Not the typical visit to the bookstore Who: Lexi and Ross When: Afternoon Where: Lenore Bookstore and Cafe
Lenore Bookstore and Cafe was not a place Lexi could ordinarily be found. A bar, a club, heck maybe even overnight in jail; these are logical places to find Lexi. She figured she'd break the mold a little and visit the bookstore and cafe though she wasn't in it for the culture. No. Lexi wanted smut. Well, not regular smut - just the mindless reading of a good bodice ripper. Mostly Lexi was bored and needed something to do and going out and about was the best way to do that but it would help if she brought back something to Ad Gustum to do as well. Occasionally the books were like research. Sometimes she'd get inspiration but more often than not it was just entertainment for her. After all, romance authors usually had it all wrong, and Lexi would know because she's felt and been what men wanted.
She had heard about porno sites where women would read sexy romance scenes and idiots would pay to hear it. Lexi was all down for another method of making money so she figured this would be an easy cash cow. She just needed a laptop and several of the smuttiest romance novels she could find. The laptop was on its way and books were being dealt with now. Lexi went down the aisle of books and did an initial pass glancing at the varying covers. Those with the sexiest cover went to the top of her pile. Next, she looked at the title. If it sounded sexy, it got moved up. Third, her plan was to scan through to books to find the sex scenes and give them a once over. Those deemed the most sexy would be purchased. She had three piles of books in front of her as she decided what to get. It would be a tough one, she decided.
Ross, on the other hand, was typically seen in a cafe. Maybe at a bar now and then with some friends, but that was the extent of his visits. He had some time to spare before evening fell and decided to check out the bookstore for something new to read. It was quite a relaxing hobby to take on between classes or when waiting for people to call him back at the museum. Plus it kept Ross occupied from doing something silly, like covering his wall with post-it notes to create pixel-esque images from old Nintendo games. He was a creative mind, he had to put it to use!
But for now he settled with finding a good book. Ross wasn't sure what to find, but he was determined to find something that would perk his interest. Walking up and down the aisles he found a few here and there and grabbed them just in case he forgot where they were. So far he found a few classic stories that he had yet to read in his lifetime along with one fantasy novel and a drama one. Ross didn't even realize he took a turn into the romance section, or whatever people called it these days. The covers looked more like something that was worth of Playboy than a novel, but before Ross could even notice them and almost collided into a woman standing there.
"Oh god! I'm so sorry!" Ross flashed a smile, trying to ease the sudden tension that washed over his body. "I need a siren that goes off or something every time I take a turn in here or else I'm going to plow someone over. Maybe take a book case with me while I'm at it. Truly sorry about that."
Lexi nearly went off on Ross. Her piles were stacked precariously and if she went down, they'd go down too and there was no way she'd deal with having to organize the books again well. But, seeing as how no harm was caused and Ross was fairly hot, she cheered immediately and gave him a beaming smile. Her bangles jangled as she brought a hand up and tucked her hair behind her ear. "Oh it's no problem at all." She lied confidently. "After all, nothing happened, right?" That much was true, but the threat of something getting in her way was still enough to irritated Lexi. She preferred things going her way, after all.
"That's a good idea." She laughed at his siren idea. "There must be collisions in here all the time." She took a step closer to him. She kept the gesture light and lowered her voice confidentially. "In fact, I saw that man over there nearly plow over a little ole lady." She shook her head and tsked. "What is with people these days? Of course, I have no room to talk, taking up all this space. I should be apologizing to you." She dimpled in a sheepish manner.
It was hard not to feel the sudden tension that the woman projected. Though her words seemed optimistic, Ross knew better than that. It made his stomach knot slightly knowing that he was being lied to, but he wasn't going to confront her about it. Instead he continued smiling like he always did. Besides, the last thing he wanted was someone chewing him out just because he was browsing about in a bookstore. How absurd was that?
"Well, if I was any good with electronics I'd probably have a siren attached to my head at all times. You know, have one of those spinning light things police cars have... or raves have, I wouldn't know. They spin around and are all bright and loud." Ross chuckled a bit to ease the tension, finding himself becoming a bit more upbeat around the woman. "Guess I can't take myself anywhere these days." With that said he shifted around the books into one arm so he could extend a hand out to her. "I'm Ross, by the way. Don't want you to be remembering me as 'what's his face who can't walk' or something."
Ross's attitude was so positive and Lexi's emotive reception a little more on the weak side so she barely felt his brief (was it hesitation?) negative feeling. She let it wash over and barely notated it, not particularly caring. Maybe he was having a bad day? Like she ever cared about that? The thought amused her enough that her smile became more genuine though the talk of attaching a siren to his head seemed silly and impractical to her. It was a good thing he seemed to have a sense of humor about it though. "Yeah I'm thinking a siren would probably be best placed on the head in a rave. Definitely not in here if it's loud." She grumbled. "I've already gotten scolded twice for muttering too loudly while making my decision." She huffed up a bit at the inconvenience of it all. She had, when she was being warned for her volume, fought the urge to tell the worker to go fuck herself, figuring that was a quick way to get kicked out and then she'd never get her project rolling.
"Really it's no problem though. I'm kind of in the way after all." She dimpled in a smile and gestured to the books scattered about. She took his hand and gave it a firm, yet feminine shake. "I'm Lexi." She said, feeling more cheerful than before. Normally she'd give out any random name that popped into her mind but he seemed like a decent person and darn it, if her mood wasn't moving up a bit. "I don't think I could remember you as that. Ross seems a better fit." She nodded with certainty.
"Great to meet you, Lexi." Ross kept smiling to her as his eyes shot down to the books she was motioning to. It was then that he finally realized which section he actually was and couldn't help but feel a bit flustered. Lanni was the only woman in his life. Ever. Even with her gone, Ross was still in the mind set that he was attached to her and no one else. Having just a glimpse of the book covers made the psychic avert his gaze and look back to Lexi. Oh geez, that wasn't helping either. Hopefully he didn't look like a complete moron while doing that. "Do you, uh... need help carrying any of your stuff down to check out? I don't know how much you have, but I wouldn't mind at all." And as always, Ross was trying to be a generous soul. It wasn't that he was flirting with her, but he was genuinely trying to be kind. She looked a bit tiny, at least compared to himself, and it would have been horrible if Lexi tripped over her own feet while trying to balance all the books. True, Ross had a handful of his own, but that didn't matter. Anything to help out someone in need, right?
"It's great to meet you too." Lexi smiled and then watched amused as he glanced down at the books. The realization was plain on his face and she just laughed. It wasn't a ridiculing laugh which would normally come out of her mouth, but a genuinely amused laugh. "Don't worry about the books." She grinned. "I wouldn't mind the help but I still haven't decided which to get yet. It's a process of elimination and romance novels are probably one of the most popular genres judging by their collection here." She rested a hand on her hip and sighed. She was about to ask for his advice on what men might like to hear when she heard his thought. Okay, so he felt bad about her maybe tripping but the fact that she thought she'd be so ungraceful as to actually fall was insulting. "I know I'm short, but I'm not a big doof like you. I have grace." She sniffed the air, trying to be indignant but she was just a little cheerful to be so. This was definitely odd. In fact, she was clearly too cheerful because she was relaxed enough to slip up. She played it cool though and gave him a teasing smile and pretended as if nothing strange had happened at all.
"Hey now, I take immense pride in being a doof! I have it worked down to a system and everything." He tilted his chin up, trying to be all serious about it before breaking out into laughter. At least his kids thought he was goof half the time. They enjoyed it, nonetheless, as did Lani. Even the people he worked with had a hard time taking him seriously, though with the way Lexi was acting, along with her emotions relaying onto him, Ross knew she was having some fun joking around. Lexi seemed upbeat and relaxed compared to her initial emotions when he whipped around the corner. That was a good sign of improvement. "And having trouble picking one? Well, let's see here!" Ross bent down, placed his pile of books to the side, and proceeded to pick up a few that Lexi had on the floor. Once he stood back up, Ross parted his lips as if to say something, then simply furrowed his brow. Oh god, if this was a romance novel, he didn't want to know what the front of something like Penthouse looked like. From the expression on his face he was obviously not used to seeing book covers like the ones in hand, though at the same time the artist in him began analyzing the composition. They appeared to be illustrations or heavily airbrushed photographs. It reminded him of Rococo art back when he took his basic 19th century art history class back in the day. Ok, so maybe this wasn't all that bad. "I wouldn't go with these two." He held up the ones he was talking about, then shook his head while he joked. "Might be a bit too risque for today's world." Then again, the ones he showed Lexi were the ones where the women were fully covered.
"Don't you think you're being a little prudish?" She asked, her mood dropping a little. She had been a little excited at him offering to help pick out a book. After all, she was intending to read them to men so she hoped he would have some insight on the whole plan. It would be frustrating not being able to use her ability. Lexi hoped the challenge would be welcome, especially if she was going to get a little help during the initial stages of her plan. The look on his face said it all. Sure, after the initial expression of distaste his expression changed to a more neutral one but she knew he had been a little bit on the horrified side. "There is absolutely nothing wrong with these books, you know." She sighed, still not able to quite bring her bitchiness out. The whole thing was baffling. When he held up the covers she smiled. "You're right, the one with the half naked women would definitely be best."
She grabbed it. "That's part of it you know? I am picking them out based on title, cover and sexiest scenes. What do you think? As far as your preferences," she held up a hand, "I'm not trying to hit on you or be a perv, but seriously. Do you think men would enjoy reading something like this, and if so, what would they enjoy most?" This conversation wasn't exactly going as she had originally thought it would.
Ross wasn't exactly sure how his insight was going to help Lexi at all, especially when he never looked at or thought of another woman that way. Then again, he was the one who got himself into this mess and offered to help her carry the books, so now he had to deal with it. At least for the time being. He glanced back to Lexi then back down to the books. "Well, it depends on what you mean by preference. I mean, are we talking book covers or just women in general? I have a tendency to lean towards more of the covers that have nonrepresentational images on them for it makes the viewer believe the story itself is more abstract than you think it may be. A book with a solid image on the cover just creates this preconstructed idea that this is how the story should be, and maybe it's really not how the story is going to-"
Cutting himself off, Ross realized he was getting way too much into the concept of the cover than Lexi probably wanted him to. Chuckling softly, he smiled to her. "I'm sorry, I review art for a living. Get carried away half the time."
Lexi laughed. "I'm glad you stopped then because you were losing me here. I think in this case, the covers are just a way to draw the reader in. I mean as much as there is talk of men objectifying," The word flowed clumsily past her lips, "women, women do it too!" She laughed and held up one of the sexier, yet more ridiculous covers. "Look at this guy. His muscles are hella ripped and he has that long hair and no shirt. He's busting out in NEED for her." She giggled. "Women just like the eye candy, I think. But that isn't the point. I mean, covers are important so that's good to know you have that perspective, but what about what is inside."
"There are lots of different plots you know. The three most common are women who are seduced, women who are aggressive and women who are forced and then realize they like it." She shook her head. "And if you can believe it, judging by how often you see that last scenario, it seems to be the most popular." She shrugged. "Who woulda known most women have rape fantasies?" She shook her head again, genuinely confused. Who in their right mind would want their power taken away?? She was definitely a fan of the aggressive plots.
Holy crap, was he really having this conversation? Ross stood there, a bit dumbfounded by all of it and merely chuckled and nodded his head slightly from time to time as Lexi talked. It was a bit awkward for him, especially when the only woman he ever had any feelings for was his wife, so Ross never had the pleasure of experimenting with other women. Not that he wanted to, but this type of fiction was completely new to him. Same with all the details that the books held inside.
"Seriously? People have time to sit down and write this?" He couldn't imagine someone having the patience to write out something like a rape fantasy. Or any fantasy in general. If Ross even tried he would have cracked up a third of the way into it. "I mean, nothing wrong with it, I guess, I just know that if I tried doing anything like this seriously I wouldn't be a successful writer." He let out a nervous laugh while shaking his head. "Might evolve into something satirical, knowing me. Oh geez, I'm sure there's some horrible satirical romance novel lying around." Hell, if there was one for rape fantasies, then why not. "But if you find one I swear I didn't write it!" Ross held his hands up as if surrendering.
Lexi laughed at and with Ross. His reaction was great. Leave it to a man, of whom sex is universally acceptable, to get embarrassed at the concept of reading about sex. "It's not all like that though. I think that the reason they sell so many of the books is because they do have plots and they are, ultimately, love stories." She flipped the book in hand over and read the back out loud. "Josie, a young waitress finds herself wisked away to the past where she meets the barbarous Eli, who imprisons her when he finds her alone in the wild highlands. Josie must find her way back home and Eli must try to understand his growing affection for the strange woman before it's too late and he loses her for good."
She rolled her eyes dramatically. "Really? You heard that, didn't you? It's a load of garbage. Aside from the whole time travel bullshit it's silly to think a guy is going to really struggle and yearn for a woman. These books are stupid fantasies for women to believe true love actually exists and then they throw sex scenes in to spice it up." She shrugged.
Oh, thank god Lexi thought that summery was ludicrous, because Ross thought it was absolutely insane. He did, however, crack a massive smile. "Hey, I was completely kidding about the satirical romance stuff now!" He let out a thoroughly amused laugh while shaking his head. At least he knew how to have a good laugh. "But no, that does sound like junk to me. I mean, if people are going for true love, I would think it would be a bit more romantic. Like maybe the guy takes her out to coffee and seduces her over the course of several days, where he purchases her gifts until she finally gives into him."
Now Ross was starting to recall the things he did to eventually win over Lanni's heart, though he shortened it from months to a week. He doubted anyone would want to read a romance novel that took that long to get to the point. "Then again, I don't think this Eli character is the type to take someone out for coffee. He definitely seems more like a tea guy."
With a snort Lexi put the book down. "Yeah I'm thinking he's going to bash her over the head and have his way with her. In fact, I'd bet money that that one has the fake rape scenes in it." She rolled her eyes. "Where she pretends to be reluctant because it's so wrong but is really liking it. And of course when he finally confesses that he loves her everything is okay again. I don't know why people think that's okay, but whatever." She glanced around the strewn about books trying to figure out how she'd make the decision. Now that her job was fairly steady she could afford just to buy a bunch. "You know, I'm pretty sure there probably is one about a guy just slowly wooing a woman. Though it'd not be right if they didn't have some sort of sexual encounter first." She wondered what it'd be like to have a guy actually, genuinely try to have a relationship with her and then she laughed at he absurdity of it. Stupid guys.
Oh wow, several days was considered slow in Lexi's book?! Ross could only imagine how she would have reacted if he told her how long it took for him to finally win over Lanni. Probably a good year and a half if not two years before she finally came around. Was definitely worth the wait and Ross' eyes, but it seemed like his life story wasn't truly cut out for smut literature, or whatever people were calling it these days. Instead he laughed nervously and nodded his head towards Lexi. "Again, if you find one with that sort of plot, I swear I didn't write it! The only thing I write are art reviews, and that's on the completely different end of the writing spectrum." He could only imagine what the Times would be like if there was some short, weekly smut article in it. Have some brief snippet on the front, then tell the viewers to flip to page seven for more.
"I'll be sure to remember." She said with a shrug. She wasn't really sure what to say after all that. So he wrote art reviews? Who cared? The fact that he kept mentioned writing made her feel like he was trying to impress her with it something. She was used to guys saying random thing to impress her so it wasn't a complete surprised. It certainly helped that he was cute and very nice. Of course, the nice part, and his obvious dislike for sexual things made her warning bells go off. This was not her kind of guy.
But she couldn't help herself. If he was interested at all, she had to flirt, just a little. Not to mention, if he wrote art reviews he had to be independently wealthy or something. Who got paid for writing about art? She giggled at the thought and gave him a small, innocent, yet flirty smile. "So you write art reviews? Definitely different from this junk." She laughed. "How do you like it? Have you gotten to see a lot of things?" She batted her lashes discreetly and did an amazing job feigning interest.
The funny part was that Ross wasn't even remotely trying to impress Lexi, but instead was making idle conversation. And he also wasn't prude by any means, just simply had no interest in other women outside of his now deceased wife. Upon being asked about his job writing reviews, Ross paused for a second, trying to make sense of Lexi's emotions. Was it... disgusted? Frustrated? Bored? It wasn't a good emotion, that was for sure. Ross had the impression that whatever it was Lexi wasn't entirely pleased with what he did. Though he did give her massive kudos for acting completely interested. If he wasn't a psychic he knew he wouldn't be able to tell the difference.
"It's great, well, for me anyways. Get to visit museums, see so many amazing pieces of works, and just write about them. It's very refreshing and completely different from all of this stuff." He smiled and nodded to her, not wanting to upset Lexi any further, thus decided to turn the conversation back her way. "So uh, do you think you've found a book yet? You have so many to chose from! I'm sorry if I'm being of absolutely no help."
Talking about Lexi was something Lexi loved to do. She laughed at his question. "It's not a matter of picking out a specific book but figuring out how many I want and which ones. I need lots. You see, I have a project. It involves reading the books out loud to people." She giggled bashfully. She was sure that if she said what her actual intention was he'd go running for the hills. And he was actually being no help in her decision process, so it might fun to see his reaction. "Actually." She said as she leaned forward conspiratorially, "It's for the website I'm going to set up. I want to see how many people are willing to pay to hear a woman read sexy things to them. I'm hoping it will work out well." She wiggled her eyebrows at him. "For you, cutie, I'll give you free access." she licked her lips as if to suggest the website wasn't all she'd give him for free.
Ross stood there, his facial expression not changing one bit. He was relatively good at masking his emotions, especially seeing that he felt like a deer in headlights right then. Was this really happening? Of all the people in the world Lexi had to try and seduce it had to be poor Ross. After blinking his eyes, he continued smiling and replied. "Really? So people would pay to see you read these books? Sounds like books on tape with visuals!" He chuckled a bit in an attempt to ease the anxiety building up in his chest. As much as he wanted to back down from the offer, Ross didn't work like that. He was so non-confrontational that it was almost a daily occurrence with the amount of people who walked all over him. Perhaps it was best to give into Lexi's offer and try his best to forget about it once he left the bookstore. "I mean, if you're offering this to me for free, I can check it out. No harm in that, right?" Except for some reason he felt like Lanni was standing over his shoulder, glaring at him with a baseball bat in hand as if ready to bonk it on his head. It was horribly difficult to let go of her, which only made Ross even more nervous around women.
The last thing Lexi expected to feel wafting from Ross's general direct was anxiety. She half expected him to bolt. The self-control was amazing and actually made her feel sorry for her behavior. How was she to know he was actually a decent guy, or so it would seem. She figured the prudish behavior should have clued her in, but being Lexi she didn't really care. After all, so many people said prudish things but weren't really. Maybe he actually was a prude? Still, ultimately, the contradiction of his words to what she felt from him hit her strangely. Anxiety was only good when she caused it intentionally. She didn't like the uncomfortable feelings being sent her. She couldn't decide if making him feel better or just being a bitch to get him to leave would be better. Normally she'd just tell someone to fuck off so that their feelings would leave her alone but in this case it was a tough decision. He was so nice. He didn't freak out at her words and was sadly adorable with the whole thing.
In a lame effort to calm him she moved away and started stacking books. "Yeah that's what I thought." Her smile was innocent and free from seduction. "The whole visual thing, I mean. I think there's probably this combination between audio and visual. Not to mention, people love dirty talk so it's just strange combination I guess?" Her tone was without the heavy sexiness she would ordinarily employee when talking about dirty talk and sex. Instead she did her best to keep her tone more sanitized and thoughtful, as if this was just a discussion of human behavior. For some damn reason she wanted him to leave a little happier and it pissed her off and started making her feel a bit anxious herself. If I find out he's really note a nice guy," she thought, "I'm going to rip him a new one." 'Nice Guys' were often not so nice. While Lexi was definitely a bitch, she did try to fuck with a dickhead instead of a nice guy. If she found out a guy was really an asshole, she enjoyed fucking him over for the deception. Plus it always pissed her off when she found out she was wrong about someone.
Luckily - or unluckily? who knew - for Lexi, Ross was an honest to god nice guy. While, yeah, he was uncomfortable around Lexi, he wasn't going to starting running away screaming because of it. Or at least no yet. It was awkward having another woman flirt with him. Or was she flirting? Even though he could read her emotions so clearly they kept fluctuating to the point where even Ross wasn't sure what to make of it. Maybe she was on her period? Oh god, now he really didn't want to know.
"Very much a strange combination." Ross bared a grin to her as he nodded his head. "Sounds like you got your work cut out for you, let alone trying to find a few books to buy!" His eyes went back to roaming all over the ones Lexi had selected. He began picking them up one by one and cradled all of them into his arms, albeit a tad awkward, but he somehow managed. "Perhaps you should buy all of them? Cater to all tastes or something?" Great, now he was trying to give advice to the sexy lady. Somewhere several shelves down was a man overhearing and shaking his head, knowing that it wouldn't go over well one bit.
Lexi smiled at Ross as he started picking up the books. When he had them all she grabbed a couple that he hadn't been able to fit in his arms and beamed. "I think I'll do just that. I mean, people have a variety of needs don't they?" She somehow managed to look thoughtful. "Well thanks for your help. I know it was weird of me to ask, but I appreciate your feedback." And she was ready to leave and get rid of this guy who effected her emotions so strongly. He seemed nice and it was all well and good but she hated feeling guilt for causing discomfort. It was a disgusting feeling. They headed toward the counter and let out a sigh as she set the books down. This would be a lot to haul back home.
Ross diligently followed Lexi, trying his best to make sure her books wouldn't topple over in the process. As for the books he had originally intended to buy, he decided to leave them behind. True, he could have gone back for them, but Ross was more intent on making sure Lexi was all set, even if he barely knew her. He could always go back another time for books, it was no problem in his eyes. Settling the books on top of the counter, Ross clapped his hands against each other while looking on over to to Lexi. "Well, I think that's it! Glad I could be of some use. Do you need help bringing them out to your car or anything?" Hell, Ross would have walked halfway across town with her just to help her out.
Man, this guy was just too nice. Lexi smiled and batted her lashes. She was a little flirtatious because she simply couldn't help it. "So nice of you to offer, but I think I have it from here. I will demand that they give me a huge bag to carry it all in." She very nearly told him she did his need his help but he was already being too nice and damn if she wasn't feeling good because it. Something about him behaving politely made her want to respect that. She loved her ability usually but it was so inconvenient sometimes. "Didn't you come in here for books of your own? Don't let me take up all your time." What she really wanted to say was 'Boy oh boy could I take up some of your time, sexy.' But her mouth stayed closed and she gave him a polite smile.
"Oh, don't worry about that." Ross waved his hand about. "I should probably be going anyways. Have other errands to make." Well, not entirely, but it gave him an excuse to slip on out and be away from the emotions. Not that Lexi was smothering Ross with them, but the way she projected her emotions, yet visually reacted differently rubbed him the wrong way. Now was not the time to be dealing with negative emotions or the flirtatious ones. God, it felt like forever since Ross had some woman treat him like that and he couldn't help but feel absolutely wrong about it. Though it wasn't like he would be going home to Lanni and having to explain to her about Lexi.
"Well, it was nice meeting you, Lexi." Ross shook her hand before beginning to head on out. "Best of luck with your uh... endeavors, whatever they may be. And here." He fished out his business card for the Detroit Institute of Arts and handed it to Lexi. "If you ever need any more artistic input, feel free to get a hold of me." It was merely a kind act instead of a 'hey, we should go out some time' thing. Lexi might have made him uncomfortable, but he was glad she appreciated - to some extent - his kind actions and wanted to let her know now wasn't the only time she deserved that. "Take care!" And with that he head on out.