Writer's Island #3 - The Key

PLEASE READ THIS FIRST...Something is happening with these writing prompts through both Writer's Island and Sunday Scribblings. Something wonderful and unexpected. My muse has awoken from a slumber so deep that I was afraid she might have left me all together. For that, I thank everyone involved with these "memes".

Today's Writer's Island entry is actually a continuation of the tale begun with this week's Sunday Scribbling Prompt. Please read that one first, if you will, so that this one makes sense in the beginning. I'm not quite sure where this tale is leading yet, so the mystery is as much for me, as it is for you. I hope you enjoy reading it even half as much as I'm enjoying writing it.

And now...The Key:

Well, now that we’d gotten that out of the way, what was I supposed to say next? I laughed, he laughed.

“I have to tell you,” he said smiling as we moved away from the door “I’ve been working up the nerve to do what you just did for days now”.

“I didn’t know I was going to do it until I’d already spoken”, I laughed.

“Well, I’m glad you did” then he looked at his watch “but I’m going to be late for work if I don’t leave now”. He smiled again “So, if I sit at your table tomorrow?”

“I’ll be sure to grab a good one” I said with a grin.

“Great, see you then”. And he was gone. And I was left with a stupid ear to ear grin on my face. Did that really just happen?

Shaking my head to bring myself back to reality I turned to walk away. I had so much to do today, I didn’t really have time for daydreaming. He might have been cute, and who knew what tomorrow’s coffee date would bring, but I had more pressing matters to attend to.

Upon reaching my building, I unlocked the front door, turned on the lights, and switched the sign on the door to Open. I owned and ran a used book store only a few doors down from the coffee shop. Business wasn’t what you’d call “booming”, but the little shop did well enough so that I could focus my energies on my real job. It wasn’t so much that I didn’t love selling books, because I did. It was that this store provided me with the perfect cover to do all I needed to do, without anyone suspecting what I was up to.

My life was a complicated one, but there was never a day that I didn’t feel grateful for the very complications that made it such an interesting life to lead. About thirty minutes after I’d opened up the shop, Jolene arrived. Jolene was my sole employee, and probably one of my favorite people in the world. She was 73 years old, and probably the spunkiest little old lady you’ll ever meet. But don’t let anyone call her an old lady to her face, because she’d set you right. She was 73 years young, and “getting younger by the minute”, she’d joke. “Child, pretty soon I’ll be in diapers again and if that isn’t reverting back to your youth, well then, I don’t know what is” she had told me once. Jolene pretty much ran my little shop while I was attending to my more clandestine affairs. She did it with a smile on her face and a knowing twinkle in her eye, because she knew the truth. I’d had to trust someone when I’d first arrived in town and opened up the shop, and upon meeting Jo, I knew she’d be the one to entrust with my secrets.

Once she arrived, and we exchanged our morning pleasantries, I made my way into the backroom. Closing the door behind me, I sat at my desk, and took out the key. There was a lot to do today, and I needed to get started right away. I took a deep breath, exhaled, and stood up. “Okay, let’s get to work”. I said walking toward the closet in the corner. I put the key in the lock and turned, waiting for the magical sound of the lock turning, a sound I knew would start my day in earnest.

“Click”…

Copyright 2007 - Karina

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