A/N: Just a snippet, really, but I'm counting on all of you to plague my life out if I don't give you more, and what better way to do that, than leaving it like this? Don't hate me.
Chapter 25 - It Had Been a Good Day
It had been a good day. Which was kind of a first for a long while, both personally and professionally. Things had been a bit of a mess at the Hartford Truncheon when Jess came back from his stint in Stars Hollow; and that was putting it mildly. Eva and Grace, long time employees, both contacted him wishing to file a complaint of sexual harassment against Grant, a.k.a. the new guy; and, evidently he'd been a bit over friendly with some of the customers as well, to the point that one requested to see his manager-who was, of course, out of town due to a family emergency, in addition to not generally working on-site. Yeah. He had to fire the guy. Not long after that, both Eva and Grace quit. So, Jess had been required to run the place as a one-man show for about a week while he interviewed prospective employees. There were few things in life he hated more than conducting interviews. Of course, this was actually the first time in his life that he, personally, had been required to conduct them…other than Grant, who obviously hadn't worked out so well. It was an ugly process, but was over mercifully far quicker than he'd anticipated. Again, he'd wound up hiring one guy and two women, hoping that he wasn't just asking for trouble repeating said combination. The exact ratio, naturally, was not intentional. He hired the best of the lot, and that was the result. Then, at the last minute, he ended up hiring one more, an 18 year old girl who applied after all the positions had been filled, but who obviously needed the job pretty badly.
It was only after they all arrived for work the next day that it occurred to him that all four of them were somewhat extreme introverts, which was likely to get interesting in a business that revolved almost entirely around working with the public. But…look who had hired them. In the long run, though, it turned out that he really liked the team he'd assembled; and after a few initial mishaps, caused mostly by lack of communication-shocker-they worked together marvelously, each functioning as an insular, yet dedicated piece of the puzzle that was the running of Truncheon.
That was what had made it a good day. He'd seen things really starting to come together, and introverted or not, everybody seemed to be starting to like each other-which was a very good thing, considering the fact that Jess figured he ought to spend more time in Truncheon than previously, even after their training was completed, so that he wouldn't be so out-of-touch if things started going wrong. After a day like this one, when crazy quirks and teasing and all around fun had been the order of the day (mostly at the expense of Jace, the one guy in the group, who was painfully shy and therefore amusing to coax out of his shell), he really didn't think he'd mind the extra time he was going to have to spend there.
The place was definitely developing a good energy, creative and stimulating, in an almost electric way, and Jess had a smile noodling around the corners of his mouth all the way home. His fingers drummed on the dash in time to the song on the radio, and he was absently whistling it as he stepped with a brisk lightness down his walkway toward the front door…which had…four large cardboard boxes stacked in front of it.
Jess frowned, rubbing a spot that itched on his right ear as he squinted down at them. From the label, definitely books. But why they had been delivered to the front door of his home instead of to Truncheon was… It was striking half a chord in his memory, but the pieces weren't coming together.
He retrieved his keys, unlocking the door and carrying one of the boxes inside, hoping that the packing list, or the books themselves would clear up the mystery. A few seconds with box cutters and he remembered quite clearly. He knew the hit his credit card had taken, even at discount prices due to his bookstore status, was considerable, but he hadn't realized he'd gotten this carried away. He pawed through the books of variegated colors and sizes, strewing them haphazardly on the coffee table and thumbing through a couple of them before heading back to the open front door to get the other three boxes.
Jess stopped in his tracks.
He felt all the breath sucked from his lungs…like a candle…snuffed…
"Audra…" the syllables choked from his throat, and it was all he could say.
He'd seen her only once since the day she walked away…the day they'd been in the church, planning their wedding.