Welcome

Cristina wandered around the bookstore that she had gotten a job at, hey it was a place to go and have something to do besides be at school bored. She was wandering up the isles restocking the bookshelves, she was completely lost in her own thoughts. She had the slight problem, especially when she was left to close up for the night as it was this very night. It was dark and raining outside and the night was not looking very promising. The lights had already gone out once, the lighting was flashing and the thunder seemed to shake the very foundation of the small store.

The small store was tucked away between two very busy stores, a bakery, and a small botique. The bookstore got great business, but it was on nights like this when it was best, the book store was very inviting, and a very good place to get out of the rain.

In the corner of one section of the store was free coffee and cookies, which Tina had been snagging the whole 3 hours she had been working. She still had 3 more hours left before she could close up shop, and she was going to dread going out in that weather. Don't get her wrong, she loves the rain, but being on the streets of Le Havre in weather like this was just not very safe.

She really didn't like having to close up shop, but usually the weather wasn't thunderous and ugly. Although there was very little ugly about rain, she found it delightful. The pelts of cold water were like her pulse, they would smack the ground in a rhythm much like the beat of her heart. It was so thrilling and amazing to her.

She plucked a book and moved it to a different spot down the shelf, the smell of the pages and leather bindings wafting through her nose. She smiled in a sense of bliss, she loved it--books.

Suddenly, broken from her own thoughts the door jingled with a customer coming in. She peeked around the isle and spotted Jude, the guy that she had met earlier before with Audry, wasn't it Audry's ex?

Jude had decided to take a walk around town to catch up with some shop keepers that he knew and chat up the locals for a breif while. That is, until the bottom dropped out of the sky and the ground started to vibrate every time thunder clapped. Despite the fact that the weather would take quite a while to pass, he decided to wait it out.

Looking back and forth at the row of shops, Jude funally decided on the bookstore and ran across the street as fast as he could, trying to dodge rain drops that seemed to be the size of quarters. He sucessfully made it across in one peice and he opened the door to the small shop, smiling as he felt the warmth of it along with the wonderful smell of old literature. This was the place to be during a time like this.

He started wandering the rows looking for a cover that caught his eye. Yes, yes, you weren't supposed to judge a book by it's cover but it was something that Jude did quite regularly. Surprisingly enough, the method actually yeilded pretty good results, too. Turning down one of the final rows, he ran into someone he recognized somehow. It took him a moment to realize that it was indeed the girl who had tackled Audry. "Hey, Cristina. What are you doing here?" Please, God,let her recognize him and not think that he was some creepy stalker man off of the streets.

Cristina smiled, gosh wasn't he a cutie. "Oh, hey, it's Jude, right?" Tina took another book from the shelf and moved it to its correct spot. "Actually," She said as she started towards the front hoping he would follow, "I work here." She turned at the counter and smiled to him, she really had little to do right now so she decided to walk over and snag another cookie. "Want one?" She asked offering him a delicious chocolate chip cookie.

She leaned against the coffee counter and nibbled a bit on her cookie. Thunder clapped outside and the the lights flickered in the store. She stared up at the lights, she just knew that in the next 3 hours sometime the lights were going to go out. She was just glad she was no longer away. After seeing that movie Disturbia the other night she had no intention of waiting in the dark store till time to lock up, at least not by herself. Now since she wasn't alone she was pretty sure she could handle it.

Lightning flashed and Tina jumped, much to her dismay. This made her laugh but she stopped herself before she ended up spitting coookie all over the place.

"Oh, hey, it's Jude, right?" A weight lifted off of his chest and he smiled even more broadly as she recognized him. It was a good thing she had, too, because that would have been one awkward conversation "Yep, that's me," he said, clasping his hands together.

He continued to listen to her talk, "Really? I would love to work in a place like this. A bookstore or a record store have been my top two places for summer jobs, but I almost always get stuck doing a barista thing at my grandpa's cafe. He's about fifty years too old to man the machine, so he's enlisted me to do it for him." He laughed and shook his head. In all honesty, it was a pretty good job. The boss couldn't fire him and even if he got paid next to nothing he got to take vacation when he wanted to, not to mention the huge amount of free coffee he got to consume.

As she offered him cookies, Jude shook his head no. "No thank you. I'm on a diet; gotta watch my girlish figure and all," he said with a wink. Right as he finished his sentence a huge clap of thunder shook the small building and soon after a lightning strike flashed across the sky. Jude cringed and he watched Cristina jump. "This is some bad weather were getting. At least it can't get much--" He was cut short when the power suddenly shut off and failed to flicker back to life. Oh so cliche. He sighed and said, "Damn. It didn't even give me time to knock on wood."

Cristina laughed, just before the lights decided to complete go out, she cursed. She could hardly see a hand in front of her face. She reached out in front of her and found her fingers touching Jude's shirt, at least she hoped it was Jude.

"Sorry, I can't see a thing." She took a step forward, only to trip and fall sending them both tumbling to the floor, her landing less than gracefully on top of him. "Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry, I'm such a clutz."

Tina tried to roll off of Jude only to have her knee land right in his crotch, as soon as she did it she quickly moved off of him, appologizing even more, her hand to her mouth in distress, this was not a good night. She legally couldn't close the shop until her clock timed out, so if the lights didn't come on she was stuck in darkness for a while.

She kept appologizing as she crawled on the floor, her hands searching for the counter with the cash register. She finally found it and hefted herself up, coming around the side she dug under and found a lighter--boss was a smoker. She lit it and the room became a little brighter, she couldn't make out Jude very well though, be she was pretty sure he wasn't feeling too good after she had kneed him in the groin.

She hurried into the back room and got a lantern from the closet. She lit it and hurried back out to the front and placed it on the counter. Now with the light from the lantern she could see throughout the shop, she could now clearly see Jude, "Are you alright?"

Jude felt some fingers on his front and he presumed that it was Cristina, "That's okay. It's pitch black in here." To prove his point to himself he started to scan the room with his eyes when he felt a weight push him backwards. Upon impact he let out a soft 'oof' as the breath left his lungs. He started to laugh and said, "Nah, it's fine. I really have a tenancy to fall down around you."

Suddenly, there was a very sharp pain in his family jewels and he clenched his teeth, trying not to make a noise. As soon as she was completely off of him his hand automatically went to his crotch and he tried to put pressure on the pain and protect his man bits from any further damage.

Once she lit the lighter, though, he made an attempt to look composed and orderly like nothing had happened at all. "Are you alright?" Staggering to his feet he nodded and said, "Yeah, I'm perfectly fine. I'm sure everything still in working order." He laughed and took a few steps towards her. "How about you? You didn't hurt yourself in the fall did you?" His voice was full of genuine concern and he looked her over, trying to make sure she wasn't scraped up or anything.

"How about you? You didn't hurt yourself in the fall did you?" He asked her sounding genuinely concerned.

Cristina smiled, looking down at herself to make sure she replied, "Nope, looks like I came out on top." She laughed at her little joke. As she looked up from examining herself she saw he was looking her over. She was sure it was just to look to see if she was hurt, but a part of her wanted him to be 'checking her out' as cliche as that sounded.

Thunder clapped again overhead, yet the lights stayed out. She cursed as the lightning flashed outside and the wind howled against the glass windows of the shop. She sure hoped the storm let, up or they could end up being her for a while.

"Um, there is a staff room in the back with a couch, and food, and stuff. We can go back there for a while, I've suddenly got the munchies." She suggested, she really did have the sudden urge to munch on something.

"Nope, looks like I came out on top." He laughed and shook his head, "That's good then." As long as she was still okay, so was he.

Jude flinched as the thunder rumbled on yet again. "Now I remember why I used to hide under the covers when this sort of weather was going on." Storms usually didn't bother, but this one was a killer. Between the floor vibrating and the sky splitting open with lightning there was not a single good thing about it. Not even the pitter patter of rain on the window, which usually put him to sleep.

"Um, there is a staff room in the back with a couch, and food, and stuff. We can go back there for a while, I've suddenly got the munchies." He nodded, "Sounds good to me. I wouldn't mind a little something to drink if there's a water thinggie back there."

She had the gitters, storms like these gave her the creeps, her being wiccan it sent out bad energies. She couldn't think of anything she had done that was bad though, so she figured she was safe, her Karma was clean.

She led Jude to the back, holding the lantern aloft so she could see where she was going. She came into the staff room and set down the lantern on the coffee table. She point Jude to the Water jug in the corner, and went to the little fridge to get something to eat. She opened the fridge and found a bag fo chips, yes, her boss is a nut. She laughed but took the chips anyways.

Another clap of lighnting lit up the front of the store and the shadows crawled down the hallway, she looked away though. It was the thunder that got her jumping out of her skin, it seemed to shake the earth in such a fierce way.

She plopped down on the couch and put the bag of chips on her lap, she was eating them noiselly, because it was keeping her sane. Then she couldn't help but notice how nice of an ass Jude had--he was just minding his own business, she hoped he didn't notice her staring. She would do that sometimes, just stare off into space, and she would just happen to be staring at someone's ass or something.

Jude followed his companion carefully, making sure not to trip over the corner of a book shelf or even his own feet. The last thing he needed to do was trip and fall again. As they came to the staff room, he looked around and tried to memorize the layout as best he could, just in case the lantern decided to die too. Wouldn't that be magical. He rolled his eyes to himself and glanced at Cristina, who was motioning him towards the water.

Picking up a paper cup, he stuck it under the spout and pressed the little blue tab that let out the drink. After it filled up, he drank it in two gulps before filling it again and turning towards the couch. He noticed her staring off into space and he waved his hand. "Earth to Tina." He laughed and walked over towards her, plopping down uncerimoniously on the cushy couch.

He honestly didn't have anything to say, and he really didn't feel like the silence thing they had going on was awkward. It was just in his nature to talk. Jude turned to face her as he took a sip of his water. "So, do you stay here over summer and work or is it more of a thing that you do when schools in session?"

She laughed when he waved his hand saying, "Earth to Tina." Gosh, he had totally just caught her, just hopefully he hadn't noticed what she had been staring at.

He came and sat beside her on the couch and she was at loss for something to talk about. She was relieved when he piped up, "So, do you stay here over the summer and work or is it more of a thing that you do when school's in session?"

"Oh, I just moved here, but I am looking to work here this summer too." She told him.

"What about you? What do you do during the summer?"

"Oh, I just moved here, but I am looking to work here this summer too." He nodded, "That'll be fun, especially if you get discounts and stuff on the books. I'd have a full library in my room if I could afford it." Smiling, he drained the rest of the water and put the empty cup next to his foot so he'd remember to throw it away before leaving.

When she asked, "What about you? What do you do during the summer?" he replied, "Oh, I work for my grandpa's coffee shop. I'm the head barista so I sit around making coffee for indie kids that argue about which band is more obscure." Laughing, he shook his head and continued, "It's a good enough job, though. He lets me take vacation when I like, I don't have to wear a uniform, and I get free coffee. Can't beat that."

Cristina laughed at that, "Maybe sometime you could hook me up with some free coffee, it's my favorite drink next to chocolate milk." She smiled and ate another hand ful of chips.

She grinned at him, and set the chips aside, more thunder shook the room and boomed overhead. Cristina jumped and nearly landed in Jude's lap, she blushed, and thanked that it was too dim in the room for him to have noticed. Good grief, she just couldn't seem to keep herself in check. All she could think about was him, it was just ironic that it had been him who had walked into the store for shelter, it couldn't have been anyone else. It just had to be him.

It was times like these when she would have loved to have been in front of a warm fire reading a good book. But instead she was stuck in an old book shop with the guy she was infatuated with. It was all just lovely, she couldn't believe her luck.

Cristina let out a hearty sigh, leaning back into the couch--momentarily closing her eye. A part of her wanted the storm to be over to make this akwardness go away, another part wanted it to last forever--because maybe something would happen.

She had to quit thinking about him that way, she was Audry's best friend, he was Audry's ex who she was still secretly in love with. She couldn't let a guy ruin her and Audry's friendship. If Audry knew Cristina's thoughts Audry would surely never forgive her.

"I'm sure I could, so long as you don't make me do one of those 'soy milk with fat free this and only a dabble of this and no foam on the top, decaf only, and make sure to do a swirly design on the top with the caramel'." He stopped to scoff and roll his eyes. "I'll make you pay with more than just money if you do that." Laughing, he put his arm over the back of the couch and crossed his legs.

This round of thunder didn't faze him as he was finally getting used to the intensity of the storm. It wasn't going away for a while so he had decided to accept the fact it was going to be loud and rumbly until it decided to subside. Letting out a soft breath, he wiggled into the back of the couch, getting comfortable.

"Looks like we'll be stuck here for quite a while yet, " he murmered quitely.It was okay with him, really. If she got scared he'd be here for her to cuddle up to and such. He wouldn't mind it, that was for sure. She was a cute girl and even if she was Audry's best friend it didn't really mean he couldn't think she was cute. Audry had made it clear that their realtionship was done, over, complètement fini and he could move on, or at least try to.

He made her laugh, she turned to him with an evil grin on her face, "I might just do that." She said it quite wickedly, she just couldn't help letting out another laugh.

The thunder clapped again and once again she jumped, Jude seemed to be getting use to it but she sure wasn't. It sounded again, the lightning flashed and she shivered, her last jump had set her even closer to Jude now. His shirt was soft against her arm, and she couldn't help but muse that he was warm, where as she had goose bumps from the weather making her jump clear out of her skin.

Jude wiggled into the couch a bit more to make himself comfortable, and his arm went up and onto the back of the couch. It was now just behind Tina's head.

Suddenly, all that could be heard outside was the thump of rain on the roof, and the lightning and thunder seemed to have eased out a bit. It seemed like the storm was letting up, Tina couldn't help but hope it didnt. Thing swere just getting cozy in here.

The rain seemed to sooth her nerves, and not even thinking about it she leaned back and put her head on Jude's arm, closing her eyes softly. So many thoughts were running through her head, she was totally oblivious to what she was doing really. She could not think straight to save her life, at this moment.