Book Haven: Tuesday 10-5PM [3-18-08]

[lovelylana.livejournal.com]

Lana came in and was surprised by a tearful Millie who had special pastries for her and books as a welcome back gift. She'd told Millie everything and been hugged and generally made a fuss over. Eventually Millie had gone back upstairs, leaving Lana to open the store and settle back in to get accustomed to things again, go over her notes from her old classes, and just generally try to remember how life in Fandom had gone.

And finally, when she hadn't been able to think of anything else to do, she looked up Joe on the internet.


[Book Haven is open! Millie totally modded without permission, OMG!]

Comments

[wanna-be-lucas.livejournal.com]

Lucas had some time to kill and, now that it was safe to wander the town, he couldn't help but be interested in the bookstore. He could always use something snobbish different to read.

Entering the store, he was glad to recognize the girl from class. "Hey," he greeted her, smiling. "You're Lana, right?"

[lovelylana.livejournal.com]

"Yes," she said with a smile and then blushed. "I'm sorry, I don't remember your name."

[wanna-be-lucas.livejournal.com]

He waved it off. "Lucas. We're in the same Lawyering class," he explained, not wanting her to think he was some creepy stalker type for knowing her name. "Though I don't think we've actually talked."

[lovelylana.livejournal.com]

"Right, yes," Lana said, blushing a little. "Sorry, I... well, with the thing that happened last week... I've actually been gone for two years from my perspective. So... Lucas. It's nice to sort of meet you officially. What can I do for you?"

[wanna-be-lucas.livejournal.com]

"That's some Fandom weirdness right there," Lucas needed to get used to people telling him stuff like that at some point.

He smiled at her question, "Well, given this is a bookstore, I was sorta hoping to look at the books. Of course, I'm open to suggestion."

[lovelylana.livejournal.com]

"Books, of course," Lana said. "Sorry. Sure, what kind do you like? We have a great variety here."

[wanna-be-lucas.livejournal.com]

"You don't have to apologize, I was joking and it was not funny, but I do like books," Lucas said quickly. "I'm all for variety. I've been on this early modern American literature kick lately."

[lovelylana.livejournal.com]

"Might I suggest the works of Dorothy Parker?" Lana said with a smile. "I spent a fair amount of time with her back in 1930's New York City over the past two years, so I can personally vouch for her."

[wanna-be-lucas.livejournal.com]

"See, now that's the edge a Fandom bookstore has over Amazon," Lucas said, trying to recover from shock. "How was that?" he was honestly interested. "Being back then with people I've only read about?"

[lovelylana.livejournal.com]

Lana got a bit of a faraway look in her eyes. "It was.. different. But I was really happy there after a while. Made it hard to come back."

[wanna-be-lucas.livejournal.com]

"You must have some great memories. I think I'll give those books a try," Lucas wondered if all those taken by the statues had been as lucky as Lana.

[lovelylana.livejournal.com]

"Yeah, I do," Lana admitted. "It was hard to come back."

She led him over to the section with Dorothy's books and pointed out a couple of her favorites. "If you want, I'd be glad to talk with you about them - kind of give you some insight into the author."

[wanna-be-lucas.livejournal.com]

Lucas followed her, picking up the ones Lana pointed out. "I'd like that," he smiled. He hadn't had anyone to talk to about books in Fandom. "Getting to hear the story behind the story."

[absolutesnark]

Sometime in the afternoon, Summer decided to stop by the book store. She knew Lana worked there and wanted to see for herself that she was okay.

"Hey," she greeted, giving Lana a small smile. She really hoped there wouldn't be too much awkwardness just because Lana and her roommate broke up.

[lovelylana.livejournal.com]

"Summer!" Lana exclaimed. "Oh God, it's been - well, it seems like it's been years. For me at least."

And then she remembered and ducked her head. "Oh. Are you here to talk about Chris and I breaking up?"

[absolutesnark]

"Years?" Summer blinked. "And no. I came here to see for myself that you made it back okay. I was worried."

[lovelylana.livejournal.com]

"It's... been two years for me," Lana said. "Since I left, I mean. And thanks. For coming to check on me. I'm good."

She hesitated again. "About Chris... I'm sorry things worked out that way. I'm sure he's talked to you about it. I just... it was hard to know that there were things he'd share with several other people, but didn't feel comfortable sharing with me. He deserves to be with someone he can trust."

She shrugged ruefully. "And I guess, I deserve to be with someone who trusts me, though it wasn't till I'd been back in time a while that I managed to look at it that way."

[absolutesnark]

"Two years? Holy crap! Time is so confusing," Summer decided.

She got more serious and, well, she kind of felt a little bad. "I'm sorry things didn't work out. I know I'm one of the people he talks to about stuff. I apologize if I had anything to do with what happened."

[ooc: going afk for about an hour or so.]

[lovelylana.livejournal.com]

"It's okay," Lana said. "I know you're one of the people he can share everything with. And I'm not upset with you or him or anyone. It just... it hurt, you know? To have him always shut me out and say he couldn't talk about it when I knew he was talking about it with you and other people and what he really meant was he couldn't talk about it with me. He hadn't really been himself with me since he went away for Christmas that year."

She sighed and shrugged her shoulders. "I had a lot of time to think about it and get over it when I was away. Actually, I'd kind of hoped the two of you had gotten together while I was gone." She winced. "I'm sorry. I forgot again that for you guys it hasn't been that long. I shouldn't have said anything."

[absolutesnark]

Summer raised an eyebrow. "Me and Chris? No no no. We're just friends and roomies. Seriously. He's like my best friend here. That's all."

Interesting how she seemed pretty adamant about it.

[lovelylana.livejournal.com]

Lana shrugged. "Well, maybe you should think about being more," she said. "It seemed like everytime I suggested doing anything together either he was doing something with you or you and he had talked about making plans... And he trusts you. He tells you everything. You two are already so close..."

[absolutesnark]

"We're close friends. Really," Summer said again. "Besides, I've already got a boyfriend."

She figured now would be a good time to change the subject. "So, where did you go for those two years anyway."

[lovelylana.livejournal.com]

Lana nodded. "Okay, I believe you."

She looked off into the distance a little wistfully. "I ended up in New York City in 1930."

[absolutesnark]

Summer's eyes grew wide. "1930? Wow. How did you survive without cellphones and technology and stuff?"

[lovelylana.livejournal.com]

Lana shrugged. "It took some time to get used to, but I was mostly busy trying to make enough money to get by and keep my room for the first while I was there."

She smiled a little wistfully again. "And there's something to be said for a simpler life. The other girls at the diner and the Y used to play boardgames together or go to the talkies. Central Park was a lot cleaner and safer then, too. Joe and I used to - " She broke off, ducking her head, feeling a little overwhelmed with emotion.