InsaneJournal

Who: Jem and Tessa
What: Meeting for the first time
Where: Tessa’s bookshop
When: Late Early feb
Rating/warning: PG / None
Status: Complete


Tessa smiled at the customer in front of her kindly while trying to help them find the right book. It was often the case people would come in looking for birthday presents with only a vague feeling about what the person they were buying for wanted. Tess was used to that sort of thing though and she could usually steer people in the right direction for their purchase, whether it be from the newer publications or the antique section in the back.

She had just handed over another suggestion to the lady in front of her when her eye was caught by another customer entering the shop. He was tall, dark-haired and elegant, capturing her eye and distracting her from her current customer’s next question. She apologised and tried to focus her attention on the woman in front of her, keeping an eye on the man as she dealt with the customer.

Jem had just left his own job at the antiques shop and had decided, on his walk back to his apartment, to stop in at a nearby bookshop to take a look around before continuing on his way home. He wasn’t looking for anything in particular, but he often enjoyed just going into stores and looking around, especially book stores.

Stepping into the shop, Jem was completely unaware of the girl watching him and began moving around amidst the shelves, dark eyes scanning the various books that adorned them.

Tessa smiled at the woman as she made her decision and went to the checkout with her. The woman quickly paid for the book and headed out with a thank you thrown over her shoulder. Tessa waved at the lady and moved over to the gentleman who had caught her eye, brushing down her skirt to tidy herself up despite being ‘tidy’ already. She stepped just into his eyeline and gave him a bright smile and a little wave. “Good afternoon, can I help you?”

Jem hadn’t realized that anyone had approached him until the girl spoke and it brought his attention away from the shelves to the owner of the voice, dark brown eyes meeting grey ones, “Hello. Um, no. I was just looking around.” He told her, smiling so that she wouldn’t think that she’d bothered him, “Sometimes I just like to walk around book stores, waiting to see if anything jumps out at me.”

"Ah, I'll hide next time then," Tessa joked with a small smile. Shaking her head in embarrassment and tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear she carried on. "If you want the titles that really jump out at you then there's a section of antique books in the back," she pointed to the area to the left of the till away from the door. "First editions and the like," she told him, quietly proud of it all.

Jem smiled, kindly, at her joke, “Do you usually jump out of the stacks at customers?” He asked, English accent quite obvious the more he spoke. Most of the people Jem had met in the last couple of months were surprised to find out that he was from England, considering his obviously asian appearance, which then led to him explaining how his mother was Chinese and his father was English.

“I actually work in an antiques shop, so that actually does jump out at me,” Jem didn’t collect old books, per say, but on occasion he found a first edition of a book he did like and depending on the price, he’d have to pick it up.

"Um no," Tessa smiled up at him. "I do not make a habit of frightening patrons. I find it tends to be bad for business," she replied good-naturedly, giving a little shrug. "Oh really, antiques, that's unusual. You must have quite an eye then," she remarked.

“Not particularly, but it’s a small shop and the hours worked well with my class schedule.” Jem said, smiling, “Although, my mother does have a few Chinese antiques. So, I did know some things about antiques before I started working there. I’ve learned more while I’ve been there though.” Finding a job, especially at almost twenty, with little to no experience, was difficult, so Jem enjoyed his little job at the antique’s shop.

“You study as well? What subject?” Tessa asked, eyes lighting up with her natural curiosity which compelled her to ask questions. “Chinese? How wonderful! Do you speak it?”

Jem nodded in response to her question, “I’m a student at UC Irvine. I study music.” He glanced around quickly, wanting to make sure that he wasn’t monopolizing the sales’ girl’s time if there were any other customers in the shop, but it seemed that he was safe in that regard, “And I do. Mandarin.” As if to demonstrate, he said, ”My name is Jem. What is yours?” in Mandarin then proceeded to translate it for her so that he might possibly get an actual answer.

Tessa grinned up at him as he spoke in Mandarin, dropping her chin to hide the blush that rose in her cheeks. “It’s a pleasure to meet you Jem, I’m Theresa Gray,” she held out a hand to shake his in greeting. “Most people call me Tessa though,” she replied with a little shrug.

Jem smiled and shook her hand, “It’s nice to meet you, Tessa.” Jem didn’t put himself out there often; still somewhat shy like he was as a child, but there was something about Tessa that made him want to talk to her, “Are you here by yourself?” If she was, he didn’t want to take up all her time though, because he was sure that she had things she was supposed to be doing; helping other customers or putting books away or something. He didn’t want her to get in trouble for socializing after all.

“Oh no, my assistant just popped out for some teas,” Tessa smiled, moving her hand in the direction of the door. “She should be back in a minute and today’s been quiet so…” Tessa stopped herself talking and realised he might have meant that he wanted some time to browse alone. “Oh, I’m so sorry, you probably want to just look around. Not be pestered by the sales girl,” she smiled apologetically and took a step back, tucking some hair that had fallen out of her ponytail behind her ear in an embarrassed gesture.

Jen shook his head, "No, I simply didn't want you to get in trouble if there are other things you should be doing." He'd hate to be the cause of that, "would you mind showing me the rare books section? Is there anything there you'd recommend?" He figured that at least that way they weren't just standing around talking and it would seem like she was working if her manager came back.

“Well, I’d only be reprimanding myself,” Tessa joked. “I’m the manager,” she told him with a little smile. “I know, I don’t look old enough, but my old boss in New York thought I would be good at it,” she gave a little shrug. She’d always been considered as older than her years with a sensible head on her shoulders and she assumed that that was what had made her old boss trust her with this position. “Recommendations...let’s see,” she considered, folding her hands together in front of her and starting to move to the rare books section. “Well, we have one of my favourites in at the moment, a first edition Tale of Two Cities. The cover is absolutely stunning, come, have a look,” she grinned, excited to show off one of the books she loved. She came to a glass cabinet, finding the keys hanging from her waist and unlocked the top. She reached to the side for some gloves and put them on before closing the book carefully to reveal the cover.

Jem followed Tessa to the case and watched as she donned gloves in order to handle, “That certainly is stunning.” Other people would probably think he was crazy, but it really was the most beautiful book cover that Jem had ever seen, “I imagine that this is very expensive.” A book like that had to be worth a lot more money than Jem had ever had. “Although A Tale of Two Cities is one of my favorites.” He’d read it for the first time when he was fifteen and he’d liked it ever since. “Have you read the Portrait of Dorian Gray?” He felt like Tessa probably had quite the collection of books at home.

“It is unfortunately,” Tessa sighed sadly as she replaced the book in it’s original position and shut the case, removing her gloves and laying them down on top. “But some lucky person will own it one day,” she gave a little wistful sigh. “These few are the real gems, we have others which aren’t quite in the same price bracket,” she gestured to the rest of the smallish room they were in. “One of your favourites too?” she grinned, happy to find someone else who shared her feelings on the book. “I think I read it a long time ago, but not lately, I think we have a copy over here actually...” she trailed off as she moved over to the opposite wall, running her eyes and along the spines of the books, fingers lightly trailing after them. “Ah, here,” she pulled a book off the shelf and came back to stand next to him, stroking the cover with care. “Beautiful, isn’t it,” she looked up at his face, admiring him quietly.

Jem watched as she scanned the shelves then came back with the other book, “It is rather beautiful. How much is that one?” The Picture of Dorian Gray had fascinated him the first time he’d read it and since then had read it at least twice more. Some people read books only ones then let them pile up and collect dust, but Jem liked rereading books and in a way, he saw it as revisiting old friends. He knew it sounded silly, so he never actually said any of this outloud.

“This particular one isn’t all that much,” Tessa told him. “About $40, but uh,” she shrugged and blushed. “Well, the choice is yours, don’t feel like you have to buy something because I’ve been pestering you or anything,” she smiled kindly, moving to put the book back on the shelf.

Jem may have only just met Tessa, but he already liked her. After all, what was there not to like? She was nice and liked to read just as he did. So far he was glad that he’d stopped into the bookshop on his way home. “You’re not pestering me at all.” He smiled to reassure her, “Like I said, I’d come in here to see if anything jumped out at me and I think this has jumped.”

"Thank you, it can be hard to judge when people want to talk and when they think you're pestering them sometimes," Tessa smiled gracefully. "So you're studying music, do you play?"

Jem smiled back then shook his head, “I’m horrible when it actually comes to playing. I’ve tried, but I can’t seem to figure it out.” It was ironic then that he wanted to become a conductor, but music was what had helped him open up to others, so it only seemed right that he go into music as a career.

“Horrible? I don’t believe that for a moment,” Tessa replied kindly. “You must have the music inside you to get as far as you have. Maybe you just haven’t found your outlet yet,” she smiled up at him confidently.

Jem shrugged, “Perhaps, but I’ve tried most instruments and can’t see to carry a tune no matter what it is.” As much as Jem was enjoying talking to Tessa, he realized that he’d been at the bookshop for longer than he’d intended now, “I hate to cut this short, but I have a lot of coursework to do tonight and my cat is probably waiting at the door for me to come home and feed him,” Church could ignore Jem for hours, but when he wanted to be fed he was right there, in the middle of whatever Jem was doing.

“Oh! Of course, I’m sorry to have kept you,” Tessa shook her head and took a step back. “Let me give you my business card, then you won’t forget about my little shop,” she smiled, moving back to her desk in the other room to retrieve one of her cards from behind the till. “I’m in talks with a local cafe owner about joining up to put on some events, talks and readings with local authors and the like. If you’d be interested in that sort of thing?”

“You haven’t kept me at all,” Jem smiled as he took the card from her then took out his wallet so he could pay for the book, slipping the card into it at the same time, “That sounds wonderful. I’d like that.” If he could he’d stay there talking to Tessa longer, but he knew he couldn’t stay any longer.

“Great,” Tessa smiled happily at him, accepting payment for the book and then coming around to his side of the counter to hand him the bag with it in. “I hope to see you soon then Jem,” she told him, holding her hand out to shake his.

Jem took his bag and shook Tessa’s hand, still smiling, “Thank you. I’ll definitely be coming back in soon.” If not just to come talk to Tessa, because it wasn’t often that Jem met people he could talk to so easily. With one last smile, he turned and headed out of the store and towards his apartment.