It wasn’t new to me to be a one-man show for the bookshop, but it was usually prepared for in advance. this time, Delilah up and left without so much as a goodbye.  

I closed down the shop after an hour of no customers; I went through, blowing out all the candle-lit lamps one by one, making my way upstairs to stand in the small kitchen. Delilah had always cooked simple meals for me, but as the unmotivated person I was, I didn’t make anything for myself and headed to my small room. I went to bed hungry, dreading the next week.