The Holiday Bookshop by Lucy Dickens

Author:Lucy Dickens [Dickens, Lucy]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781529157062
Publisher: Cornerstone

Chapter 20

Jenny, in the Maldives

‘The stars have aligned!’ Layla declared, in a dramatic entrance to the bookstore.

I looked up from my laptop. ‘They have?’

‘They have.’ She sauntered in and perched on my one small book table, shifting a novel about time travel with her bottom, the ends of her hair tickling the covers of the other books. ‘Guess who has a day off tomorrow.’

Well, I knew I couldn’t afford to take my day off tomorrow, so … ‘You?’

‘And you!’ Layla cried in return. ‘We have a day off together. But that’s not all.’

I stopped her there. ‘Noooo, no, I have to work tomorrow. I’m sorry.’

‘No, you don’t,’ Layla said. ‘Tomorrow is Friday. This place will be c-l-o-s-e-d. And …’ She paused before teasingly pointing her finger at me. ‘Rish also has the day off tomorrow. But that’s still not all!’

‘Oh, I’d love to hang out with you both, but—’

She held up her hand. ‘I know for a fact that you haven’t taken any of your days off since you opened.’

‘But I can’t. I have the new event next week and there’s still so much to do.’

‘Like what?’

‘Like …’ I faltered. In reality, I was totally organised and ready, books ordered, cocktails devised. But that didn’t mean I didn’t want to go over it all tenfold beforehand, and I’d been hoping to spend my day off tomorrow over in the space, making sure I knew how it was all going to look and work. ‘I can’t list it all. I just know I’m too busy.’

‘Do you know what your problem is?’ Layla asked, hands on hips.

‘What?’

‘You’re one of those people who can fill every single hour of a day and you still don’t feel like you’ve done enough. There will never be enough hours in the day for you. But the crazy thing? You would have the same result if you only had one hour. Because you can’t just do something and then let it go. Has anyone ever told you that?’

Well, yes, actually. I was trying to think of an answer when Layla picked up a book from my shelf.

‘Now, about tomorrow,’ she said, and tossed her super-long hair behind her shoulder, her eyes sparkling. ‘Do you know what this is?’

I looked at the cover of a book called Marine Life in the Maldives. ‘That’s a fish.’

Layla rolled her eyes. ‘This is a whale shark. It’s one of the highlights of our oceans here.’

Taking the book from her hands, I studied the creature, who was a deep blue with a large rounded head and gaping mouth. His body was speckled with white dots. ‘I like him. Have you ever seen one?’

‘I have. Do you want to see one?’

I nodded. ‘Mmm, yeah, that would be cool. Wait, do I? Like, do you know where I could see one?’

‘I might do. But you have to give yourself a day off and come with me tomorrow.’

‘But—’

‘Live a little,’ she said. ‘Because you’re only going to live in the Maldives once.’

That was how I

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