Page 9 of Fixed Up Ever After
Moving back to Berkeley meant she had to tell her parents where she moved and why, and that hadn’t been the best conversation. Her father had been confused but supportive while her mother was simply confused.
Owning a bookstore, specifically Phoenix Books, had been a dream of hers since high school when she got her first job as a cashier here. The older woman who ran this store, Mrs. Sanderson, knew of Lola’s home life and understood that Lola stood out like a proverbial sore thumb. She had given Lola the job under the guise of extra credit for her school courses and something additional to put on her college applications.
All four years of high school and well into college, Lola had worked at Phoenix Books as one of the only long-term employees. The day Lola quit had been an emotional decision, but keeping up with her course load and working full time had put a strain on her mental health.
Mrs. Sanderson had been understanding and kept her on as a seasonal employee until Lola moved to Florida for a job in marketing that, admittedly, her father helped her get.
However, two months ago, Mrs. Sanderson reached out unexpectedly and let Lola know she was retiring and closing the store. Lola knew what she had to do. It had taken some convincing to get Mrs. Sanderson to agree to sell, since the store was in rough condition and she had planned to give it over to the city, but in the end, she had talked her way into purchasing Phoenix Books, intending to restore the store to its former glory.
Finding the energy to push herself off her leaning perch, Lola took a quick look around her new store. There was still so much to be done and apparently, it would take even longer than she anticipated, but the inside of the store still held an old charm to it that she wanted to memorialize upon reopening.
Whenever the hell that would be.
“Mona! Please give me some good news!” she groaned, dragging herself away from the front of the store to find Mona behind what was once the register. Mona’s back was toward her, but she looked over her shoulder and gave her a thumbs up.
“You, my sweet friend, have a working espresso machine.” She smiled triumphantly, holding up a clear plastic cup. Lola had to squint to see the minuscule amount of liquid inside.
“I drank half of it,” she said by way of explanation. “The machine did sound like it would take flight, but it made decent espresso. You book people are patient, yeah? So the long-ass time to brew shouldn’t be a problem.”
“Well, that’s something I guess,” she grumbled, leaning over the counter. She landed a little too close to Sandi, who promptly swiped at her arm before jumping off the counter. “Your cat is a menace.”
“Isn’t she though?” Mona cooed and picked up her little devil off the ground, nuzzling the fat cat.
“You realize you have an unhealthy relationship with that cat, right?”
“Only you and my wife seem to think that. I’m thinking you're both just jealous.”
Lola scoffed. “Oh yes, Mattea and I are very jealous of your she-demon.”
As if understanding Lola’s disdain, Sandi hissed at her before wiggling out of Mona’s arms and scurrying away, probably to see if she could find any mice in this old building.
“So how’d it go with the contractor? He seem good?” Mona asked, taking a drink of the last bit of her espresso.
“I mean he was fine enough but his timeline is six to eight months. I don’t have six to eight months to give,” she complained. Her impatience could never allow her to just sit around and wait. She had never been good at being patient.
Mona whistled lowly. “Damn, that’s a hot minute. Can we keep looking? I have someone coming into the bakery tomorrow to fix a few broken appliances and an electrical issue I’m having in the bathroom. Want me to scout him out and tell you how he is?”
Lola shrugged. “Sure. At this point, I’ll take anything.”
“In the meantime, you should really start spreading the word about Phoenix’s revival. No use in putting all this money into a place without letting people know. Besides, it’ll get your mind off…” Mona paused and looked around the cluttered room. Lola swore she heard a book fall to the ground somewhere. “This mess,” she finished.
“And what do you suggest?” She didn’t mean to be snippy with her friend, but she was ready to curl up on her cloud-like mattress and bingeSupernaturaluntil she fell asleep.
Luckily, Mona didn’t take offense to her or was simply used to her bullshit that her attitude didn’t phase her. “How about you come down to the bakery this weekend? The first weekend of every month, Mattea likes to put on a family day for kids where they make cookies and shit. You could help and read them a story. They would go feral over a good storytime.”
Despite her mood, Lola smiled. Children's books had always been her favorite and she enjoyed finding diverse picture books for children who were underrepresented in the media.
“While you're reading, you can make subtle remarks to the parents that you plan on reopening Phoenix. It’ll build up some hype.” Mona was always the logical one and grounded Lola when her emotions wanted to lead all of her decisions.
“That does sound fun.”
“Of course it sounds fun. My wife will make it fun even if it kills us.”
“Well we wouldn’t want to anger the Mighty Mattea,” she deadpanned.
“So, is that a yes, you’ll come?” Mona bit her lip, something she always did when she expected the answer to be no.
“Bitch, you know I can’t say no to you when you make that face. Plus telling me it’s for the children? I’m pretty sure I’d rot in hell if I said no.” She laughed, no true malice behind her words.
