As Long As You Need

“Why don’t you clock out?” a bearded man in his early thirties suggests to Akako Sugimoto, who’s been adding and adjusting books in a new shelf that’s been incorporated in a corner of the bookstore. The tight green shirt not only displays his defined chest and shoulders, but also reveals two tattoos: a considerable one on his left bicep and an extensive one on his right forearm.

“You seem discouraged. Did you fail a test or something?”

“No. Today just wasn’t as busy” she sighs, suddenly feeling heavy-hearted. “A couple of regulars bought some books. The barista left early, so I stayed in the café preparing drinks for the other customers.” she shook her hand downwards, indicating the barista leaving.

“Why don’t we hold an event to celebrate the customers we do have?” he says cheerfully, hoping to cheer her up. “I’ll have you send the regulars an invite by email.”

“Hmm, that sounds great.” Sugimoto replies, expression brightening. “But didn’t last time very few people come?”

“It hadn’t been long since the bookstore opened” he chuckles unfazed. “How about this Saturday? What do you think, Akako?”

“I think it’s alright, boss.” he chuckles as she pulls out her phone from her pocket and opens a weather app. “The weather’s gonna be nice. I don’t see why not.”

“Let the other employees know about the event. Close up shop after you send the emails.” he says, throwing a leather bag over his shoulder.

“Got another class to teach?” Akako asks.

“Yes…” he lowers his head. “I wish the students were more eager, as they were in the previous university.” he sulks. “I’ve gotta go. Don’t forget the emails! If you do, I’ll break your skateboard to pieces.” a spiteful chuckle escapes his mouth purposely.

“Hey! Leave my skateboard out of this, uncle!” Sugimoto disputes.

“Flip the door plate when you leave.” He opens the door. “Or I’ll-” Akako runs up behind her uncle and pushes him out of the bookstore, shutting the door after.

“What a dumbass…” Akako utters, then chuckles. “I should send those emails…” her smile becomes forgotten.

After taking a breather and making herself a large iced-coffee, she returns to her work seat behind the counter. Taking a sip through the cold plastic cup, she powers up the computer and logs in with a specific password. Once the lock screen pops up, she goes to Gmail. Sugimoto pulls up the list of the people subscribed to the bookstore and adds them in the composed draft. Not too long after, she comes across a well-known name: Aya Kimura.

“Hmm.” she hums before adding her to the composed email. After a couple of minutes of adding people, she finally adds a subject and message.

Bookstore Event For Regulars!

This Saturday, come visit the bookstore for a cozy celebration. Bring a friend or partner along! You will have a chance to choose a book of your choice to take home. Café drinks will be 30% off throughout the event! The bookstore and its staff thank you for visiting us.

“I don’t think he’ll like the discount part, but he’d love to see some new faces in the bookstore.” Akako finishes the email and sends it. “It’s the least I can do for him.” She takes out her phone and calls all the other employees to let them know about the event.

“I can finally go!” Sugimoto cheers drowsily. “I hope she turns up on Saturday…” she lingers. “Ever since I started working here two years ago, I still remember her early days in the bookstore...”

In the recently opened bookstore near campus, it wasn’t a surprise that it was amble during the evening. During its peak hours it’d have about 10 customers that happened to stumble upon it on serendipity, just like Kimura.

“A bookstore and café? This is just what I needed…” she says to herself before stepping inside. Although there’s not much to convince her to stay, she finds the humble atmosphere and few staff inviting. The many vacant round tables next to the coffee shop can’t help but catch her attention and make her wonder. Just a bit detached from the counter, Kimura scans over the menu. She eventually arrives at the front despite standing still for a lengthy minute or two. While coffee clouds her mind, the tedious person standing behind the counter draws her attention. Their silver hair, the many ear piercings, the contrast of their dark eyes and even the dark layered long-sleeved shirt they wear.

“Welcome. What’ll it be?” the cashier asks jadedly.

“I’ll have a medium latte.” Kimura orders. She pays and steps to the side to wait for her drink. From the distance she observes as the barista tamps fresh coffee grounds and pulls the shots. He fills the milk pitcher and steams the milk with the wand, causing some mist to rise from the heat. For a brief moment, Sugimoto gazes at Kimura.

“She looks about my age…” she thinks while continuing to get familiar with the cash register. “Having coffee this late. Maybe she has work to finish…” she contemplates. After the brief wait, the barista brings her drink to the opposite side of the counter. As she inhaled the very inviting aroma, she noticed a small happy face that was drawn on the disposable cup.

“Here you go! You’re welcome anytime.” The barista flashes her a smile. His amiability was more than necessary to make her persist in the shop.

“Of course.” Kimura replies lightheartedly. “Do y'all mind if I stay here a little while?”

“Not at all! As long as you need.” he sets a hand on his heart.

Before taking a seat on one of the round tables, she roughly gazes back at the bookstore’s full shelves. Once she does, she pulls out her computer and gets to work. The barista returns to the other side of the counter, stopping when he’s next to Sugimoto.

“It seems like we got ourselves another regular.” the barista tells the cashier, delighted.

“It seems we do…” she replies, gazing at Kimura again. Only this time her eyes stayed rooted for a couple of seconds, appreciating her bookish nature. For a second she thought if Kimura labeled her as uninteresting or poker-faced, but that's all it was in that moment— A thought. She went back to her tasks, but whenever she came across the new regular, she couldn’t help but be curious about Kimura.

Little did she know she had not only been captivated by the bookstore, but had also captivated the apparent unbothered cashier on that first visit.