Love Story

Jack originally took the job at the bookstore because he really needed the money. The joy of graduating with a degree in English composition was short lived, as he soon realized the career path for people with that degree was to get another degree and then another one on top of that. He didn’t want to teach, so, he was regretful of his collegiate decisions.

Mr. Lyons, the owner of “Papyrus,” was a nice enough boss. Odd, but nice. It was a mystery to Jack how the store broke even since the customer traffic was, to be generous, sparse. The customer found shelf after shelf of old, old books with a separate “library ladder” on each wall. Jack decided that someday he would have a house with a library ladder.

Jack’s primary duty was to fight a war against dust. As anybody with even one or two old books knows, dust comes with the territory. He’d climb up one of the ladders, remove the books in a section and put them on a tray mounted to the ladder, and then dust the books and the shelf. As the shampoo bottles say, “rinse and repeat.” He worked from three in the afternoon until nine in the evening. Mr. Lyons closed the shop at eight, but he trusted Jack to lock up when he left.

One evening after Mr. Lyons left Jack was working on the “New Releases” section. Mr. Lyons had a sense of humor. The new releases were from the 20^th Century. As Jack removed the books something caught his eye. Shoved way to the back of the shelf he saw a corner of what appeared to be a manuscript of some sort. He gently tugged and cajoled until he was able to slide it out. He descended the steps of the ladder and sat down at the storekeeper’s desk where there was a very good reading light.

The manuscript was yellowed and crimped from being wedged behind the shelves. It appeared to be a book and the author was Cynthia Adams. The name of the book was “Our Love.” Jack turned the page to find a date of 1979, and a handwritten note: “Dearest Steven: Here is the book I’ve been working on all year. I didn’t want to tell you anything about it until it was finished, but now it is in your hands. You can love it, hate it, or cast it aside. But don’t do that, because I’ve put my whole heart into this story. It is the story you and I can live if you will have me. If you love me as much as I love you, you’ll tell me so and we can start our story together. Love, Cynthia.”

Jack put down the book and stared straight ahead, trying to grasp the importance of what he’d found. Mr. Lyons first name was Steven. He didn’t think there was a Mrs. Lyons. Jack realized he had stumbled into an amazing romance or a terrible tragedy. He didn’t think Mr. Lyons ever saw the manuscript. It might have gotten stuck between two old books and been hiding for 45 years.

What happened to Cynthia? Did she take his lack of a response as a rejection? Did she marry someone else and live her life longing for Mr. Lyons? Jack had a hard time thinking of Mr. Lyons as someone who would evoke longing, but the heart wants what the heart wants.

Jack read a few pages of Cynthia’s book. More than a few, really. He liked the writing. Parts of it were pretty spicy, and, if it hadn’t been Mr. Lyons she was writing about, he would have enjoyed those scenes too.

Jack didn’t have a girlfriend at the moment, partly because he had what he assumed were foolish romantic notions of what a relationship should be. Taking his romantic nature as a weapon, he decided to take a chance and call Mr. Lyons.

“Mr. Lyons.”

           “Yes Jack. Is everything okay?”

“Yes, it is. But I had to call you about something that may be important.”

“What’s that, young man?”

“I found a manuscript behind some books. It was written in 1979.”

“I hope it was on the new releases shelf.”

Jack smiled. “As a matter of fact, it was. Anyway, it is a personal story with a dedication, of sorts, on the inside page.”

“A dedication?”

“Yes. To you. I didn’t want to wait until tomorrow, so will you come back to the shop?”

“If you think it’s important, I will.”

Jack hardly recognized Mr. Lyons when he came into the shop wearing jeans and a sweatshirt with the sleeves ripped off. It was a far cry from his wool suits.

“So, let me see this manuscript.”

Jack handed it to him, and Mr. Lyons sat in his chair, staring at first at the cover, then transfixed by the handwritten note inside. He started reading Cynthia’s story and a few tears fell onto the pages.

“Well, Jack my friend, I’m glad you called. As it turns out, this manuscript explains a lot of things.”

“I’m sorry?” Jack didn’t know what the older man was getting at.

“Cynthia Adams was a beautiful young woman who used to do the same job you’re doing now. I had just bought the shop after it had been left to decay for years. It took a lot of work to get it up to snuff. She was a hard worker.”

“If I may ask, Mr. Lyons, did the two of you date?”

“Oh, I would have loved that. I fantasized about her regularly, but I wasn’t too good at boy/girl things, and I don’t think she was either.”

“So, you never read it?”

“Nope. And she moved to California.”

“Here’s a crazy idea. Let’s call her.”

“Call her? It’s ten o’clock.”

“Not in California.”

“How will we find her?”

“I took the liberty of doing some detective work on LinkedIn and Facebook. Does this look like her?” Jack put his laptop screen in front of Mr. Lyons.

“Yes. That’s her.” He sat down again, his head spinning from the evening’s events.

“Here: I think this is her phone number. Redlands, California. Give her a call.”

“What will I say? What can I possibly say?”

“You can say that you never saw the story she wrote about the two of you until tonight, and you wanted to apologize for how bad she must have felt when she didn’t hear from you.”

“I guess I could say that.”

“Good. I’ll go into the back room so you can have some privacy.”

Jack’s chest was pounding with excitement for the love story he was a party too, but it occurred to him that it might also turn out to be a tragedy. Maybe Mr. Lyons would have been better off if Jack had just dusted off the manuscript and put it on the shelf.

A few minutes later Steven Lyons walked into the back room looking somber and sat down across from Jack.

“So, how did it go?” Jack wasn’t sure he wanted to know.

“Well, Jack, she was happy to hear from me. But she is not going to come back here.”

“Oh, I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. She wants me to go there. She wants me to sell the store to you.”

“What? I mean… what?”

“Can you afford $100 per month?”

“Um, I guess. Yes. Yes, I can. But it is worth so much more…”

“Don’t worry. You’ll be paying that amount forever, or until you or I die.”

“I guess that’s fair.”

“Jack, I went home tonight feeling okay. I was about to eat some pizza rolls and some yogurt. Since you called, my life has exploded in a wonderful way.” Mr. Lyons grabbed Jack and gave him a bear hug. “Thank you.”