The Shop

Warning: Mild Language

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"I can see it now!" Scarlett exclaimed confidently with her hands on her hips.

"...You're not wearing your glasses, Scar," Lucy grumbled lowly as she looked at Scarlett from the corner of her eyes.

"I said I could see it, not that I could see it well."

"You're an asshole."

Scarlett let out a soft chuckle as she wrapped her left arm around Lucy's shoulders, hip bumping her playfully. "You don't always need to see clearly to see things, ya know what I mean?" Scarlett rested her head on top of Lucy's as she spoke.

"Can you stop talking like a damn fortune cookie and just let me know if I'm in over my head here?" Lucy sputtered, trying to swipe Scarlett's red hair away from her face and mouth.

Both of them stood silently for a minute, gazing up at the old storefront across from them.

With a sigh, Scarlett slid her arm off of Lucy's shoulders, turned, and grabbed her biceps firmly.

"Look at me," Scarlett stated firmly as she leaned her head down to Lucy's level. Lucy stared back at her, waiting for the wisdom she was sure Scarlett would give her. Her sister always seemed to have a way of navigating life, no matter what was thrown at her. Always knowing which foot to put in front of the other, which decision to make, which question to ask. Lucy always admired that about the red head.

"You are absolutely in over your head."

"Ugh!" Lucy shoved Scarlett's arms away, the moment broken. "Again, an asshole!" Scarlett let out a loud laugh that echoed down the semi empty street.

"Oh, relax would you? Christ, I'm trying to help you chill out a bit, Luce. Look, weren't you the one who told me that 'nothing good ever comes from playing it safe' or whatever?" Scarlett mimed the quotes with her hands, no doubt trying to get another rise out of Lucy. Isn't that what big sisters are supposed to do? Give their little sisters a hard time just because they can? Scarlett liked to think so. Lucy, not so much. "Besides, it's a little too late to back out now."

Scarlett paused before slapping a hand to her chest, looking absolutely scandalized as she gasped, "What would mom and dad think?"

"Thank you so much for your support. Truly. I'm so glad you tagged along," Lucy sarcastically said as she rolled her eyes while walking up to the door.

"If I didn't think you had it in you, I wouldn't be here with you, dumb dumb." It was as close to a compliment that Lucy would get. She allowed a small smile to form on her face, knowing comments like that were few and far between with Scarlett.

With a deep breath, Lucy dug the keys out of her pocket and slid one of them into the lock. "Here goes nothing," she said softly to herself and she opened the door. A small cloud of dust particles sifted through the air as the sisters walked inside, the sunlight from the door making them glisten. For Lucy, it felt like magic was being sprinkled through the stale air.

Scarlett coughed dramatically. "I can see why mom and dad weren't eager to ever come visit," she stated as she looked around the shop with a grimace, not knowing how or why they held onto the place for so long. A thick layer of dust coated the rows of bookcases, many of which still housed collections of books and various trinkets. It had been a little over a year since their grandfather passed away, leaving the old second hand bookshop in the care of Scarlett and Lucy's parents. Living out of state and busy work schedules led to the indefinite closure of the shop, and with that came the lack of maintenance. Until now.

"Honestly, it's kind of a miracle that the city didn't try to shut this place down entirely, you know?" Scarlett said aloud.

"Do you remember all of the time we spent in here after school? Before we moved?" Lucy asked her sister wistfully, ignoring her previous comment.

"I remember you holed up in your bean bag in the corner, glaring at me for always interrupting reading time," Scarlett replied quickly. "I mean, who would rather spend more time reading than with their own sister? Pfft." Lucy opened her mouth to speak. "Don't answer that," Scarlett interrupted as she began walking around. Lucy smirked.

"If I recall correctly, that bean bag used to be right...around....here!" Scarlett exclaimed as she wove her way between two book cases. "I can't believe it's still here!" She looked at Lucy over her shoulder with a glint in her eye before taking off into a sprint. Lucy's eyes widened as she realized a second too late what her idiot of a sister was about to do. She ran forward to grab her sister. "Scarlett, don't–!"

But it was too late. Scarlett was already airborne. She landed with a plop face-first into the bean bag, and with it came a mushroom cloud of dust.

"Shit, Scar!" Lucy choked out and she frantically waved her hands in front of her squinted eyes. Scarlett, not faring much better, had rolled off of the bean bag onto her back, hacking up a storm as tears leaked from her stinging eyes.

"Now I really can't see well," Scarlett groaned as she rubbed her face frantically.

"Idiot," Lucy wheezed under her breath as she leaned down, offering Scarlett her hand. Scarlett grabbed hold and yanked, pulling her sister down into the dreaded bean bag. Another plume of dust surrounded Lucy. "Shcrrrllttt!" Lucy's scream muffled into the bean bag, arms flailing as if she was being swallowed whole. Scarlett let out a bark of laughter as she rolled on the floor, gasping for breath.

"I thought you'd like to reunite with your old friend!" Scarlett squealed. "Oh my god, your face!"

Lucy managed to free herself from the bean bag with a scowl, auburn hair sticking straight up. "Here, let me help you with that," Scarlett chuckled as she reached over to fix her sister's hair. Lucy slapped her hands away. Scarlett laughed harder. With a huff, Lucy sat on the floor next to her sister, who was still lying on her back laughing. She made eye contact with Scarlett for a few seconds before a grin appeared on her own face. Shortly after, peals of laughter could be heard all the way out on the sidewalk in front of the shop.

________

An an hour and a half later, the sisters were in the midst of sweeping and dusting every nook and cranny while music played softly from Scarlett's phone.

"Do you ever wonder why mom and dad never sold this place? They could have made bank! Or why not keep the shop open and hire some locals to run it? Either way, it would have been another source of income. Why let it just sit here untouched for so long?" Scarlett mused.

Lucy stopped sweeping. If she was being honest, she did wonder the same thoughts herself occasionally, but she had held on to the memories of this shop too tightly to ever really ask her parents about it. In her mind, this shop would always be around forever, even if the doors had been shut for over a year. Was it naive to think that? Or did her parents also harbor those same feelings?

"Maybe they were too afraid to let go," Lucy replied after a moment. "Being back here would make things real. They can pretend that gramps is still here, tending to his books. But still, it is strange that nothing was done until–"

"Until you said you wanted to open the shop back up," Scarlett interrupted, a soft smile on her face. "Hmm," Scarlett hummed to herself after a moment.

"What?"

"Nothing. I'm gonna take a break. Step outside and get some fresh air for a minute," Scarlett said as she put down her duster and walked to the door.

"We still have so much work to do! You're taking a break now?...Scar!" Her sisters voice faded out as she stepped outside.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, just give me a minute," Scarlett murmured.

By now the sun had begun to set and the light from inside the book shop was casting a soft glow on the side walk. Scarlett looked through the window, watching her sister sweep with a smile on her face. Only Lucy would find joy in cleaning a once abandoned book shop.

Scarlett took a deep breath. She knew she finally found the answer to the question she had been asking herself, and her sister, since her parents inherited the shop. 'Why did her parents hold on to this place for so long?' As Scarlett continued to watch her sister through the window, she realized she had been looking at the answer the entire time. Her shy, timid, baby sister, who always kept to herself, was now the proud owner of their grandfather's book shop. Who would have thought?

They might not know what lies in store for them, but this shop didn't randomly drop into their laps without reason.

With a smile, she whispered out, "Yeah, I can see it now, gramps."

Just then Lucy turned and made eye contact. "Why are you watching me through the window, you creep?! Come back in here and help!" Lucy yelled. With a laugh, Scarlett stuck her tongue out at her sister and walked back into the shop.