WHO: Match and Tessa Gray WHAT: A bookstore meeting WHEN: recentlike WHERE: her bookstore WARNINGS: none STATUS: Closed and Complete
Match had been hesitant to actually look up Tessa, not wanting to look too eager, or like he was taking advantage of her. And then his life had gone crazy with this new lead role in a movie and he had no longer had any time to breathe at all. Now, stealing an hour or two, he had driven down to see her, see the bookstore, and hope it was a good time. He was still plugging away at his novel, and even jotting notes for a new short story based loosely off his current events. But it was far slower right now, with being on set constantly.
This was crazy!
He grinned as he stepped into the bookstore, his eternally carried messenger bag slung over one shoulder, containing his notebooks, and his laptop. He peered around, smiling as he found himself heading toward the science fiction section, where his books, if there were any here, would be.
***
Tessa had been in her office filing some invoices away when she’d heard the bell on the front door ring. Finishing up, sh headed out into the store and spotted a backpack heading down one of the aisles and followed. Spotting the man she’d met at the Pride party, she smiled and approached him as he was looking through the selection of Science Fiction and Fantasy section. “Well hello there Match, nice to see you again,” she said. “How have you been?”
***
Match turned and smiled as he saw her. “Tessa! It’s good to see you!: So I am in the right place, after all. Good. I’ve been great!”
He smiled warmly, glancing around, then back at her. “How’ve you been? This place looks good.”
It felt like a nice little store.
***
“Did you think you’d walk into another bookshop by accident? Don’t worry, I’ve done that before and come out $50 lighter and 3 books heavier,” Tessa joked as she slowed to a stop next to him. “I’m ok thank you, had a lovely day at the beach with Jem and Will on a rare day off which was great,” she smiled fondly as she remembered seeing both of her fair skinned boys reading in the shade of an umbrella on the beach.
“Thanks, we’ve spent a lot of time doing it up and expanding,” she looked around proudly. “Can I help you find anything?” she asked.
***
“Well… maybe? I’ve been known to be absentminded when working on a book before, and now I’m in a movie, too, so my brain is completely blown half the time.” Match grinned at her.
He might already have a half dozen books in a stack under one arm. “Yeah? Good! I’m glad to hear it.” He had still to find someone of his own but he was not really looking, so that was fine.
“Well, I came to talk about what we had talked about, and to bring these.” Juggling things, he pulled out five mint condition hard back copies of his books and fire mint condition paperback copies, all signed inside the first page.
He handed them over to her, grinning. “I like to patronize book stores and make them happy to see me.” He knew that an autograph, however unpopular his books were, raised value, for some.
***
“A film star too! Do your talents know no bounds? What is the movie? Or are you sworn to secrecy?” Tessa teased with a grin.
“What about you? Have you got anything planned for the summer? Vacations?” she asked curiously.
Tessa couldn’t help but gasp at the sight of the books he pulled out of his bag. Reaching to take the books from him, she flicked to the front page and grinned at the sight of a signature. “Oh my! Thank you, ever so much! I’m going to get Capable to set up a stand especially for these when she gets back from lunch!” she grinned up at him, closing the cover of the top book and resting her hand on it. “Well we are definitely happy to see you in here,” she told him. “Feel free to pop by anytime you like,” she offered.
***
His cheeks went red at her enthusiasm and he swallowed for a moment, then flailed one hand. “Ah, well, they are still working on a title last I heard. Couldn’t decide what to call it. It’s a female led action movie, a little bit sci-fi, a little bit Raiders. I’m lucky to be in it.” He grinned at her, cheeks still bright red.
“Me? Mostly just finish this book, finish the movie, and then possibly collapse for a little while and sleep. Sleep a lot. Maybe all the time.” he grinned at her, but lopsidedly, for he was not entirely kidding. Trying to write a book and film a movie was actually being very stressful.
“You’re welcome. I hope they are received well. And you don’t… I mean, whatever you want to do, of course. I hope they actually find homes.” He was blushing more, still not really used to people liking his talents in writing. Objectively, he knew he could write and sell books. Subjectively, he was startled anytime anyone liked anything he wrote.
“Thank you. I definitely will.”
***
“Sounds interesting, I’ll have to take Jem and Will to the cinema when it comes out. Would you let me know when it’s due to be released?” Tessa asked. A night out at the cinema would be nice and different for them, they didn’t do it often, often preferring each other’s company or a good book.
“Well don’t don’t forget to make some time for yourself as well. It sounds like you are certainly a busy bee and it is so easy to get lost in all that business. Like I said, I know we’ve only just met, but if you’d ever like to come down for a coffee and a chat about things then please feel free,” she smiled kindly, only wanting him to take care and avoid any risk of burning out.
“I am sure that they will find happy homes with some faithful bibliophiles,” she patted him on the shoulder as she saw him blushing red. “Don’t worry, we’ll have you on the New York Best Seller's list in no time,” she winked. “Is there anything you can tell me about your newest creation? Or is that hush hush as well?” she asked.
***
“Of course. They are shooting for Thanksgiving, but haven’t locked it down yet. I’ll let you know for sure when I know.” He smiled to her, confident that things would go well. And having friends who were supportive was nice!
“I do my best, and I will be as me timeing it as much as I can. It’s already so crazy.” He shook his head. He smiuled again. Good advice, that was.
“You know, I just might. I can use friends, new or not.” He offered her his hand, and a warmer smile. He had a feeling he had just met someone he would know for a very long time. And that was no bad thing.
“The latest one? It’s a story about a young woman who goes from someone no one knows to someone who is a household name, at the same time as becoming a secret superhero. How she deals with it, and how she balances her life with its changes, is the main story, though there is a bad guy and all.”
***
Tessa juggled the books in her arms for a second as she tried to shake his hand. Chuckling, she she nodded over her shoulder. “Follow me over to the till where I can put these down,” she smiled at him, making her way back to the till where she put the books he’d given her down behind the counter. “Also, if you want to make a little pile on the till while you’re looking around that’s fine. I can keep an eye on them until you’re ready to head off,” she offered.
“I have to admit, I want to pre-order your book already,” she told him. “Have you got a name for it yet?” she asked, clearing a space for Match’s books.
***
He grins at her. “Of course. Lead on chief.” He followed her and listened “Will do.” He chuckled. “I often collect books while wandering bookstores.”
He blushed a little, then nodded again. “Yeah. Days of the Demon. All of my books have Days in the title.”
***
“I know what you mean, you start with nothing and then before you know it you’re halfway around the store with an armful of books,” Tessa grinned, patting the pile of books on the desk.
“That’s interesting, is there something behind that? I like books that have a common theme in the title so that you know they’re linked,” she smiled.
***
“Exactly! I can sometimes end up with far too many in my hands.” He chuckled. Bookstores were definitely his, well, his other kryptonite. He smiled to her, and nodded.
“There is. Thematically, they are all about a character who has to deal with both something new to them in their lives, and some kind of personal revelation. For the first book, it is a man dealing with finding out he is at the center of a prophecy to face a minor dark force called the Dread, and also, at the same time, dealing with facing the fact that he is bisexual, a thing he had denied, for a long time. These two themes carry through the book.”
He waved a hand. “After that, I wrote a number of short stories, all in a similar vein, but with less story and long tale in them, and they were collected in two volumes; Days of the Dreams and Days of Hope.”
He grinned, bouncy. “The latest volume will be another novel, continuing the story of one of the short stories in Days of Dreams, which was the kind of an origin story of a young woman who had appeared in the first novel. The response to it and her was good enough that I felt compelled to, and my publishers liked the idea of, telling the story of what happened to her after the first novel. So I have been working out her challenges and working on telling that story while working on the movie.’
He nodded to her. “Why don’t we sit down and talk, and we can discuss things.” He felt like this was going to be a very good day.