Love in Winter Wonderland by Abiola Bello

Author:Abiola Bello [Bello, Abiola]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Simon & Schuster UK
Published: 2022-11-10T00:00:00+00:00

* * *

‘It’s still going to voicemail,’ I tell Mum.

I’ve called Ariel ten times. She’s not working this afternoon, but she was meant to start on the mural. I send a quick text instead to check she’s okay. Wonderland is packed right now. It feels like everyone in London has come to see the trending bookshop – yes, we’re trending on Twitter! Isn’t that insane? Authors and other indie bookshops have been retweeting like crazy, so Mum’s been on the phone securing more discounts. Some authors have even offered to sign copies of their books that we have in stock. I just wish the donations were going up as fast as our social media followers.

Our discount signs are working well and bringing in some sales but a lot of people seem more interested in taking pictures in or outside of the bookshop, or strangely of me.

‘Excuse me, I’d like to donate,’ an elderly woman who I recognize from around the area says. No matter if it’s rain or shine, she lives in her black fur coat.

‘Oh, thank you. If you follow the link, it will let you donate online.’

She shakes her head. ‘I don’t use technology. Do you have a bucket that I can put some money into?’

‘Erm… one sec.’

Mum’s too busy helping customers for me to get her attention, and I have no idea if this is even legal, but I grab an empty hot-chocolate tin that was going to go into the recycling and write DONATIONS on it, before going back to the woman. She puts in a few pound coins and taps me lightly on the arm.

‘I really hope this place sticks around.’

‘Thank you. Me too,’ I say with a smile.

I leave the donation tin out and hop on the till to ring up some purchases. A few hours later, once the footfall has quietened down and Mum is tidying up the till area, she notices the tin.

‘Trey.’ She gestures me over. ‘What is this?’

I shrug. ‘Some people don’t like using technology but still want to donate.’

‘Well, encourage them to buy a book at full price instead.’ She picks up the tin and shakes it, before peering inside. It’s full of pound coins and even some notes. ‘Ignore me – we’ll just leave this here,’ she says with a laugh.

I’m finishing up serving the last customer, who is buying a handful of discounted books, when Blair and Santi walk in.

‘One sec,’ I mouth to them as I hand the customer their bag. ‘Thank you for shopping at Wonderland. Merry Christmas!’

‘Merry Christmas! I’ll definitely be bringing the family to the showcase,’ they say, and I grin.

I head over to the twins.

‘Hey.’ I kiss Blair and hug Santi. ‘What are you guys doing here?’

Santi is practically jumping up and down. ‘Guess who retweeted you?’

‘Beyoncé?’ I ask, smirking.

Blair laughs and Santi tuts.

‘John Boyega?’

‘An author, Trey!’ Santi says. ‘My favourite author of all time.’

There’s no way… Santi passes me her phone and Estee fucking Mase has retweeted my post!

‘WHAT?’ I hold the back of my head.

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