Letting James Loose In A Bookstore
Dotty pattered around her house for an hour, getting ready for her long day, processing everything that had happened the day prior. She hadn’t had time to freak out then, but she did now. James was alive? And had come back?
Of course, one she’d seen his familiar face on the news years ago, she’d known he was alive, but that didn’t mean she’d been prepared to see him. After all, he was basically a celebrity now, why would he have time to visit an old woman?
However, James Buchanan Barnes surprised her like always, showing up at her shop one day and accepting a job offer the next morning. She wasn’t stupid, she’d known she was getting old and couldn’t take of the shop by herself for much longer, she just figured it would foreclosed by the bank, until her kids had bailed her out, or that he kids would eventually sell it and send her to a nursing home.
It wasn’t fair to them to think that way, but she’d grown up in the shop and couldn’t imagine her life without it. James coming was a miracle and she couldn’t help but wonder if God himself had sent the man.
She’d never been religious, always too wrapped up in another fantasy world to subscribe to it, but just as she was getting too old for real this time, James had shown up with an offer to lift everything with his metal arm and charm customers into buying books, and for that she’d be forever thankful.
She decided to try on the dress that he’d made for her the evening before, a mismatched empire waisted dress with buttons up to a notched collar of white. Where he got the buttons from, she didn’t know. It didn’t fit perfectly, but it was very comfortable and stylish, if not a little eccentric, however, it was nice to see that James hadn’t lost his touch and she decided to wear the dress that day.
She pulled up outside the store to find James already standing there, metal arm covered with a long sleeved leather jacket despite the heat and a pair of black skinny jeans on. Did this man own anything that wasn’t a shade of black? She didn’t think so, for all his artistry. He was running his metal hand anxiously through his hair, so nervous in fact, he hadn’t noticed the car pull up or that he was using, and exposing, his metal hand.
“Dotty,” he grinned, watching her pull up next to him in the same old car he was driving around the day before. She grinned back just a wide, pulling herself into her wheelchair. Wheeling her way onto the footpath, she fiddled with her pockets to pull out the keys.
James took a long moment until he realised that Dotty was wearing the dress and his grin split wider, if that had been possible.
“Looking rather nifty there Mrs Barnes.” He winked at her, giving her a fake twirl in her wheelchair as she giggled and blushed red, covering her mouth as if appalled at his behaviour.
“How scandalous Mr Barnes, but I must say you look rather debonair in your dashing shades of black.” She gave another giggle as James glared grumpily.
“You’re not divorcing me are you Mr Barnes?” She raised a teasing eyebrow.
“Never, my dearest Dorothy. I love you too much.” He leans in and pretends to kiss her, as she playfully shoves him and unlocks the door to the bookshop.
“After you.” He dramatically gestured to the doorway, before pushing her wheelchair inside to the colourful store.
There wasn’t much for him to do around the store, some cleaning she hadn’t been able to do in her advancing age and stacking a few books customers had left around the shop. However, it seemed to be a quiet day as she watched the young man go about his duties, charm customers and occasionally flick through books.
He seemed to be very engaged in one that she knew must have been a new arrival. Its cover was a bright blue with black font on a, what was that, a graphic of an ad with tear strips on the front. The book was a paperback and stood out by a mile, and whenever she glanced over at James he seemed to be enthralled in the story.
The book was stashed back behind a stack of books whenever she called him over to do something, but the smile she was rewarded with when he got to a certain part of the book made her float on cloud 9. She was glad to see that smile again.
She decided lunch was in order when her stomach grumbled for the 4th time in that 15 minute window and there hadn’t been any customers for about an hour. She usually would have packed lunch, but she didn’t know what James liked anymore and she damn well wasn’t going to eat food if he didn’t have any. So she demanded they go down to the local burger place, thanking James once again for indulging an old lady and secretly paying for his food.
“Enjoy working at the shop?” She asked, noting how he kept his back to a wall and kept eyeing up everyone in the shop quickly, as if someone was watching him. He seemed to snap out of it, clearing his throat and nodding.
“It’s good, I like it. It gives me something to do.” He said, as if he hadn’t just revealed something vulnerable, and she thought that was improvement.
“I liked the book.” He finally said after a long silence in which he surveyed the too loud shop, taking in which shades of red reminded him of Redwing and which shades of blue he’d have to convince Sam to include in his outfit.
“I noticed.” She laughed.
For a moment James was caught off guard, was she angry at him? Was he not supposed to read the books? As if sensing his panic, she cut off the thoughts by continuing on.
“I’ve never read it, at least it doesn’t look familiar, what’s it about?”
At that James launched into a long winded and extremely detailed rant about a musical theatre nerd and a writer just out of a bad relationship. About meetings at a post office and failed dates and what he sees as the good of the 21st century. To Dotty’s surprise he doesn’t seem grossed out by the idea of two men, however, as she thought back more, her parents were always making comments about Bucky and his boy, and further along how he got Captain America and puzzle pieces seemed to slide into place.
She nodded along, thrilled with his enthusiasm until it was time to go back to the bookstore. The rest of their shift was quiet, James finished the book, lamenting the ending and making large, dramatic gestures as if that would change the blank words in front of him.
After a couple hours of working again, Dotty sent him for a walk when she saw he was getting antsy being cooped up inside. He arrived back almost an hour later, stammering out apologies and with his jacket zipped up high.
She frowned oddly, Dotty didn’t think it was that cold outside, until she saw something rustling his jacket. Then to her surprise, a little white face poked out the top of his leather jacket. All James could do was stand guiltily, holding the small feline, sheepishly in his arms.