Snippet #2680580

Jane jumped and opened her eyes, straightening up in her chair. The man stood before her must have been in the shop the whole time, but Jane owed not noticing him before to his appearance: so suited to the bookshop that he must have blended in. "I'm sorry," she murmured in response to his statement, only just becoming aware of how rude she had been. What had she been thinking, barging into a bookshop with no intention of buying anything? She pulled down her hood, hoping to salvage what she could of her manners, as he asked if she was ill.

"No, I-" But she could feel that strange, unsettled movement under her skin, her cells making decisions to which she wasn't privy. Her bones ached with the coldness of growing pains. Jane wasn't ill, she knew, but she was certainly something abnormal. "I'm just tired," she managed and noticed the glorious scent of hot tea. Beside her, there was a steaming teapot.

Tears rushed into her eyes at the man's kindness. She was being ridiculous, she knew. She silently cursed herself and blinked rapidly to keep from crying in front of this stranger. The poor man shouldn't have to deal with an exhausted woman simply because he owned a bookshop. "I'm so sorry to intrude." She cleared her throat, attempting to rid her voice of its emotional crackle. "I don't want to be a hassle. I'll leave." But she didn't stand up.