๐ฐ ๐ณ๐๐ข ๐๐ ๐ ๐ป๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐ท๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐ป๐๐๐๐
๐๐๐ซ๐ซ๐๐ญ๐จ๐ซ'๐ฌ ๐.๐.๐.
It is a normal morning in a bustling city like Lethe. The sun has risen for about a few hours already. The clear sky promises fine weather and the breeze of the early Friday morning blows, easing the slight heat that the sun was already emitting. The noise of the usually bustling city; people running their way to different institutions, buildings, or stores, people arguing who rented the bicycle first, kindergarteners singing while they fall into a nice line holding each other's hands, chatters of people talking about their daily lives or what happened the day before. In an apartment not far away from the main road, a low yawn could be heard, loud enough to startle the now awake neighbours by the next couple of doors.
The sunlight that seeped through the gap of the open window softly kissed the smooth pale face of the brown-haired lass sleeping in the centre of her bed, which caused her to crack awake. She sat down with another yawn stretching her arms up and cracking her neck left and right as she did so. She scratches here and there. Fighting her sleepiness, she glanced at her alarm clock atop a small bedside table when she successfully opened her eyes. 8:30 it read. "๐ฆ๐ต๐ถ๐." she blurted out, sleepiness finally leaving her body as she scurried her way to the bathroom. She is half an hour away from her shift in a book shop a couple of blocks away. She cursed her alarm clock for not ringing, ๐ข๐จ๐ข๐ช๐ฏ. This is the fifth time it did that in the whole week.
She rinsed her face and brushed her teeth, running her wet hands on her hair to tame the bird's nest her hair had become. There's no time for a morning skincare routine. She reaches for her comb to brush her hair and tie it up. She runs to her pile of hanging clothes by the door of her closet snatching a fresh pair of her undies, safety shorts, and her uniform, hastily slipping the blouse and skirt on, she let her jacket hang on her left shoulder while walking out of the bedroom. She hurriedly put her jacket on as she ran to the doorway grabbing her platforms and putting them on. She made sure she looked at least presentable before grabbing her bag which was hanging on the coat rack by the doorway.
She locks her apartment and double-checks if it really was locked before she dashes her way to the book shop. She arrived only five minutes before her shift, hands on her knees as she caught her breath. "๐ ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ป๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฎ. ๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐น๐ฎ๐ฟ๐บ ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ฑ๐ป'๐ ๐ฏ๐น๐ฎ๐๐ ๐๐ผ๐ ๐ฎ๐๐ฎ๐ธ๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ด๐ฎ๐ถ๐ป?" her co-worker greeted her with an annoying grin. "๐ฌ๐ผ๐ ๐ณ๐ถ๐ด๐๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฑ?" she pants as she answered. The other chuckled, "๐ช๐ฒ๐น๐น, ๐'๐บ ๐ผ๐ณ๐ณ ๐ป๐ผ๐." she said as the lass walked to the cash register. "๐ฌ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ต... ๐ด๐ผ๐ผ๐ฑ๐ป๐ถ๐ด๐ต๐ ๐๐ฟ๐ถ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฎ." she bids at her co-worker as she heads out.
She scanned around looking for something she should attend to. When she concluded that her co-worker left the shop neat and tidy, she sat down on the chair placed behind the counter. She opens the drawers under the counter looking for something that entertained her co-worker the whole night. She found a couple of books with black covers. The one on top of the other says ๐๐ช๐ต๐ค๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ด and the other says, ๐๐ข๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ช๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด. She slightly tilts her head in amusement. "๐๐ฟ๐ถ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฎ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐น๐น๐ ๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐๐ผ๐บ๐ฒ ๐๐ฒ๐ถ๐ฟ๐ฑ ๐๐ฎ๐๐๐ฒ ๐ถ๐ป ๐ฏ๐ผ๐ผ๐ธ๐." she mutters under her breath.
The door opens, causing the chimes hanging on the top part of it to ring, signalling that someone entered the shop. She bowed, greeting her first customer a good day. One of the early birds who went to book shops for their daily reads. The man slightly bowed in return as he scanned the whole place for something he wanted. As the brown-haired lass watches the customer scanning around, she cannot help her thoughts as it blurted "๐๐ต ๐ช๐ด ๐จ๐ฐ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฅ๐ข๐บ."
She spent the first half of her shift greeting customers and attending to them now and then. She just finished getting a book for a young man about a few years younger than her when she felt her handphone vibrate inside her jacket's pocket. She took the device out reading the message silently.
๐๐ฏ๐ฌ๐ช ๐๐ข๐ฆ๐ฃ
๊ฐแดสแด๊ฑแด. แดสแดแดแด 30. แดแดแดแดสสแดแดก แดแด 2 แดแด.
After reading the message, she got excited, anticipating the next day. She gets really excited whenever she gets messages like this from Leif. You see, ๐๐ณ๐ฆ๐ขโ Leandrea Forest is a freelance model. And this book shopโ ๐๐ช๐ค๐ฌ-๐ข-๐๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฌ, is owned by the Forests. When she has no modelling schedule, she busies herself with her shift in the book shop. Though her family was the owner, she does not impose herself as higher than any of the other employees. They had always treated them as part of their family.
Leandrea Forest is a 23-year-old lass with a height of about 5 foot 8 inches. Her hair, long and wavy, almost reaches her waist and is often tied up in a ponytail whenever she is at the shop and is usually styled to perfection during her modelling schedules. She has a fair, nearly pale, skin complexion. Her eyes turn into twin crescent moons whenever she smiles, even the slightest bit. She has a button nose which is usually tinted pink in those days when the temperature drops just a couple Celsius than the usual temperature in the city of Lethe. Her lips are plump and pinkish. Her cheeks are full, even if she does not weigh much, and has its natural blush which deepens a shade whenever she is angry, embarrassed, or plainly cold because of the weather.
Drea started modelling when she entered high school. She used to compete in school pageants and was later on scouted to be a freelance model. Even with her being a model, she still pursued getting a degree in photography. And just like the rest of ๐๐ด๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ฆ๐ต๐ถ๐ด, she loves reading, another reason why she chose to take a job in their book shop. Drea, though fairly lady-like, is one overly curious person. She babies her curiosity like it has a life of its own. She succumbs to her curiosity faster than lightning that she only thinks of the consequences halfway to her conquest in fulfilling her inquisitive mind with answers that would satisfy her curiosity.