(A/N I stole this scene from Notting Hill. I thought it was great.)
(7 P.M. - The Traveling Book Store, Co.)

Lauren sighed as she flipped through Vogue. She looked up as she saw Janet walk by and wave, pulling her purse up on her shoulder. "Night, Lauren."

"Night, Jan."

Lauren watched Janet leave, and then saw a lanky, balding man in a suit stop in front of the store before walking in.

"Hello, can I help you?" Lauren asked, standing up.

"Um, no. Thank you." The jumpy man said nervously. He began looking around.

Lauren gave a tight-lipped smile and raised her eyebrows then look down and began to straighten papers.

"Would you happen to have anything on Winnie the Pooh?"

"Um, no, sorry, this is a travel book store. We have things on Greece, Italy, France, South America..."

"No." The man said, and kept looking shakily around.

"Okay..." She sat down and continued to straighten paper.

A few second later, the man asked, "Would you happen to have any art technique books?"

"No, sir."

"Oh, alright."

Lauren gave him a queer look from over the counter she hoped he didn't see.

"What about cooking books?"

"No, sir. What exactly are you looking for?"

"Um, I'll look around."

Lauren stared at him for a second, and watched him as he began to move up and down the aisles of bookcases filled with books. Shaking her head and trying not to laugh at the probably drunken man, she began to straighten a pile of books. She looked up when the bell on the door tinkled.

Lauren wanted to gasp...

Trent walked into the bookstore, unaware of what he would find. Hooking his thumbs in the belt loops of his slightly tight, rather ratty jeans, he looked around at the bookcases before looked straight ahead to Lauren.

Lauren sat, trying not to stare. The man in front of her had a really, REALLY nice body. Not that she was superficial or anything, but this just wasn't something you see in a travel bookstore very often. His body was clad in a long sleeve gray shirt with navy blue stripes along the sleeves and a Vans logo across the front, jeans with ratty hems, and a pair of flip flops.

Looking up, she did gasp before asking, "Can I help you, sir?" He had wild black hair and piercing blue gray eyes.

Oh, boy.

Trent gave a little dimpled smile, one he rarely used on strangers. But he liked this stranger, she was well... very, very attractive.

"Do you have any books on France or Italy?" 'Wow, smooth one' Trent chided himself, but kept the smile in place.

Lauren looked ready to burst out laughing. "Thank God your not like my last customer." She mummbled, then stood up and walked around the desk. She watched as his eyes took in her body quickly, but didn't undress her or check her out really. He was blatantly sexual, but there was something restrained about him.

She turned around, and Trent's eyes checked out her small, trim back clad in a peasant shirt; and then her legs, which were in jeans tight enough to show off her figure but not be flashy.

Yes, she was very attractive.

She had short, shiny dark reddish brown hair that curled around her collar, and the layers were curled out around her ears (A/N Mandy Moore's hair cut).

"Well," He then noticed the Southern twange. Well this girl seemed full of surprises. He wanted to kick himself. "We have five whole rows on Italy and twice as many of France."

Walking to stand beside her, he watched her slender hands as they pointed out where the books were located.

Averting his eyes, he began to run his fingers along the spines of the books. "Do you have any you would recommend?"

Lauren looked at him, but he wouldn't make eye contact with her. It seemed almost like he was afraid to. "Well, it depends. Is this for traveling or pleasure reading or... what?"

"It's for traveling. Mandy's going to Italy and France in a couple weeks for her birthday."

Disappointment rolled through her just for a moment, but she pushed it down. A guy as yummy looking as this was bound to be taken!

"Well, your girlfriend is going to love it. For traveling I would-"

"She's not my girlfriend." The gorgeous guy laughed. "She's actually my friend Zeek's girlfriend. He's making me buy stuff for her, but I don't know her that well or anything."

Lauren laughed, uncomfortable. "Oh... Well, ha..." She didn't remember what she had been talking about and suddenly she made eye contact with him. She looked away and back at the shelf. "This one is basically a tour guide. With pictures and directions and great café and restaurant listings." She pulled out a book entiled 'Mama Mia! Italiano!' which had a picture of an Italian beach and countryside.

"This is perfect."

She smiled at him, then walked to the end of the aisle to the bookshelf lining the farther back wall. "Now, for France..."

"Have you ever been to any of these places?" Trent asked, while flipping through the pages of the Italy book. He had no idea why he asked, but he realized he wanted to know.

Odd.

"Well, yes, actually. I've been to Italy about seven times and France a dozen, with friends to go to ski resorts and visit the beaches. But mainly we go to Switzerland for the ski stuff."

Trent's eyes widened and then narrowed a bit at that. This girl was out of his league. Way out. He had never really been outside of the United States, let alone out of California. Which wasn't really his fault, he had been brought up by an older sister because his parents abandoned them. But anyway... "That's really cool. What's your favorite place?"

Lauren was silent for a moment. "Um... any beach in France. You could just lounge around and tan and drink Coke until you got sick of it. Mandy is going to love it if she's into that sort of thing."

"She will." He said quietly, and then watched as Lauren pulled three books out.

"Well, this book is basically the same as that one." She indicated the Italy book. "But these two have more historical stuff. I like all three, but you can take your pick."

"I'll take all three."

Lauren raised her eyebrows for a moment. "Sure, okay." She then heard books fall from some of the shelves and a startled, shaky gasp. Looking at Trent, she laughed and handed the books to him. "Hold on."

She walked to the front of the store, with Trent following right behind her. Lauren went to the desk and looked at the security camera TV, and watched as the weird, drunken man that she had forgotten about tucked two books into his coat.

Laughing, she held a finger up and said, "One moment, just... a moment."

Walking down to the aisle the man was in, she bent down and picked up some of the books he had knocked down off of the shelves. "Um, sir, you might want to put those books back."

"Books? What books?"

"Those books that happen to be in your coat. If you just put them back I won't do anything about it."

"Books? I'm sorry, I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Dahlin, we have security cameras." She pointed at the ceiling where two security cameras were, having no idea Trent was watching this whole ordeal.

"That's nice." The man's eyes were huge, his long face playing innocent.

Lauren smiled and nodded. "Well, you know what, we're closing... So, if you'd like to buy anything, now would be the time to do it."

"No. Thank you." The man turned and walked out the door.

Lauren laughed as she watched him and then looked at Trent. "Well, so much for buying anything." She rung the books up. "That'll be fifty-two dollars and ninety-seven cents, please."

Trent pulled his wallet out of his back pocket and handed over a fifty and a ten. "Have you worked here long?" He had no idea why he was asking questions, usually he only spoke when he had to, but something compeled him to talk to her.

"About two years, I'd say. I only moved to this city four years ago, and it helps pay for college books."

"What college are you going to?" He asked as he put the change into his wallet.

"Sacramento State."

"Cool. And what are you studying?" He watched her hands wrap the books in brown paper and then put them into a shiny silver and black package that had The Traveling Book, Co. logo printed across both sides.

"Fashion and design. I'm not sure what I'm going to major in yet." She held out the bag for him, and when his fingers brushed hers as he took it, she smiled.

"Well, that's really great. I hope it works out for you. It was nice meeting you, eh..."

"Lauren."

"It was nice meeting you, Lauren."

She smiled at him, "Thanks for visiting. Come back soon."

Trent smiled at her awkwardly for a moment, then turned and walked out, pulling the keys to his beat up '63 red Mustang out of his front pocket.

Lauren watched him until he disappeared from sight. It was then she realized she hadn't asked for HIS name.

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