There were a lot of things that changed my life. Realizing my love of writing stories, meeting my best friends, branching out as an adult. I didn't even have to stray far from home to find myself. But that was a problem. I was scared to leave home. I could barely go to the places where I was most unfamiliar.
Then one day changed my life forever.
"You really should read more," My friend, Emily, was berating me. "I mean you read, but you haven't talked about that 'one great book' you read, recently. You need to find another great book. You need to be inspired again."
We were having lunch in the university union, waiting for her next class to start. I knew what she was talking about; I was losing an uphill battle with my creativity. I was slumping. There was no more inspiration for me to grasp. Usually, I would read a great book and that would spark my imagination, but I didn't have much time for reading these days.
"I mean, you're graduating in a semester. And you haven't even begun to send out some of your finished short stories to publishers. Really, Rachel, sometimes I wonder what you're doing." She sipped her coffee and I grabbed a cold French-fry, popping it into my mouth. I picked up another fry.
"You're right," I tossed the half eaten French-fry and grabbed my bag. Stuffing in my wallet, I stood and started walking away. "I'm going to a bookstore." Emily called after me, but I hardly heard her shouting.
I unlocked my car and ducked in, quickly turning the ignition and putting it into reverse. My car backed up and I drove away from the campus. The nearest bookstore was a Barnes and Noble. Not my favorite bookstore, but it would have to do. At least it was nearby and not halfway across the state. Though, it was still pretty far away. I had to drive a little more than fifteen minutes to get there.
Pulling into the parking spot, I grabbed my wallet and got out of my car. There weren't many people around, but then again, I didn't expect there to be.
There was a chance that the store was closed, but I highly doubted it would be. I mean, it shouldn't have been. Plus I just needed one book to read, that wouldn't take too long to find. Actually, that was a lie. I knew that it probably would take forever; unless I had some sort of head start. But I didn't know what sort of book I was looking for. Another reason I needed a mainstream bookstore.
I walked inside and smiled. There was just something about bookstores. My first job was at a bookstore. Of course I quit once school started getting tougher and I couldn't juggle all the responsibilities. The store was two levels, but I knew the sections I was looking for; young adult and regular literature. Those were the only two sections I ever looked at. Those were the only two sections I ever needed. Immediately, I made my way over, though I didn't really see any workers, save one or two scattered around the store.
There was a man in the regular literature section. Awkwardly, I stepped around him and started looking at the book with the author's last names beginning with A. While I stood there, looking at titles and completely judging books by their covers, I noticed the man glance in my direction a couple times. Eventually, I got to the books with the author's name beginning with K.
Out of all the books, one stood out. It was called "The Rose Garden" and the cover artwork was beautiful. I was instantly drawn to the book. As I reached out to grab it, another hand reached at the same time, picking up the book before I could get my hands on it. Of course, it was the only other person in the aisle; the strange man.
"I'm sorry," I retracted my hand and kept looking at the other books. But the man placed his hand on my shoulder.
"I'm sorry, you take it." He smiled at me, looking quite sad. He held out the book to me and I took it. "There's only one copy, but you should have it." He was handsome, but a bit older than I was, possibly in his mid-30s. Though his accent had me swooning and his eyes were beautiful. "I was just picking up another copy for my wife, hers is worn down, but she's in no great hurry to get it." He smiled and I felt a blush on my cheeks.
"Well, thank you, but-" I smiled over at him and noticed him walking away. I looked at the book grasped in my hands. "Wait," I held it out towards him. "Really, you can have it. I can always find another book." I smiled at him, but for one moment the man seemed incredibly depressed.
"What's your name?" The man turned towards me. I pulled my arm back towards me.
"Rachel Clover." I brought the book closer to my chest, wondering why he asked me that question. For a moment, the man turned his face away towards the ground. The look of pain and sheer misery on his face made my bones weak. "Are you alright?" The man looked back at me.
"Yeah, I'm fine. But I'm Dorian Foster." He smiled a little at me. I once again stretched my hand forward to offer the book, but he grasped my hand and pushed it back towards my chest. "There's no replacing this book." He turned and walked away. "Goodbye Rachel Clover." The man disappeared at the end of the aisle, only looking back once at me as I stood. Scanning over the books once more, I looked at the covers, picking up none of them to read. Eventually, I stopped looking at others and examined the book in my hand.
I stood there, holding the book, flipping through the pages and running my hands over the cover. Wondering what was so special about it, I walked down the aisle, intent on finding a chair to sit so I could read the first couple chapters. As I turned left from the aisle, I ran headfirst into someone. The book dropped from my hand and the person dropped their books as well.
"I'm so sorry. I wasn't watching where I was going." I smiled at the man, though I noticed his nametag. "You work here?" I dropped to the floor to help pick up the many books the worker was undoubtedly restocking to the shelves. "I've never seen you around before. I'm sorry that I ran into you." I grabbed every book, the person did the same. "Gosh, I feel like I'm talking a lot." I had handed the guy half of the books he had originally been carrying. I had the other half in my hands. "Why don't I help you carry these while you put them back?" The guy smiled over at me and nodded. "I'm Rachel Clover, by the way." I smiled at him.
"John," The man smiled back. "John Smith." He had a British accent and was dressed in nice pants, a nice shirt, and a bowtie.
"I like your bowtie. How long have you been working here?" We walked to one aisle, John putting books back in their rightful places.
"Only about a week, or so. I've never stayed in one place too long. This is just a short stop before moving on." He looked back at me, a sad look in his eyes. "Yes, won't be around for much longer."
"Why do you move around so much?" I looked over at him as he stacked some books back into the shelves. "If you don't mind me asking, that is." I noticed a few spaces for some of the books I was holding. I placed them back. We walked and found other shelves where the books belonged.
"People tend to get hurt if I stay around them too long." His statement confused me. "People don't expect it, but they do things they wouldn't normally, trying to help me." There was pain in his eyes. But I still didn't understand what he was talking about. He looked at me. I tried to lighten the mood.
"Well, I can tell you this. You're not gonna be hurting me. I'm indestructible." I smiled over at him as I put back some books on the shelves around us. "Though you did say you were leaving soon." He put back some books.
"Yes, very soon." The two of us put back the last of our books and I walked to the front of the store with him to buy my selection. He rang me up and I took the plastic bag with my book and dropped my wallet inside. He smiled at me. "Maybe I'll be seeing you." I looked at him over the cash register.
"Yeah, well, when's your next break?" I leaned on the counter and waited for his answer. "I mean, in a strictly friendly way." I stopped leaning on the counter as he seemed to get slightly uncomfortable. "After all, you sort of owe me." There was a look of confusion on his face. "I mean, I did just help you put back some pretty heavy books. The least you could do is buy me a coffee." John raised his hands in defeat, though still looking hesitant about the whole idea.
"What the hell, what could it hurt?" John smiled and we walked over to the café in the store. John ordered tea and I got myself some frilly coffee drink that was probably more cream and sugar than coffee.
We found a small table by the window to sit at. I dropped my bag over the chair and sat down. We sat in silence for a bit. I took a sip of my drink, cringing with the utter and overwhelming sweetness of the drink. I was definitely not used to it.
"That's the last time I get a drink like this. I mean if I get another, I'll probably end up with a cavity." I smiled over at him. "Never had a cavity in my life either. I don't even know what I would do if I got one."
"See a dentist, probably." John smiled and I let out a laugh and nodded. "I mean, that's what you're supposed to do." I took another small sip.
"Knowing me, though, I would have to see some weird dentist I had never met and he'd do something weird with my teeth." I kept smiling and chuckling, but John's face had fallen.
"I'm sure you'd be just fine." He took a long sip of tea. I looked down at the coffee before me. It was too sweet for me, even after the second sip. But I kept drinking it anyways. "Well then, tell me about yourself." I grabbed the coffee cup, holding it at the moment for warmth.
"Well, I'm in college, studying to be a creative writer." I put down the cup and leaned back in my chair. "Though, I don't know what I'm doing. I have no real career lined up for me. I'll probably end up going into a dead end job, hating my life. And I'll be stuck there forever."
"Or not," John smiled over at me. "There are a million possibilities out there for you. You could save the world." John took another sip of his tea. "You never know."
"Yeah, well, I have no direction at all. There's only one thing I've ever wanted to do with my life; only one thing and its stupid." John looked over at me as I kept my gaze out the window.
"Well, what is it you've wanted to do?" He waited for me to answer.
"I said it's stupid, I mean, I would never have to courage to actually do it." I looked down at my untouched coffee. "God, what am I doing with my life?" I put my head in my hands.
"You're on the path that you need to be on. There are many decisions that we have to meet, but you have to have faith that the choices you make lead you in the right direction no matter what." John finished his tea and kept his eye on me. I looked away from the window and nudged my cup of coffee with my knuckle.
"Fine, I've always wanted to live in England." I looked over at John, waiting for him to tell me what a silly idea it was. But he didn't speak. "Well-" I tried to prompt him, but he didn't really react as I expected.
"Well, what?" John looked over at me as if expecting me to freak out or something. "Is there something special about that? Some strange reaction you expect from people?"
"Normally people look at me funny. Like I'm some sort of loon because I want to live outside of the country." I ran my fingers through my hair. "I mean, really, I've wanted to since my family visited when I was in middle school."
"You should go." John smiled over at me.
"What?" I knocked the cup and it teetered. I caught it before it spilled, amazed at my reflexes. Though I was a little shocked at what John said. No one ever told me things like that.
"Pick up after graduation and just move to London or do whatever you want. It's your life, live it before it's gone." John looked out the window, staring at the cars parked outside in the lot.
"Is that why you move around do much? Living your life before it's gone?" John looked over at me. "Or do you just like to travel and find new places?"
"The second one, I believe." He smiled. "What's better than seeing a place with new eyes? Finding something new about somewhere you've already been? I've always wanted to travel and now that's all I do."
"You mean, except for an odd job here and there, I suppose. Even when you travel there are bills to pay." I smiled over at John. John nodded, smiling at me.
"But I wouldn't change it for the world." John looked nostalgic and I didn't want to rain on that feeling. I didn't want to bring up that he had said that everyone around him got hurt. He didn't deserve that when he seemed always conflicted by emotions, even now as we just sat and had a cup of coffee or tea. He was a strange man, so happy but so sad at the same time. There was no way I was going to try to poke my way in there. After all, he was a nice stranger that I had just met. It would take a lot more coffees to be able to open up about ourselves and be considered friends. "Rachel," John reached across the table and grasped my hands in his. "Promise me you'll move to London, follow your dream, and keep writing."
"I'll keep writing. I don't know about my dream, but moving to London? Maybe," I picked up the cold cup of coffee and took a small sip. I stood and threw away my unfinished, cold cup and went back to grab my bag. "See you around, John. If you're still here next time I need a book." I took my bag and walked away from the table.
John was still sitting there, still staring out the window. I walked out to my car, unlocking it and threw my bag inside. I looked back at the coffee shop window to see John still sitting there. After a brief wave, I ducked into my car a drove away, heading back to my home. The whole drive, my mind was jumping everywhere; from the possibility of actually moving to England to the life I would lead if I stayed here. But as I pulled into my driveway I knew my mind was made up; I just didn't know what was going to happen. And in that moment, I wished I had a time machine to see what was in store for me.