Chapter 89: More Customers
Rosalie:
Lunch had been surprisingly peaceful.
With no customers inside the bookstore, I finally had the chance to sit behind the reception desk and enjoy the simple meal I had packed from home - a bowl of chickpea salad filled with cucumbers, tomatoes, onions, and herbs, accompanied by two boiled eggs. It wasn’t anything fancy, but after the morning’s training, it tasted better than most restaurant meals I could remember.
While eating, I spent the time updating the bookstore’s social media page with photographs of several newly arranged shelves and another short recommendation for one of my favorite mystery novels.
Over the past few days, I had realized that if I wanted people to remember the bookstore for more than just Alpha Eiden Thorn’s visit, I needed to constantly remind them what made this place special - books, knowledge, comfort, and a peaceful place to spend an afternoon.
By the time I finished my lunch, cleaned the small bowl, and wiped down the reception desk, I felt refreshed enough to tackle the rest of the day with renewed enthusiasm.
The soft chime of the brass bell above the entrance immediately drew my attention. I instinctively looked toward the door with a practiced smile already forming on my lips.
The tenth customer today. Or... at least that was what I assumed.
Ever since morning, people had continued dropping by because of past days’ excitement. Some came solely to order the now-famous iced lemon tea. Others politely asked where Alpha Eiden had been sitting before recreating his photographs for social media. Only a handful had actually looked around the bookstore itself. It wasn’t ideal, but I kept reminding myself that every business needed time to grow.
I watched as a group of five stepped inside together, three boys and two girls. Judging by the backpacks slung over their shoulders and the school badges stitched onto them, they couldn’t have been older than sixteen or seventeen.
Unlike yesterday’s customers, however, none of them glanced toward Eiden’s table. Instead, all five immediately began looking around the bookshelves.
Hope quietly fluttered inside my chest.
"Good afternoon," I greeted warmly while stepping out from behind the reception desk.
"Good afternoon," they answered almost together.
"How can I help you today?"
The slightly taller of the two girls exchanged a quick glance with her friends before stepping forward.
"We actually found your bookstore through your social media page last night," she explained with an excited smile. "You recently uploaded several posts talking about the different genres available here."
My eyes widened slightly.
Someone had actually come because of the books and not because of Eiden.
"We are looking for books about archaeology," she continued. "Our history teacher assigned us a research project, and honestly... we haven’t been able to find much at our school library."
I don’t think they realized how brightly I smiled at that moment.
"You are in luck," I replied immediately. "Please follow me."
I led them upstairs, my excitement growing with every step.
The second floor housed many of the bookstore’s more specialized collections - history, archaeology, anthropology, ancient civilizations, languages, philosophy, architecture, and several other academic subjects that weren’t commonly found in ordinary bookstores anymore.
Stopping halfway down one of the aisles, I gestured proudly toward nearly half an aisle dedicated entirely to archaeology.
"There you are."
For several seconds they looked through the collection. Then one of the boys suddenly rushed forward.
"No way..."
He carefully pulled an old hardcover volume from one of the shelves, examining the faded golden letters across its cover.
"Guys!" His excited voice echoed through the quiet floor. "Come look at this!"
The remaining four hurried over.
"I think..." he said while carefully turning the heavy book over in his hands, "...this is one of the original editions!"
His friends immediately crowded around him.
"No way."
"Seriously?"
"Let me see!"
"I’ve only seen pictures of this one online!"
Their excitement was so genuine that I couldn’t help smiling. After giving them a few moments to admire the book, I gently spoke, "I should mention one small rule."
All five immediately turned toward me.
"Any book carrying a green sticker on the cover can’t be purchased or borrowed." I pointed toward the small green label near the spine of the book the boy was holding. "Those are part of the bookstore’s heritage collection. You’re more than welcome to read or reference them here inside the store for as long as you need."
The group exchanged quick glances before nodding almost immediately.
"That’s perfectly fine," the same boy answered enthusiastically. "We’ll just work here." He pointed toward one of the three large study tables positioned beside the windows.
The others immediately agreed.
Watching them spread notebooks across the table somehow made the entire upstairs feel alive.
Before leaving them to work, I remembered something. "Would any of you like something to drink or eat while you are studying?"
Five pairs of eyes looked toward me.
I smiled. "We have quite a few options." Then I began listing everything I had prepared after expanding the café section. "Water, hot coffee, iced coffee, iced lemon tea, several herbal teas, cola, hot chocolate, strawberry milkshakes, mango smoothies..."
Their eyes visibly brightened.
"...French fries, vegetable sandwiches, cheese toast, garlic bread, instant noodles, brownies, red velvet pastries, and several flavors of ice cream."
They stared at me in silence, clearly surprised to hear a bookstore having such a big menu.
Then... one stomach growled loudly and the group burst into laughter.
"Actually, we haven’t eaten our lunch yet. So we will love to order something." One of the boys admitted sheepishly.
The ordering quickly became wonderfully chaotic. By the time everyone had finished deciding, I had written down quite an impressive list - five different drinks, three vegetable sandwiches, three garlic breads, two bowls of instant noodles, two portions of French fries, three ice creams, one brownie, and two slices of red velvet pastry.
I stared at the order for exactly one second. Then smiled. "Give me about five minutes for the drinks."
I hurried downstairs.
The next several minutes became an enjoyable blur of movement. Ice clinked into glasses. Coffee brewed. Blenders hummed. Tea steeped. Fruit was sliced.
Despite working completely alone, I somehow found myself enjoying every second of it. Instead of feeling overwhelmed, I felt... useful.
Five minutes later, I carefully balanced a large serving tray and carried the drinks upstairs.
The group barely looked up from their books as they thanked me. Already immersed in ancient civilizations.
It was perfect. Exactly what I had hoped this bookstore would become.
Preparing the food naturally took longer, but little by little I carried everything upstairs until their table resembled a small café rather than a study area.
For the next two hours, the second floor remained pleasantly busy. Pages turned. Discussions filled the air. And occasionally one of them hurried toward another shelf before returning triumphantly with another reference book.
Meanwhile, downstairs, only one additional customer arrived. And as expected, she ordered an iced lemon tea, took several photographs, stayed barely fifteen minutes, and then left.
Oddly enough, it didn’t bother me. Because every time I glanced upstairs, I found five students genuinely using the bookstore exactly the way I had dreamed people would.
Eventually, sometime during the late afternoon, the group finally packed away their notes and returned the books to their shelves. But instead of leaving immediately, they wandered toward the front section of the bookstore.
The brand-new stationery aisle.
An entire section I had spent days designing. There were rows of colorful notebooks, elegant journals, pens of every imaginable color, mechanical pencils, markers, sketchbooks, art supplies, project materials, backpacks, and so much more. And directly beside them was my favorite little corner.
The "Cute Things" section.
Plush keychains. Bookmarks. Tiny desk decorations. Stickers. Miniature plants. Decorative tape. And so on..
Within minutes, the five of them had baskets in their hands.
"I need this notebook."
"These pens are amazing."
"Look at this backpack!"
"Oh my God, these stickers are adorable!"
I couldn’t stop smiling as I rang up purchase after purchase.
When they finally finished paying, each of them carried noticeably fuller bags than when they’d first arrived.
Before stepping outside, the first girl turned back toward me.
"We are coming back tomorrow."
Her friends nodded enthusiastically.
"We still have lots of research left."
"And your sandwiches are really good."
"So are the fries."
"And I still haven’t looked through the history shelves."
I laughed softly. "I’ll have your table ready."
They grinned.
"See you tomorrow!"
The brass bell chimed once again as the five of them disappeared into the afternoon sunlight.
For several quiet moments, I simply stood behind the reception desk staring at the closed door. Then a smile slowly spread across my face.
The past two days, people had visited because of Eiden. But today, someone had came because of the books.
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