The Universe's Mixer

Tuesdays at Bookmark Books were Beauty's favorite days. Hardly any customers came on Tuesdays, too busy with day-to-day life to bother with used books. It was the day that she and her coworker usually spent tidying up the store, stocking and verifying what was on the shelves, and sometimes, sometimes, the best of times, sitting together in the front and reading from the same book.

This morning, Beauty had gone from the back, where she and Errol were categorizing the newest arrivals for later shelving, to the front. The coffee machine had just gone off, and it was her turn to make cups for each of them.

To her surprise, there was a man standing just outside the front door, looking for all the world that he was waiting for the store to open. He'd cupped his hand to his eyes and was looking straight at her as she walked into the front. Any person that eager for books deserved to wait in the comfort of the store itself, she thought! With a smile, she held up her hand for his patience. Bypassing the coffee, then, Beauty grabbed the store keys from the front counter and headed to the door. When she'd turned the key in the lock, she pulled the door open.

"Hello! We're not quite ready for customers yet," she said, "But would you like to come in and wait? We have comfortable chairs in the front, and there's coffee..."