Chapter 66 STORIES BETWEEN SHELVES
NIRELLE
When I get to the front door, Lucien is waiting with a plastic bag in his hand. When I look down at it, he raises it and tilts his head.
"I asked the staff to pack some breakfast so you can have something to eat," he says before I can ask, and I almost jump at him in appreciation. I had been worried that we would be walking around without any food in our stomachs. "Shall we?" he added, and I nodded, walking towards him. He opened the car door for me and guided me into the car. I sat, and moments later he opened the door and sat inside.
"Have you ever gone out before?" I ask since we are still alone in the car.
"Yes, but I was alone and did not attract any attention to myself, so..." he trailed off. Even though he was not saying anything, I could tell that the experience was not palatable for him to share yet.
"Okay then, I have to warn you, though, outside can be scary," I say as the driver's side opens up and a man slides in. He is different from the driver who had been driving me around. Now I am wondering how many staff members worked for him.
"We would be on our way now," the man said in a low voice. Lucien's response was a nod, and I looked behind us to see a tonne of other cars ready to follow us out of the house.
I want to mention it to Lucien, but I do not, as maybe that would be the reason he can get out of the house in the first place. We are merging with the main road traffic when Lucien unravels the plastic bag to reveal some sandwiches and some bottles of juice. It looks very much like what someone would make for a kid going on a field trip.
"Here," he hands me one, and I begin to chew on it.
"You are quite thoughtful," I want to tease him. "From the stories of you on the internet and on the lips of men, you are quite a monster," I add before filling my mouth with another bite of the sandwich in hand.
"You changed me. I used to be a pretty scary monster," he replies, and I almost frown. He couldn't even give this opportunity to me.
I want to reply when I see the eyes of the driver dart weirdly. He is staring at Lucien in a weird way over the mirror. I almost burst into laughter. Maybe he had never driven Lucien before and had just heard stories, just like me.
We finally get to the bookshop, at least according to the driver. It does not look like a bookshop from the outside; it looks more like a museum to me. We step down from the car, and the bodyguards hurry to stand post around the building. We walk in together, but Lucien does not use his mask. I close the distance between us; we are so close that our bodies are grazing each other.
"Are you not going to use your mask?"
"I would have if we were going to a place where people were, but no one is here."
"No one is here?" I ask that even though I am shocked at how shocked I was to hear that. He had said yesterday that he was going to rent out the entire space. I never thought he would rent out the entire bookshop. "Did you rent out the entire space?" I ask, and he nods. I am lost for words, as I do not know what I am supposed to say.
"Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Vexley."
"Did you get the NDA?" Lucien asked at once. She stood with her legs together and her hands in front of her as she nodded. Have you signed it, and do you know the implication of it?" he continued.
"Yes, sir, I had my lawyer explain it to me," she responded. I wanted to reach out to her and tell him that he was not as scary as he seemed.
"What about the cameras? Are you sure all of your CCTVs are turned off?" he asked, and she nodded again. I could see her discomfort. If she was so uncomfortable with him being here, then why did she agree? "You know very well that if a single picture from here gets leaked, you'd have to suffer the consequences."
I nudge him by his side and try to explain that he should have greeted her before he went on and on about NDA signing and cameras. He looked lost and almost face-palmed at his action. "It is nice to be here; thank you for offering to let us come here."
"Oh no, it's no problem. Mr. Vexley here paid quite a sum..."
"Thank you, we would take it from here." Lucien stopped her from whatever she was about to say, and I watched her smile at me and then take her leave after murmuring that we should enjoy our stay.
"What are you hiding from me?" I ask, and he shrugs as if he does not have an idea of what I am trying to say. "You rented out this entire space, and I think you paid a large sum of money to the owner, and that is the reason she has this place locked up for us," I say, and he tilts his head at me as if I had cracked the code.
He holds my hand. At first, my body against his is like two rocks in contact. We are both so stiff that it makes me wonder what we were doing, but after a few seconds, our hands melted into each other, and soon, we were walking through the bookshop.
"I never knew there was such a big bookshop in this city." I said and noticed how he turned back at a sound.
"It was made last year, and I invested in it," he said casually, and I am beginning to wonder if there was any industry his money was not invested in. He was really not leaving his wealth to chance. "It is the biggest and the most visited.
"That means we have denied many people the right to be here."
"They get to use it every day; I am sure a few hours won't be an issue for them," he replies nonchalantly, and I wonder if it was okay for us to act like this. We pick out a few books after walking round the entire building and then go to the counter to ring them up. The same woman who greeted us was waiting for us.
I had thought I would have had others to interact with while I was shopping for books, but Lucien had other plans, and, quite sincerely, I did not totally hate whatever this was.
"This is on me, Mr. Vexley." The woman handed us the bag and refused to take payment from Luien.
"I insist."
"But you have already paid so much; it would be illegal for me to get this from you."
"But I insist." I see her eyes dart to me as if she is begging me to save her. I hold Lucien's hand, dropping it to his side, and smile at her.
"Thank you for the gift; we would take it from you and consider it our wedding gift," I say, and she nods as if that's what she meant.
"Thank you for coming. I will be willing to open up my business any time again if you want to come," she said as she walked us out.
"I will be sure to be back," I tell her, and she smiles even bigger.