Jay's P. O. V.
After filling ourselves on breakfast, we got in the car to drive over to the bookstore. I had to admit, I was curious to see what Ben's work was like. He had mentioned it a few times, but I hadn't met River yet or checked out the shop.
We drove by the some of the shops we had passed on our walk yesterday and up to a little bookstore with a large front window. As I got out of the car I noticed the interior of the store was filled with shelves upon shelves of books. A few vintage chairs sat in a corner by a wall of mugs.
We opened the worn wood door with the tinkle of a bell, and the rest of the shop came into view. A boy with electric blue hair sat on a stool behind a counter, scribbling in a notebook. He glanced up and nodded at Ben, then did a double take.
He looked over at me. "You must be Jay. Mind if I talk to Ben for a bit? You can explore my shop." He said, gesturing toward the maze of shelves. I nod and wander behind a bookcase as Ben stumbles over to River.
I'm venturing deeper into the store when I catch a few snippets of their conversation and decide to move a bit closer to listen in.
I peek between a few books on a shelf and watch them. "Ben. You look like you got hit by a train. What did I tell you the other day?" River says, crossing his arms.
Ben mumbles something incoherently and toes the ground with his shoe while River just shakes his head. "You can't keep on like this. You're running yourself ragged. I know you have trouble sleeping but this is getting out of hand. I can tell you're not even bothering trying to sleep again."
Ben opens his mouth to protest but he's cut off. "I'm willing to bet money you're running on an unhealthy amount of caffeine right now. Even with that, I can tell you're super freaking tired. Take the day off and try to rest please. I'll just call Em and have her come down." River says, brushing his blue hair away from his face.
Ben shakes his head. "No, I'll be fine for a few more hours. I'm betting you have more shipments coming in today, which is going to take a lot to be unloaded. Jay can help us too which means we'll get done faster." Ben argues. River purses his lips. "Fine. But only a few hours, then you have to go home and rest." Ben rolls his eyes in response, and earns a glare.
"Seriously." River reprimands. "Okay fine whatever. Whatever floats your boat. Where are the new boxes?" Ben asks.
I quietly slip deeper into the store so Ben doesn't catch me, and wander over to the mug wall, wondering why it's even here. The wall is covered with mugs of all shapes, sizes, and designs. I'm caught up in reading a few that I don't notice River's presence until he speaks, making me jump.
"Wondering why I've got it?" He questions. I nod. "Well, a lot of my customers like to drink coffee, tea, or hot chocolate while they read. I just provide them with the materials to grow their eclectic mug collection." He gestures to the wall and laughs.
"What do you think?" He continues. "I think I might have to start my own collection." I joke.
He looks around conspiratorially and leans in. "I have it on good word that Ben has a closet full of mugs." Ben appears from behind a bookcase, frowning. "I do not." He looks away, rubbing the back of his head. "It's two cabinets." He mumbles. River and I burst into laughter.
River waves us to the back of the shop and we follow him through the shelves to a small room. There's a back door hidden behind piles of boxes, and the walls are covered with posters with the exception of a window. A few cabinets stand in the corner, covered with little statues and odds and ends.
River turns to a stack of boxes and lifts one. His head pokes around it as he speaks. "We'll bring these out to the front counter and then get things put in their place. It's mostly more books but a couple boxes have new mugs so be extra careful." He leaves the room, taking the box with him and leaving Ben and I alone.
I rub my head, realizing I'm getting a headache again. Ben's picking up a box to take out to the front, but pauses when he sees my expression. "You alright?" "Yeah, everything's good." I lie.
He watches me for a few seconds before leaving with the box. I take a deep breath when he's gone, giving myself a second to acknowledge the pain before I mask my expression again and pick up a box.
I weave through the shelves and set the box on the front counter, where River is unpacking things. He pulls out a stack of books and picks up the top one, then opens it and flips through the pages as he inhales deeply.
Ben appears from behind a shelf, laughing at him and shaking his head. "He does that every time." "I can't help it, there's just something about that new book smell that always gets me." River says and raises his hands defensively as he shrugs.
I shake my head and continue the job of hauling out boxes while I try to ignore my headache that's getting worse by the minute. "Here's the last one." Ben calls out as he appears behind me. I try not to wince at how much pain shoots through my head when he shouts, but apparently River notices because he glances at me with a concerned expression. Luckily he's easily distracted and Ben inadvertently draws his attention away from me with his questions about where to put things.
I take a box of mugs and wander to the wall to put them away, where I'll be out of sight. I slide each one into its place as Ben and River pass by me a few times, putting away books.
I'm carefully shelving a mug that says boss when I'm hit with a sudden wave of dizziness. I manage to get the mug in place before quickly deciding to sit on the floor. I stumble a bit before getting to the ground and taking in a shaky breath. I stay on the floor even after the dizziness passes, afraid I'll stand up and it will return.
I do the mugs on the lower section of the wall so Ben and River won't be suspicious if they walk by. My head is pounding at this point and it's slightly harder to focus on what I'm doing.
I finish sliding the last mug onto the shelf and rest for a moment more before realizing that I'm going to have to get back up if I want to continue to keep up my display. I raise myself off the floor slowly with the help of the shelf, but black spots dance in my vision.
Ben comes around the corner just as I stumble and he races over quickly to steady me. "Whoah, are you alright?" He asks. I look into his bright green eyes as my vision clears and find myself entranced as I speak.
"Yeah... I must've just stood up too fast." I lie. We stand there a moment looking at each other, his hands still resting on my shoulders. He clears his throat and steps away.
"Okay. We should go see if River needs any more help." He says. I follow him back to the front counter, rubbing my aching head when he's not looking.
"River?" Ben calls, since the front counter is seemingly empty. I wince at the sound, but mask my expression when River pops up from behind the counter. "I'm here. We've got almost everything shelved, there's just a few things left." He says, scribbling in a notebook.
He drops his pen and holds up a finger. "Oh, I almost forgot, Em is on her way here. She's going to help brainstorm ideas for the event next month."
I scrunch my eyebrows together and look at Ben in confusion. "The shop is hosting a book signing, but we're making it into a bigger event. We've got to get caterers lined up, things publicized, and decorations prepared. Our friend Emerson is arranging most of it, but there's a lot of work to be done." I nod.
"Could you guys finish putting these books away? I've just got a few more things with budgeting that I need to wrap up here." River points to a list on the counter. "That's got where I want them put away. Think you can handle it?"
Ben and I each pick up a book and lean over the list together to find out where they go. It's hard to concentrate when I can feel his breath right beside me, but he soon takes his book off into the shelves and I'm left with the messily scrawled page. I watch him till he walks out of sight, nearly forgetting the pain of my headache with how he seems to take my breath away.
As soon as he disappears behind a bookshelf though, it all comes rushing back. I look back at the list once more then head in the opposite direction to shelf the book.
As I finish shelving the last one, the bell over the door tinkles and a girl with auburn hair walks in. "River! Stop chicken scratching! There's work to do!" "Hello to you too Em." I hear him mumble. "I've already got ideas here!" She says, waving around papers.
Her eyes land on me. "Who's this?" I rub the back of my neck awkwardly as Ben is nowhere to be seen. "Uh, I'm a friend of Ben's." She raises an eyebrow and glances at River. "I see."
River's face shifts from a slight smirk into a frown. "Where is Ben? He's been gone a while." I frown back, looking around. "I'll go look for him." I decide.
"Ben?" I say, peeking around a shelf. I go up and down the aisles but there's no sign of him. I pass by the mug wall and find him sitting in the corner in a chair, half asleep. His head is resting on his hand with his eyes closed, but they shoot open when he hears me approach and I lock onto the striking green.
I pull a chair next to him and sit down. "Everyone's wondering where you went. Em's here." He looks out the window, staring into the street as he responds hesitantly. "I just needed a little break." He says, rubbing his eyes.
He stands up and avoids eye contact with me like he knows I'm aware that he's lying. "C'mon." He says, and leads the way back to the front counter.
Em and River are caught up in conversation about the signing and hardly notice when we return. Emerson glances up and notices Ben which causes her to purse her lips.
I pretend to busy myself with my phone as she lowers her voice at him. I can just barely make out snippets of what she says. "Why are you still here?....look exhausted.... you need...."
Ben shakes his head and cuts her off. "I'm fine." He whispers. She crosses her arms at him and squints her eyes. "No.... get rest.... signing.... Jay...." My ears perk up at the mention of my name and I try to casually move closer to hear what she's saying.
She catches my gaze over Ben's shoulder and looks back at Ben before leaning forward to whisper in his ear instead.
I hold in an exasperated sigh and instead turn to River. "What can I do to help?"
He glances at Em and Ben and pulls me through the shelves back to the corner by the mug wall. He sits on the edge of a chair and I plop down in the one next to him. He folds his fingers together and begins to speak. "Honestly, I think I'm going to put Em in charge of the shop for a bit. Today should be pretty slow, and she'll be able to handle most of the planning work for the event herself. We're going to go back to Ben's for a while." He meets my eyes.
"He really needs to rest, but being the stubborn person he is, he wants to help all of us instead of himself. I have a feeling he might listen to you though." He says, pointing a finger to my chest.