"Thank you for shopping at Lily's, have a great day!"

Lily waved at the costumer as they exited the shop, jingling the bell behind them as they closed the doof.

Ah, the repeated line that Lily uttered everyday she worked there, with the occasional variation, of course.

She didn't mind it at all, however. 

She loved it. Just uttering those 10 words gave her 10 reasons of waking up in the morning, knowing she's achieved her dream of opening up a book store.

And all it took was four years on extensive research, classes, and crying over failures to get here; to get to such a perfect place. 

Though it was a struggle, and will continue to be a struggle from this point onward to keep the small shop running, Lily loved every minute of it. Book sellers didn't earn much, especially against large competitors such as Barnes and Noble and all those other big corporations, but this was good enough for her. 

Lily was situated in the outskirts of a nice town blending into the slums, which some considered to be a disadvantage. It was a cheap building to purchase and attracted both kinds of people to her shop, making it more of an advantage, rather than a disadvantage in Lily's eyes. 

These people were the rich, who were all interested in purchasing a token to show how they support small local businesses; and the poor, all striving towards a small outlook of a brighter picture. 

Lily was like her business and is situated somewhere in the middle.

She went to a public high school in America and did well, went to a decent college in Britain and did well, and now her business is...well, well off. 

But the feelings she carried were far superior than an average person's, they were beyond the stars and galaxies, so far that astrologists could not map them.

She was satisfied in this universe, something everyone struggled to obtain. 

Though she realized that permanent bliss will not forever remain permanent, she knows she can obtain it once more at a later point. 

Looking around the small world she's created for herself, she smiles a secretive smile, sharing it only to the writings on the walls. 

Glancing at the pricing chart she had under the counter, it listed off random numbers and price signs that only Lily's mind could comprehend. If a normal person, unaware of what they meant,  read what it said, they would've thought Lily was raving mad. Lily checked to make sure everything was in order, doing mental calculations as well.

The door chimed open, bringing alongside it the overwhelming scent of the city. The city had no particular scent in particular, it was a blend of far too many things, but together it created that overwhelming scent.

Oh, and the scent of tea wavered in as well, alongside a particularly large woman. 

Big face, large height, large body all concluding to the fact she was a friendly giant. Her blonde dyed hair had brown roots beginning to show through that matched the color of her down-turned eyes, crow's feet dancing at the edges from her constant smiling. Her cheeks were flushed a pink of autumn, as well as the fingers that were currently palming two teas in one hand and a bag of pastries in the other. 

Maneuvering around the tightly crammed bookshelves with the skills of a ballerina, she sets the tea down on Lily's counter.

"Hello, Lily, how are you today?" The woman asks, a toothy smile gracing her pale lip, showing the sliver of a crack between the two front teeth. Lily gave a close-lipped smile in her friend's way, as her routine has been for the past eight or-so months since the opening in March.

"The same as always,  Marie. Thanks for asking. And you?" 

"Absolutely lovely."

Lily's bland response was most likely due to the food set before her, as she proceeded to grab a cup of tea. Marie's chocolatey eyes revealed no secrets as Lily hesitantly took a sip before wincing.

"Dear God, Marie! What the hell is this?" Lily forced the foul, sweet tea down her throat, looking up at a giggling Marie.

"Cardamon Cinnamon, with a pinch of honey," Marie responds, taking the cup from Lily's grasp, "and you chose my cup again. Your wretched tea is in the other cup."

"Thank you, Marie," Lily responds, taking a sip of her Nilgiri tea, "you know how I like my tea black."

"And utterly foul as well. I swear if you take it with a pinch of sugar or honey, it would change your life forever. Maybe you'll be a less bitter person as well," Marie chuckles at her own joke as Lily rolls her eyes, grabbing a plain bagel from the bag that had cream cheese lightly smoothed unto it. 

Marie ran a local coffee shop about 10 blocks from Lily's, which sat right across from the street of Lily's apartment. Lily had tried to convince Marie that she can always grab her own coffee on the way to the shop, but Marie insisted bringing it to her.  Thus, Marie had wedged herself into Lily's world, quickly becoming a friend when she brought her (mostly) delicious teas and pastries. 

Marie claimed it was in the name of new friendships, Lily believed it was Marie clamoring for an excuse to leave on an extra lunch break.

Marie was an older gal, about 3-4 years older than Lily's 22, but she had never revealed her age to Lily; which was fine to Lily. Marie had adopted twins from Morocco with her wife, Janice, and they were both turning 7 this year. Marie and Janice opened 'Clay's Brew' in the honor of their favorite American politician from early 19th century, and plan on opening another location in the main city later on.

"Honestly, it's so wretched that Nadia refuses to take piano while Zara loves it. It messes up my whole schedule when I'm bouncing the two back and forth between whatever practice they're at," Marie complains as Lily chuckles, reaching underneath the counter and withdrawing two books.

"I found the new book you were looking for, by the way. Here's the two copies for your daughters," Lily passes the two over to the excited mother.

"You are such a darling, in all honesty I don't know how much I'd pay for books if I didn't know you." Marie jokes as Lily rolls her doll-like eyes.

"And I don't know how much money I'd waste on trying disgusting, sweet teas." 

Lily's response created a mock-shocked expression on Marie's face. Marie chuckles, rolling her eyes, trying not to be annoyed at Lily's reluctance at trying sweetened teas.

"They aren't disgusting, they're merely better than all the black teas you chug down like some fraternity boy." Marie stands up with the books in hand, cracking her back as she did so. 

"Do you need anything else while you're here?" Lily asks as Marie scrunches up her face in thought, before a light bulb dings off.

"Yes! There is! My daughters have to do a book presentation about secret codes and the such for Social Studies," Marie states, "Nadia wants to do a presentation on Morse Code and Zara wishes to do one on some strange numbers code."

"Binary?"

"I don't think so, but in all honestly I forget anything before 11:00 AM," Marie admits as Lily begins clicking away on her computer.

"We have a decoder book in the How-To languages section. It should be pretty easy to find."

"Alright, how much will it be?"

Lily checks her computer, "£7.50."

Marie stacked the notes on the counter, before heading off to the section of books. After finding the decoder book, she gives a wry grin to Marie

"I must be off now, I have to get gas on the way back since I've been hauling ass all around town to get my kids to practice."

"Have fun, Marie." Lily waves off her friend as she exits the book shop, speeding off recklessly the moment she enters the minivan. 

Lily swore to never get in a car with the speedster Marie. But, Marie always sped off like that and she's still alive, so if Lily was ever in trouble she knew that Marie would be the first person to call.

But that's most likely to never happen. Within the 8 months she's owned this book shop, nothing bad has happened; though the inner-city dwellers will disagree. 'That area is vile!' They'll argue, 'It's wretched and you'll be robbed!'

But who would rob a book store in this small area? The books were cheap and didn't sell for much, and all currency was mostly electronic, anyway. All the money was cleared from the register each day, save for two randomly selected notes, and the rest was put elsewhere.

The only real change Lily has coming for her is when her yearly contract of rent ends on Christmas and she can book it out of there; where she can finally move to the studio apartment above the bookshop. It was already decorated (well, semi), with some small things: such as tables and chairs. There was even an inflatable mattress for when Lily decided to sleep over.

Another jingle came from the door as Lily looked up to see a well dressed man enter the shop. Fine tux, fine shoes, and a fat Rolex that sat on his wrist. 

The man took off his Ray Bans as he swaggered towards the counter, showing red eyes.

Ah, a pimp. Not too unusual for these parts.

"Can I use your bathroom," he croaks out in a raspy, Spanish-accented voice as Lily sighs. Lily has clearly dealt with cases like this before, and has refined her tone to sound casual about it.

"I know this rule sucks and all, but you have to pay to use."

He groans, rolling his eyes. "Listen, I just need to take a piss-"

"Look," Lily starts, "I know you're most likely high as a cloud right now, and if you give me a pound I'll give you a bottle of water, unless you wish to buy a book."

He gives Lily a glare, before sighing. "Fine," he starts, withdrawing a wallet and clinking a pound on the table, "I respect that you're just tryin' to make a living."

"Thank you," she gives out a sigh of relief, putting away the pound, "the bathroom is in the back. Please don't smoke in there, the smell lingers forever and gets all over the merchandise. There's a perfectly good alleyway in the back that the cops don't linger in."

"Oh? You know all the good spots?" he asks, propping his head on his hand, shoving his elbow onto the wooden table. His face is a foot away from Lily's so she can smell his wretched breath from here. "Do you want to roast a nug in the back?"

Lily forces a fake smile on her face. "No thanks, I'm fine. Go pee, now."

He pulled away, before heading to the bathroom to pee. Lily rolled her eyes as she reached under the table, looking at the minifridge full of waters and withdrawing one. When the man came back, he held a thick book in his hand.

"I'll take a book to," he responds, holding it up for her to see. She arched a brow, "'Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix?' I'd never suspect you'd be the type to read that."

"Probably not going to, but my niece might like it. She don't like me that much, but maybe she'll hate me less if I get her this," he replies, as she nods.

"That'll be 15 pounds."

He passed her a twenty. "Keep it," he answers, taking the bottle of water in one hand and the book in the other.

"Thank you. Would you like a bag?"

"Nah."

"Alright," Lily nods as he walks to the door, hand almost on the handle. "Thank you for shopping at Lily's, have a good day!" She bids him as he waves back at her, already forgetting her face as he pushes himself out the door and leaving the door to slam itself closed behind him.

The people at Lily's were always strange, and all had their own reasons and stories for coming here. Most spilled their secrets to a trustworthy-appearing Lily as they entered the store, feeling as if they'd have to explain their reason for coming. Others wanted to know what to look for for that special someone, or wanted to find a book to relieve their heartbreak.

Sob stories to love stories of actual people connected their hearts to fictional ones, and Lily was the one who could do that for them and create this connection.

The rest of the day went by with some confessed stories to Lily before the customer found a book and left, until it closed at 10:00 sharp. 

It was time to go home for the day; however, what would happen next would change Lily's life forever.