The End of a Chapter

A lot can happen in ten seconds.

3rd of August: 09:24:15

Jaime and I walk stride by stride, only separating when I drop back to place $2 in a donation tin.

“Thank you! Every coin counts,” the volunteer calls.

I turn around just in time to see Jaime crossing the road, his phone held up against his ear.

“Hello,” I hear him answer.

Distracted, he doesn’t notice the car speed around the corner, taking no care to abide by the issued speeds. I don’t even get the chance to scream before they collide.

2nd of January: 14:18:56

My forehead creases as I scour the bookshelves for quality reading content. My hand drifts along the worn spines, taking in the texture, and stirring up the dust.

“Lookin’ for anything in particular?” A man whispers, shaking me from my numb state.

“Not really,” I reply and continue my search. Unfortunately, the man doesn’t seem to get the hint that I’m not here to socialise.

“So,” he says, clearing his throat. “do you come here often.” He vaguely waves his hands around, gesturing to everything around us,

“Here and then.”

“You know the place well?”

“I suppose.”

“Great, could you point me in the direction of fantasy, by any chance?”

I sigh. “Sure, no problem. It’ll be easier if I show you.”

When we arrive in the aisle, he races towards one of the first titles he sees. 'The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe'.

“This brings back memories,” he wistfully sighs.

I feel like I’ve just walked into a personal moment. I turn to leave, but he calls out before I can.

“You ever read it?” He asks.

“No,” I reply. “Heard of it, yes. Read it, no.”

“You should try it.” He holds it out to me, invitingly.

“What makes you think I’ll want to read it?”

“You said you weren’t looking for anything in particular.”

“It’s a children’s book,” I argue. “And it’s fantasy.”

He gasps in shock. “Since when did you start to believe that genres and age groups made a difference to the quality of a good read?”

I shake my head, holding in a laugh. He smiles earnestly and holds it out again. This time I take it.

15th of January: 14:32:43

“You again,” I sigh as he rounds the corner.

As soon as he spots me, he breaks into a wide grin. He fakes stumbling back. “What are you doing in this aisle?” He jokes. 

I roll my eyes. “Turns out that book you recommended was pretty good, so I decided to see what else this genre has to offer.”

He smiles, and I feel the heat rising in my cheeks. I quickly turn away.

“I’m Jaime, by the way.”

“Paige.”

“It’s a pleasure to officially make your acquaintance.” He drops into a mock bow.

“Yours too,” I produce a fumbling curtsy. Again, heat rises to my cheeks. If he noticed, he doesn’t let on.

“Any recommendations?” I ask. “Since you have such great taste.”

“Why thank you.” He browses the shelves for a moment until finally removing four books. “There you go,” he says, lowering them into my arms.

I glance at the titles. “I trusting you here,” I warn him. “I’ll be thoroughly let down if these aren’t impressive.”

“Only the best for you, Paige.” The sound of my name on his lips is like a song.

“I’ll probably see you around,” I say, and rush off. I don’t know what’s gotten into me, I’ve never felt this way before.

~

I returned to the aisle every day at the same time, praying Jaime would show up, surprisingly, he always did.

22nd of March: 14:56:02

“Surprised to see you here,” I jokingly tell him as I enter our aisle. I wonder when it changed from the aisle to ours. 

As soon as he spots me, quits watching his watch and looks up, he grins, making my heart flutter.

“I was beginning to think you wouldn’t show.” He looks generally pleased to see me, more so than usual. I wonder why.

“Traffic,” I explain as he drops a pre-collected pile of books into my arms.

“Can I ask you something,” Jamie asks before I can turn to leave. “Before I lose my courage.”

My heart beats hard inside my chest. The fluttering becomes a full-fledged swarm. “Anything.”

He looks nervous and continually gnaws on his bottom lip.

“Would you ever be interested in like hanging out sometime? Someplace other than here.”

“A-are you asking me on a date?” My voice is barely a whisper. It’s a miracle that he could even hear me, let alone understand.

He scratched the back of his head. “I guess.” He hangs his head.

“I’m available Wednesday,” I tell him.

His face lights up with a smile. “Cool! I mean, yeah that’d be great.”

I laugh. The swarm in my chest eases.

30th of June: 14:56:02

“Happy Birthday, Paige!” Jaime calls, wrapping his hands around my waist. He goes to give me a quick kiss on the lips, it lingers. I don’t mind.

“Got you something,” he says, passing me the wrapped gift.

“What is it?” I ask.

“Telling you would defy the purpose of it being a gift. Open it and find out for yourself.”

Carefully, I tear back the neat wrapping. When I pull it back, 'The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe', stares up at me. It appears to be the same worn copy from the library. This was the beginning.

“It was getting sold off, so I got it, for you.”

I begin to cry.

“You don’t like it?” He sounds panicked.

“I love it.” I kiss him, and he kisses me back. Nothing has ever felt more right.

“Cakes inside,” I tell him. “It’s vanilla.”

“How plain.”

“I’ll remember that next year.”

“Chocolate is best.”

“Then chocolate it will be.”

3rd of August: 09:24:25

No words can describe how I feel. My world has been torn apart. I can already feel the page-turning, the end of the chapter is here. I can’t see where my story is headed. All I know is that that bright light is gone, and all that remains is darkness.