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"Don't forget to put them in alphabetical order," I instruct my employees as I hand him a stack of hard-copy books. He nods and begins his route towards the non-fiction section of the bookstore. I watch closely as he reaches the far end of the store. Sure enough, he begins placing the books in the correct order on the shelf.

I breathe out a sigh of relief. Resuming my seat on the stool behind the counter, I survey the store. Cases and cases of books occupy every inch of space, filling the three floors above me. The building is so expertly constructed, the middle of the store is empty all the way up to the ceiling like a cathedral. The upper floors wrap around the store with ease, containing dozens of bookcases and sitting chairs. I watch some customers browse the mystery section on level two.

I smile to myself, satisfied with my shop. Pulling out a soft-copy book from under the counter, I begin reading. As I skim a few sentence, I don't even comprehend a paragraph before I feel a presense behind me. I grin and roll my eyes as someone kisses my cheek.

"Shawn," I half-groan, half-scold. I spin in my seat to face him. "I'm trying to read."

He laughs. "Yeah, because that's so much more important that I am." He reaches to shut my book, but I smack his hand away.

"I swear, if you lose my page, I might have to kill you."

His tone turns mock-serious. "Ashley, I know where you hide your bow."

Now it's my turn to laugh. "Hey, no making fun of my bow."

Shawn circles around the front of the counter, trying to close my book again. I easily block his arm. No matter how many times I teach him, he never understands: no messing with my books.

"So do you wanna to go out to dinner tonight?" Shawn asks.

"If you can wait 'til seven," I say, checking my HoloTab. "That's the earliest I can close up."

"Sounds like a date," he jokes lightly. With his arms propped up on the counter and his brown hair freshly cut, he looks so handsome.

I laugh and kiss him across the counter. "I'm all yours."

With a satisfied grin on his face, Shawn kisses me back. "See you at seven."

I exhale lovingly as he exits. Watching Shawn's broad shoulders until the doors close behind him, he disappears around the corner, heading back to his job as an architect. It's a career I both applaud and despise, but I never told him the latter.

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Over the course of the day, I sell and rent books to a surprisingly large number of people. But to my disappointment, almost all of the titles are HoloBooks. Soon it's 6:30, and since the store is empty, I let my workers go home early. After the last employee leaves for the night, I begin my closing-up duties.

I begin on the third floor. After sweeping the floor and dusting the shelves, I collect a stack of books to put away. The shop door rings open as I slide a book into its proper place. Footsteps sound below me.

"Can I help you?" I call to the person. I put back a few more titles before peering over the banister at the customer. I lean over the wooden railing to get a good look at the person.

"Hey, Ashley," Daniel says.

My heart skips ten beats as my body jumps out of its skin. I grab the wooden railing for support, feeling like I could faint. It's him.

I smile politely at Daniel, buying time to collect myself. Yet I can't stop staring at him. With a defined jawline and enhanced looks, my old attractions attempt to ignite. Then I see what's in his hands: a bouquet of wildflowers.

My favorite.

"Hi," I say nervously, glancing at the flowers. I dismount the stairs from the upper level and walk closer to him. The air between us is foreign, like I'm seeing a completely different person instead of the Daniel I knew. "How've you been?"

"Good," he says simply. Questions hang in the air between us. "I'm sorry about your--"

"No, no, it's fine," I cut him off. I don't want to go there."You don't have to apologize."

We stand in awkward silence for an eternity. Not as long as those nine years though. I waited nine years for him to walk through that door. Nine years.

"So why are you here?" I finally ask him, breaking the silence.

Daniel half-grins. "I wanted to see how you were doing. It's been a while." He hands me the flowers, and I take them with a longing smile.

"Mm-hmm," I say, nodding slowly. I wait for him to answer my biggest question: where were you.

"I've been stationed at the Uni-Euro border," he explains. "Ten year enlistment."

"Well, thanks for your service," I say automatically. Whenever you meet a soldier, you thank them. Even if that soldier is Daniel Fadhill.

I nod, glancing at the clock. "Well, it was nice--"

"This place is really cool," Daniel remarks, missing my subtle hint for him to leave.

I sigh, rolling my eyes. "Do you want a tour?"

He agrees. So I set the flowers behind my desk on top of a short bookshelf and show him around, my nerves tensing up instead of warming up. We make small talk as we stroll, circling around the store. Daniel notices my bow in the employee stock room. I curse myself for not hanging some blinds in there to block the view.

"Still shooting around?" he asks, scanning the upper levels of the store.

"Yeah," I say. "Still shooting around?"

"A little. Not much." He shows me a hard-copy book that I didn't see him pick up. "Can I buy this?"

"Sure," I say, mumbling to myself. I lead him to the checkout counter. "I just love it when my ex-Renegade partners read my books."

"You wrote this?" Daniel asks too innocently as he hands it to me. His familiar joking settles my stomach a little. "I like the title: Instability. And the new last name, too."

"Thanks," I say, trying not to spazz out due to my high-strung nerves, "Hollins sounds a lot nicer than Cardry."

Daniel smiles lightly. "Fadhill would sound nice, too."

"Daniel," I gasp, visibly jumping and knocking over a book with a loud bang. Daniel took it too far. Too far. Nine years. Not even a letter. A call. Nothing.

Too far.

I bend to pick the book off the ground, and I toss it onto a stack of others. Fake-laughing, I joke about my "clumsiness."

As I stand back up, Daniel's eyes lock with mine. I read his mind perfectly. He's dying to ask me out to dinner.

I break his eye contact, scanning the book and handing it back to him. His fingers graze mine, and I try not to jump again. Quickly, I rush to switch the subject. "Keep in mind that it's a fiction story, Daniel. None of it's real."

Daniel laughs warmly. Goosebumps rise up my arms. "Of course, darling. Of course."

I unwillingly savor the moment. Then I see Shawn pass behind Daniel's shoulder outside the glass window. Guilt fills my stomach as Shawn enters the store, the small bell above the door ringing lightly. Daniel turn around and says hi.

"Hey, man, how's it going?" Shawn says. He crosses the store and leans next to him on the counter. "Nice choice," he comments about the book in his hand. They launch into a lengthy discussion about my novel while I sit there and try not to throw up.

Feeling incredibly anxious, I twist my wedding ring around my finger to keep myself calm. Daniel glances at me and notices the ring. I see him twitch, and I freeze in response, pulling my hands behind the counter. Not even stopping his conversation with Shawn, Daniel expertly changes the topic, moving in a different direction. A huge weight alleviates from my shoulders after Daniel doesn't say something stupid. Maybe Daniel really has changed.

"So, Daniel, you'd know better than anyone else. Is Ashley a good shot?" Shawn asks. He gives me a grin. "She misses the target everytime I watch her shoot."

"Shawn!" I say. The last thing I need is Daniel knowing that. I regain some shreds of confidence. "I can shoot perfectly fine."

Daniel laughs, giving me a look. "Nah, Ashley's pretty good at archery. I trained her myself."

"Really?" Shawn asks, "That means you're the guy--"

"Yes, I am."

I give him a questioning look. Daniel shakes Shawn's hand suddenly. "You're a lucky guy, Shawn. Take care of yourself." And with a final smile, Daniel walks right out of the shop, not looking back at me.

That was the last time I ever saw Daniel Fadhill.

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um, so that just happened. *wards off attack of enraged readers with bare hands*

but seriously, it was a pretty creative of me, right? And the fact that Ashley wrote a book CALLED INSTABILITY!

And PS: there's still more chapters left, like the author's notes and bonus chapters! Check it out and answer the survey/questionnaire over there!