I was behind the counter, flipping the pages of an antique book. The smell of the aged paper drifted up and into my nose as I followed the lines of words on the page. I flipped the book closed as I finished and at the same time the bell above the door rang. As I lifted my head I assumed it was going to be the usual customer. Nerdy or plump or shy but instead it was a very handsome young man.
“Welcome to Benson Books and Antiques” I smiled as preciously as I could. I had seen his face somewhere before.
“Hey! I’m Peter.” He extended his hand towards me and I accepted the greeting, shaking his hand firmly. “I work across the street at the market, actually. I’ve seen you in there a couple of times.”
He’s seen me? I thought. “Yeah! I remember! I think I bought a salad from you for lunch. The eggs were moldy.” Why did I say that?
“Ah. Yeah. We got a couple of complaints. It wasn’t us it was the company.” He chuckled. “Sorry about that.”
I couldn’t help but let out a laugh. I slid the book across the counter to my personal pile of belongings and then stretched my arms across the edge. “So what can I help you with?”
“Well, I was off today and my girlfriend-“ Fuck me, right? “-well she is nowhere to be seen and I thought I would come visit a work neighbor.” He twirled the rack of post cards.
“Ah. I see. Stood up.” I crossed my arms.
“Well, no.”
“Sure.” I shrugged and then walked around the counter.
“Really.” He laughed awkwardly. “Well, yeah. She does this a lot to me. Plus, I’ve been thinking about breaking up with her.” Yes!
“Why?”
He shrugged again. “Well, just recently I’ve been thinking about my feelings for her. Well, for women in general. I don’t know if I really like women.” I smiled as I pretended to rearrange items on a shelf. “I don’t know why I’m telling you this. Must be the store?” He laughed it off. In fact, it was the store. The old walls had a talent for making people express their feelings. It’s happened multiple times with those nerdy, plump, and shy men that come in here seeking desperate help. My grandmother used to hand out potions and spells like there was no tomorrow but recently the Worldwide Magic Agency has been cracking down on the illegal dealers of magic. Benson Books and Antiques was accused and now we were under close watch.
“Maybe.” I dropped a snow globe. Peter rushed to help me and as we were picking up the broken pieces he slit his hand. This alarmed me because I had never dealt with a situation like this and because this guy had just been cut by one of the products in the store and I was worried about scaring him away.
“Oh. Shit. Let me get you something for that.” I walked behind the counter and searched for a first aid kit. I found one but I was not surprised when I opened it and it was empty. Peter followed me into the back room which was where we kept most of the potions and books containing all of the spells that you could think of. I preferred the potion route. Plus I make quite a brilliant brew.
“I never caught your name.” Peter was holding his wrist as a pool of blood collected in his palm.
“It’s Timothy. Timothy Benson.”
“Ah, you’re the owner?”
“No. My dad is. He’s been out of town taking care of some business.” This wasn’t a lie. He was out of town but the business he was taking care of consisted of collecting magical ingredients for some potions and picking up a very powerful book of spells. I couldn’t tel him that.
“Aha. Well, I like your shop.” I turned around and Peter was standing directly in front of me. I bumped into him and looked straight into his eyes. We were the same height. “You smell good.” He whispered. I was mesmerized by his eyes and the way they watched me. I coughed and backed away, handing him a bottle of ointment I found. He wouldn’t know that I made it myself with some not so natural ingredients.
“If you rub this on it, it should stop the bleeding and it should almost be healed by tomorrow.” I smiled. He seemed to fall out of a trance.
“Thanks.” He handled the jar very carefully with the gooey substance inside. He looked at the other bottles and book, sliding his hand along the spines of one.
“Be careful. This is the older collection. If you break it you buy it.” I winked at him. Peter turned towards me and kissed me which took me by surprise. I couldn’t help but kiss back. There was a brief pause as we looked at each other. I noticed the mole on his left cheek and for some reason it made him seem even cuter. That pause was short because we were kissing again and he pushed me up against the bookshelf, one of them falling out onto the counter and flipping open to one of the soul possession pages. As we kissed I eyed the page and closed the book. I didn’t need it, I could do it myself. I was born with that power.
I unbuttoned his shirt from the top and slid my hands inside of the fabric, caressing his pectoral as his lips were locked onto mine. He was flexing as he grabbed at my back but before he could pull it off, I pushed into him. His body tensed and the more I pushed the less he fought. I found my fingers sliding into his and then the rest of my body followed, connecting with their corresponding spaces. I could feel both of our erections as they combined and as soon as I started breathing, I collapsed over onto the counter and stared towards the wall of books in disbelief.
“Why?” I said to myself. My voice now sounded like Peter’s. As I picked myself up, I adjusted to the new weight, shifting on my feet and stretching out my muscled arms. He did feel nice but I was going to have to get out of him. I leaned against the wall and pushed out, appearing behind him as he collapsed to the ground, groaning. Luckily, he wouldn’t remember any of that from the moment I pushed to the moment I stepped out of him.
“Shit, what was that?” Peter asked, pressing his hand against his chest.
“I have no idea, you just fell over and started groaning.” It was as close to the truth as he was going to get.
“I’m sorry.” He dusted himself off and then buttoned up his shirt. “I should go. Thank you for the cream.” He smiled at me as he left. I could still see the erection in his jeans as he turned back to thank me. I turned towards the book on the counter, picked it up, and shoved back into place. I knew the store had its ways of picking at hidden desires but I never thought it would do it to me.
“Good one.” I tapped the wall as I left the back room and returned to my post behind the counter. I had a weird feeling that I would be seeing Peter again soon.
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