. There was always a story behind someone selling his books. She couldn’t resist asking if he was going atheist.
He laughed at the question and a conversation struck up between them. They were engrossed in book talk when Valerie hurried in, coming behind the desk to retrieve a roll of cash register tape.
“Good buy?” She winked at Lily, who blushed. After giving the guy an approving look, Valerie
No answer came to her. Her thoughts gunned through her head, increasing her anxiety. I just want to pledge my ring—why this inquisition? Why these questions I have no answer for? What should I say?
Other staff behind the counter took notice of the awkward silence. Someone in the line behind her emitted a loud “Bah, alors!” Heat flooded Lily’s face. A glance confirmed that all eyes were on her. Employees, customers at the counter, customers in the queue watched her drama reveal itself. They whispered among themselves. She thought she caught the words “thief” and “police.” She couldn’t be interrogated. She had no answers. She just wanted to pawn her ring, that’s all. And that Mademoiselle? Mademoiselle? kept repeating in her head. She felt stifled, trapped, her ring already out of her hands on the other side of the counter and no proof that it was hers. She had to leave. She had to get out of there. She couldn’t deal with the police. In total panic, Lily stared at the cashier and he, too, was speechless, dropping the Mademoiselle?
A woman’s voice, not one in the line behind her, said, “You’ll be fine,” and Lily snapped out of her stupor.
She darted her hand under the grille and snatched her ring from the tray. Turning, she ran past the stunned onlookers and fled into the courtyard, stopping only in the porte cochere to slip it back on her finger. She ran and ran, not knowing where she was going, pushing past pedestrians on the sidewalk. She finally stopped on a deserted side street and tucked against the wall.
Hidden in a doorway, hands on her face, Lily cried bitterly. She didn’t know what to do, or where to go. She felt terribly alone in the world.
“Why? Why?” she cried. Her throat tightened and she tried to fight the tears back. Why, when just before leaving Denver, things were starting to get better. Her job, a potential columnist position, Daniel. The thought of him made her cry even harder.
SHE HAD MET Daniel on a sunny day right before her trip to France. Spring was working its usual magic, making everything buzz with vitality. Couples strolled up and down Colfax Avenue, not noticing Lily running back to work from the Japanese noodle restaurant, clutching her book instead of a lover. She arrived at Capitol Books, crowded with customers on their lunch break. Valerie called her over to look at some books a customer had brought in to sell. Lily popped a mint in her mouth and headed to the back room, relishing the thought of going through a stash of books. A CD was playing Van Morrison, and Lily hummed along.
A young man in a red baseball jacket waited, surrounded by several cardboard boxes. Lily skirted the mess and stepped behind the desk, where she assumed an air of authority. Beginning with the box closest to her, she began assessing the books. She glanced at the seller, who wore his blond hair closely cropped. He leafed through a copy of The Urantia Book with a look of disdain. Surely the baseball jacket was an ironic choice. He didn’t appear to be the sporty type, and shuffling through his books confirmed it.
It took only a glance to see that this was a great buy. Great buys included lots of interesting books in excellent shape that didn’t need to be checked against the stock list. His books included a range of religious texts, spanning Confucianism to Judaism and some of the more liberal Catholic scholars, like Emmett Fox and Teilhard de Chardin. Lily made a stack of the certain buys and the few she would need to research, sneaking peeks at him. There was always a story behind someone selling his books. She couldn’t resist asking if he was going atheist.
He laughed at the question and a conversation struck up between them. They were engrossed in book talk when Valerie hurried in, coming behind the desk to retrieve a roll of cash register tape.
“Good buy?” She winked at Lily, who blushed. After giving the guy an approving look, Valerie
Similar Books
