Meg woke up the day of the grand opening a full hour before her alarm clock was set to go off. Instead of rolling over in an attempt to gain a few extra minutes of sleep, she literally felt ready to jump up and start the day. She sat on the edge of her bed arching her back and stretching out her arms. At the same time, she spent a few reflective moments silently praying that her day would go well and that God would be on her side with her new venture. Meg Landry was not superstitious but she did work at keeping herself both spiritual and centered.
Meg was a girl who loved a good bath but today she'd forgo her morning soak in lieu of a brisk shower. She'd poured - literally poured - over the outfit she'd wear to the store that day. Her typical jeans or chinos with new trademark 'Chapters' polo shirt would not due. She'd struggled with her wardrobe choice because on one hand she wanted to keep things casual and real by donning her embroidered work shirt but at the same time she was the owner of a used bookstore and she would be representing her business for the first time to an area of town that could be described quite accurately as 'high end.' Chapters would have to prove itself - and so would she.
*
Lisa was the first to arrive for work. Meg felt an instant sense of pride upon seeing her in her official 'Chapters' uniform polo.
"How are you?" Meg greeted her with a smile.
"Good," Lisa said. "I'm really excited about today."
"Me, too," Meg agreed, barely able to contain her energy.
"Here," Lisa said, handing her a cup. "I don't know if you're a coffee drinker or not but it's iced caramel. My favorite."
Meg accepted the plastic cup gratefully and poked the straw through the tiny 'x' in the lid. "Wow," she said. "That's delicious."
"My favorite coffee shop is just a block from here - The Dusty Rose. Have you ever been there?"
"Never," Meg said, "but I'm going to have to make it a point to stop." Meg was no stranger to the city but she was definitely unfamiliar with her new block. It was a bit on the fancy side and that was the primary reason she believed she had more to prove about her store.
One by one, the rest of her small crew arrived, each wearing their uniform polos. Their outfits gave her the impression that they were all a part of her little army and she liked the feeling of being surrounded by their support.
True to old-fashioned form, Meg had ordered dozens of chocolate chip cookies to put out for the customers. She'd also ordered bottled water with the 'Chapters' logo for the occasion and set out traditional coffee in insulated carafes. She hoped that by providing a relaxing atmosphere with refreshments, people would feel encouraged to stay awhile to peruse the aisles and aisles of books.
"Everything looks great," Ev said. "I really like the bookmarks. They add a nice touch."
Meg picked up one of the many paper bookmarks she'd ordered. The front showed the 'Chapters' logo and website and the reverse side listed random author quotes.
"The more we can get our name out there, the better," she added.
People slowly began to filter in during the morning. Some were ecstatic about the opening of a privately-owned and locally-operated bookstore while others were simply curious. Somewhere in the middle were those who were less than enthused at the notion of a used bookstore in their midst.
"Where are you from?" one particularly snobbish woman asked Meg as she stuffed a bottle of water into her expensive handbag.
"I'm from here," Meg replied. "Born and raised."
"Whatever made you decide on a used bookstore?" she asked. "With Barnes and Noble and Borders just around the corner, what makes you think you'll be able to compete?"
Meg shook her head. "I'm not looking to compete with them directly," she answered. "It would be foolish for me to think that a small store like this is going to give them a run for their money. I'm here to offer people another option and to be honest, used books are a large part of the modern market."
"How so?" the woman asked, reaching for her second cookie.
"I've been selling used books on the Internet for years. There's a big demand."
The woman looked around, assessing the store. "Well, you certainly have a nice place, here. I just don't think you're business is going to last long enough to enjoy it."
Meg squinted at her and had to hold back the instinct to kick the woman right out of the store. Working with the public in retail for years had given her the patience to deal with difficult or down right rude individuals. "Well, feel free to have a look around," she said. "Have a good day."
She turned on her heel only to bump straight into Albie. "Hey," he said, jokingly, "watch it." He smoothed his shirt. "You almost wrinkled my brand new Armani ."
Meg smiled, relieved to see her best friend. She looked at him up and down, taking in the new shirt he referred to. "Very nice, Albs. What's the occasion?"
"What's the occasion?" he repeated. "This is the occasion!" He approached the refreshment table and grabbed a cookie. "Free cookies and bottled water is the occasion," he winked at her.
Meg smiled, grateful for Albie's support. She felt empowered whenever he was around because his confidence was nothing short of contagious.
"How's it been going?" he asked.
Meg looked around and sighed. "It's been slow. I think we've sold maybe six books all morning."
Albie assessed the crowd and nodded. "It's your first day. What did you expect?"
Meg shrugged. "I don't know...maybe to completely sell out my entire stock of books, receive and accept an offer to buy the store from a disgustingly rich, retired exec who's dream it was to retire in a bookstore, and then board a plane to St. Bart's where I'd live out the rest of my years without a care. Too much?"
Albie smiled. "Never too much. I like the way you think, sister."
Meg greeted everyone that walked through the door and introduced herself as the owner and operator. She thought it important to make personal connections in the hopes that they'd feel welcome and eventually return. Her family was there to help but they did more talking amongst themselves than any real work. If she added up her family with her employees, they vastly outnumbered the customers inside the store.
Albie had stepped outside to take a phone call, undoubtedly about his stocks. Meg could see him through the large window pane. She smiled as she watched him pace about in front of the store. He was in 'buy' or 'sell' mode...Albie always paced nervously when he was about to make a trade.
Thankfully, business began to pick up a bit around lunch time. She had several people come in to take a quick look around the store. One woman who worked nearby told her that she'd seen the grand opening sign and told a few of her co-workers about it. Word of mouth went far in the way of advertising.
About twenty minutes had gone by before Albie returned. He had a strange look on his face - a mix of irritation and confusion.
"Can I talk to you for a minute?" he asked, leading her toward the back room.
"What's up?" Meg asked, trying to assess Albie's expression. "You look pissed...what's the matter?"
"Your next door neighbor's a dick, that's what's the matter," he said.
"What?" Meg asked, laughing. "Who are you talking about?"
"Dan Kerrigan or Keagel...Mr. Fancy-Ass Caterer."
"Keagan," Meg corrected. "Dan Keagan. I met him the other day. He seemed perfectly nice to me."
"I'll bet he did, the snake."
Meg leaned back against her desk. "What happened?"
Albie opened the refrigerator and helped himself to a bottle of iced tea. He shook it before unscrewing the lid.
"I was outside on the phone with Tom," he began referring to his broker. "I was just about to sell my shares of Tirell Gold. Remember I've been wanting to unload that?"
"Yeah, Albie but get to the point."
"Anyway, so I walked to the back lot where I parked my car earlier. By the way, I'm assuming it's okay to park back there, right?"
Meg nodded. "Yes, it's fine."
"So I'm on my way to my car to check on a few notes I'd made about Tirell and when I finished the call I began to walk back to the front. As I reached the sidewalk, I pass this guy up and he says he knows me."
"Who? Dan?"
Albie nodded. "He asks if I golfed with Jeff Dunn earlier this month at the country club and I said yes. He tells me he's good friends with Jeff and proceeds to make all this small talk b.s. with me as if I care. Then he asks me what I'm doing over this way and I tell him I'm here to check out the new bookstore. Then the guy's face gets all screwed up like he needs to spit or something."
"What?" Meg exclaimed. "What do you mean?"
"He says not to waste my time going in because it's a shit-shop full of used books. He then proceeds to tell me that his brother-in-law owns this whole plaza and that he was supposed to get the contract to take over this space for an off-shoot of his catering business. He wanted to put a small restaurant in here."
"He called this place a 'shit-shop'?" Meg repeated.
"That he did. I told you the guy's a dick. Anyway, so he tells me that he and his wife had a recent falling out with the brother-in-law and that the brother-in-law leased it to you out of spite."
"Shut up," Meg said, in disbelief.
"No, he said you were literally the first person to come along after their blow-up and that Davidson...that's your landlord's name, right?"
Meg nodded.
"That Davidson nearly gave you the place."
"That's a lie," Meg defended. "I'm paying top dollar here, believe me."
Albie nodded. "I know, I know. I'm basically out there just letting this asshole dig his own grave with his big mouth."
"Wait," Meg said, putting a hand up to halt Albie's tirade. "What would make possess him to tell you these things? You're a virtual stranger to the guy."
Albie laughed. "That's where it gets good. He's going on and on, and all of a sudden I realize - he thinks I'm a lawyer like Jeff Dunn. He's telling me this story, as if it's just casual conversation but at the end of it all, he asks me what I think. And I say, 'I don't know, Guy...sounds pretty complicated.' And then he says he wasn't asking me my personal opinion...he wants to know if I think he has any legal recourse over the breaking of the verbal contract he had with his wife's brother over the commercial space."
"Oh my God, I cannot believe him," Meg said, pacing. "And do you know he had the nerve to stop here the other day with a basket of muffins? What a two-faced creep!"
Meg grabbed the bottle of iced tea from Albie's hand and took a long swig. "Did you end up telling him you're not a lawyer?"
"Hell no," Albie said, taking the tea back from her. "I wanted to keep the guy talking. If I told him I was here as your friend and that I'm actually a pharmaceutical sales rep and not a lawyer, do you think he would have said any of that to me?"
Meg shook her head. "What a presumptuous asshole."
Albie nodded. "Right. That all being said, what are we going to do about it?"
"Do about it?" Meg asked, confused. "There's nothing we can do about it. From what I can tell it's a family drama that we're no part of. Plus, I have a contract to be in this space. A legally binding contract. There's no way they can kick me out even if they wanted to."
Albie sat on her desk and squinted his eyes, deep in thought. "I wonder," he said. "Especially after all the hard work you've done to get this place presentable. I mean, it looks like a museum!"
Meg smiled. "Thanks for the compliment but I don't plan on letting that two-faced jerk reap the benefits of my work anytime soon."
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