2 – Pride & Prejudice

Ben hadn't stopped smiling for three days straight now. He was currently tidying the shelves, putting the books back in order after the customers had managed to muddle them up while browsing. Normally this task would inspire irritation and a deep dissatisfaction with the blatant disregard for literature people displayed these days, but today he drifted from shelf to shelf in an enamoured bliss.

Since the triumphant establishment of contact with the girl across the road, Ben had now received four smiles and a little laugh from her when he accidentally walked into a shelf – and he couldn't be happier with his progress. He had always assumed that things were better when she hadn't noticed him because that meant his view of her would be forever unspoilt, she could be eternally perfect, but somehow, much to his surprise, this reciprocation just made things even better. Now, the imaginary connection had become a real one; the dream was coming true.

Suddenly, Ben heard the jingle of the shop door and watched Hugh majestically sweep into the shop, depositing his brown leather satchel behind the till and flopping down on the velvet sofa in the corner.

"Morning, my good man," he greeted Ben, "Sorry I'm a bit late. Bumped into Tilsy on the way and she needed to tell me how her pony's doing after the surgery."

"No problem," Ben smiled, "I barely even noticed what time it was."

"What's up with you? You're grinning like a loon," Hugh commented, grabbing an apple from his pocket and crunching into it. Normally Hugh's noisy eating drove Ben up the wall, but today he was barely bothered by it.

"I'm in love, Hugh," Ben declared, letting out a little sigh and leaning against the bookshelf dramatically.

"Oh yes, I forgot about your little silent relationship with the nameless girl across the street," he chuckled. "How's that going? Proposed yet? Any kids on the way?"

"She laughed at me, Hugh."

"Well, don't we all."

"No, in a good way. A pretty laugh. An 'I-don't-know-you-yet-but-I-feel-an-inexplicable-connection-with-you' kind of laugh."

"Oh, that kind. You should have said sooner, old boy."

"I know you think I'm insane, but I actually, genuinely, really like her. I have no idea how, but I just know that we'd be perfect together," Ben sighed wistfully, his eyes drifting back to the window.

"Well, although I do think you've completely lost it, I have to admit that people have fallen in love in stranger circumstances. And the enamoured gentleman longing from afar is a common motif in literature, just look at Jay Gatsby."

"I probably wouldn't count Gatsby as a success story."

"Or Romeo and Juliet, Heathcliff and Catherine," Hugh listed.

"Yes, not really inspiring confidence here," Ben muttered.

"Well, my point is that it's not totally out of the question," Hugh summarised.

"How very encouraging of you," Ben laughed, retreating into the storeroom before his friend could compare him to anymore doomed lovers.

He started checking the new stock that had been delivered that morning and found himself smiling fondly at the illustrations of men and women embracing each other on the beautifully designed covers. He wanted to celebrate the warm feeling radiating through his chest and every ode to love he came across made his heart leap with joy.

He whistled a cheerful tune as he carried the heavy box through to the shop, ready to fill the shelves with the new novels. He could hear Hugh conversing with someone but assumed it was just a customer who had wandered in while he had been away.

"Oh, here he is!" he heard Hugh announce brightly from behind the shelf. "Ben, come over and say hello."

Ben furrowed his brow in confusion, wondering who on earth Hugh wanted him to meet. Perhaps one of his relatives had come in to visit? He put down the heavy box and moved out from behind the bookshelf towards the counter, but then froze in his tracks.

It couldn't be. Surely not. Impossible.

"Ben, meet Grace, our friendly neighbour from across the street," Hugh introduced her with a twinkle in his eye.

"Lovely to finally meet you," she smiled, her blonde curls bouncing as she turned her head to face him. "I was just telling your friend that I suddenly realised how awful it is that we've been just across the road from each other for months and I've never once come over to say hi, but I guess better late than never," she laughed jovially.

Ben couldn't move. He knew he really should be laughing along or saying something witty in response but he couldn't seem to get the message to his muscles to stop seizing up like a robot and start acting normally. It was like meeting a celebrity in the supermarket; he felt so star-struck he had no idea how to behave.

"Well, you're always welcome to pop round anytime you like," Hugh intervened, noticing Ben's temporary paralysis.

"Oh, and likewise," she replied, shooting a warm smile at Ben that made him worried he might have a heart attack.

"I'm afraid I've got a lot of work to do this morning and need to pop into the store room, but I'm sure Ben would be happy to show you around," Hugh told her mischievously, thoroughly enjoying the utter terror in Ben's eyes.

"Of course, no problem," Grace said, looking over at Ben again who was still frozen like a rabbit in headlights.

"I'll leave you two to it, then," Hugh commented, shooting Ben an almost imperceptible wink before disappearing off into the back room.

Come on, Ben, he told himself firmly, it's make or break time.

"So, busy day so far?" Grace asked conversationally. After a second's pause, Ben finally regained enough control of his senses to respond.

"Uh, no, not really," he managed to choke out in a voice that must have been two pitches higher than usual. "You?"

"No, me neither," she sighed, "although I suppose Tuesday mornings aren't the most exciting of days."

"No, I'm more of a Thursday person myself," Ben said before his brain could intervene and tell him to say something a little less weird and inconsequential. Luckily, Grace took it as a joke and laughed her beautifully melodic laugh that lived up to every expectation Ben had had of it.

"So, am I going to be treated to the grand tour of Bright's Bookshop then?" she asked playfully, admiring her surroundings with interest.

"Oh, yes, of course," Ben stuttered, leading her away from the till and into the heart of the shop. "Um, so this is where the...uh...books are," he began, feeling like any control of the English language was suddenly eluding him. Normally, he only felt like this after drinking too much sherry.

"Yes, I gathered that," she chuckled. "Do you sell any particular type of books? Or just the whole range?" she asked, scanning the titles of the books on different shelves.

"Uh, pretty much the whole range, although with an emphasis on the classics," Ben answered, finding it easier to talk if he didn't meet her eye. He tried to imagine himself talking to his mum, or Hugh, or anyone who didn't look like angel or had a laugh that could melt butter.

"Oh, you have a whole shelf of Jane Austen!" she cried excitedly. "She's my absolute favourite. A bit cliché, I know, but you just can't beat a classic love story."

"Well, clichés are there for a reason. They're familiar and they make sense so that's why we like them. And really I'd much prefer for a book to end up in a nice expected ending, rather than with a horrible surprise," Ben mused, his nerves subsiding as he was drawn into talking about his favourite subject.

"I couldn't agree more," Grace said quietly, her smile spreading even wider. "So, tell me, what's your favourite book? I'm looking for recommendations and who better to ask than the owner of a bookshop?"

Ben paused to think for a moment, sifting through his mind for the perfect book to recommend. Then, his eyes lit up when he settled on just the right one.

"Okay, it's a little off the beaten track, and it's not actually a novel," he explained, leading her on a path through the shop, weaving between shelves to find the right section. "Aha!" he exclaimed when he finally found it, plucking the hefty book from the half-empty shelf.

"What is it?" Grace asked curiously, taking the book off Ben and examining the prettily illustrated cover.

"The Complete Works of Robert Frost," Ben told her, "He's an American poet. Writes a lot about nature and trees. It's really beautiful stuff, although it does get a little bit depressing when his family starts dying around him..."

Grace had already opened the book and was flicking through the collection, her eyes hungrily taking in the printed words and Ben could feel her mind at work as she processed the images and metaphors on the pages.

"The heart can think of no devotion, greater than being shore to the ocean, holding the curve of one position, counting an endless repetition," she read aloud, then paused to think. "I like that," she said finally, "it's pretty."

"He really has a way of lulling you into this beautifully peaceful state of mind, I find," Ben agreed. "It's always my first port of call if I'm feeling a little overwhelmed."

"It's perfect," she beamed, closing the book and hugging it to her chest. "How much do I owe you for it?"

"Oh, don't worry about it," Ben shook his head, "Consider it a present, a souvenir of your visit."

"You're too kind," she blushed. "Thank you ever so much. As much as I'd love to stay and read every book in this whole shop, I probably ought to get back to work," she sighed.

"Of course, I wouldn't want to be a distraction," Ben smiled, leading her back towards the door. As they emerged from the back of the shop, they found Hugh at the till, sorting through a stack of books.

"Ah, I wondered where you two had got to," he remarked, and Ben was sure he could see a faint smirk hovering on his lips.

"Ben was very kindly helping me out of a literary crisis," Grace explained with amusement, smiling gratefully at her guide.

"Quite the gentleman is our Ben," Hugh chuckled, raising an eyebrow at his friend. Ben shot him a firm look, warning him not to say anything inappropriate.

"Grace was just saying she ought to get back to her shop and I'd feel awful to hold her up," Ben explained, trying to lead her away from his friend, whom he sensed was about to commence on a barrage of ruthless teasing that Ben certainly didn't want her to witness.

"Yes, I really should," she agreed, starting to leave but pausing in the doorway. "Thank you for everything. Hopefully see you again soon," she told Ben warmly.

"My pleasure," Ben smiled back. He was about to say more when Hugh butted in.

"I hate to interrupt, but I can't help noticing that you two are standing under some mistletoe," he interjected, with a mischievous glint in his eye. Ben looked up and, seeing the green and white plant dangling tauntingly, blushed a deep shade of red. He couldn't kiss her, surely? They'd only just met!

Grace was blushing a little too, but after a couple of seconds, she rose onto her tiptoes and planted a kiss on Ben's cheek.

"See you soon," she said with an amused smile, before wrapping her cardigan tighter round her body and heading out into the frozen winter air.

Ben stood in the doorway completely dumbstruck. Had he just dreamed that?

"You're welcome," Hugh chuckled, slapping his friend on the back as he sauntered past him towards the store room. Ben was too shocked to even respond, just pinching himself over and over again to make sure he wasn't about to wake up in his little flat in Brixton and find out that none of this was real. It was real though, he told himself excitedly, feeling his heart thump ecstatically in his chest.

If he had been happy this morning, now he was elated. Not only had she smiled at him, but she'd visited him, talked about books with him and even kissed him. Life surely couldn't get any better.

While on cloud nine, he decided to change the 'Book of the Day' display, which had become a ritual ever since that happy day when she first noticed him. He tossed the thriller novel that had been sitting there previously into the pile of books on the counter and searched for the perfect book on the shelves. He found himself drawn back to the shelf of Austen novels, replaying the way Grace's eyes had lit up when she saw it. With a broad smile on his face, Ben picked out 'Pride and Prejudice', arguably Austen's masterpiece, and carefully placed it in the little display basket in the window, hoping that his romance with Grace might have a similar happy ending.

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A/N: Really hope you enjoyed this second chapter! What do you think of Ben and Grace? Do you think they're actually going to get their happy ending? Don't forget to vote and comment if you liked this! All my love,

-Claudia x