EMPTY SPACE

BI - PART THREE

Stacie sipped her glass of cold coffee, as she walked down the corridors of the mall. She glanced sideways at Auria, who was blowing air back into her glass, making the drink froth with bubbles. When she realised she was being watched, she stopped and smiled sheepishly. “You are no good at it. Watch me.” Auria looked in amazement at Stacie, who made the coffee make nearly melodious punches of sound. When she was finished, she beamed proudly, “That, is how it is done.” She started walking away for the dramatic effect, when Auria grabbed her hand, “Hey, don’t walk away. I’ll get lost, here.” Stacie, who had been feeling confident, suddenly felt herself blush. She nodded, and lightly pulled her fingers from Auria’s grasp. “Come, I have to take you somewhere.”

“Don’t we need to wait for your aunt to finish up?” She indicated towards Stacie’s aunt, who was looking at clothes in a nearby store. “She knows where to find me; I hardly ever go anywhere else when we visit.”

She sprinted forward and Auria had to jog to catch up with her. Stacie stopped in front of, ‘Ollie’s Bookstore.” She raised her eyebrows at Auria, in excitement, and asked her to step inside. Following her in, she waited till they had reached the main area of the shop for Auria’s reaction.

She stared at the floor-to-ceiling book shelves, covering all sides of the room, and leading up to an upper level that was adorned similarly with titles. There were stairs that led upstairs, and wooden ladders that slid from case to case. To the side, a small corridor led to an inner room, smaller, furnished with bean bags and bunk beds. The air smelt of old books and varnish, and Auria could sense it was fragrance that had aged well with time, like old wine. She opened her mouth to scream in happiness, when Stacie covered it, whispering, “No screaming.” Stacie couldn’t help but grin. She was hoping to catch her by surprise, and it had worked perfectly.

“Where do we start?” Auria gasped, and Stacie asked her to follow her. She led her to a dark brown, slightly worn out, ladder and said, “Have you read The Twins at St. Clare’s? It is a series by Enid Blyton.”

Auria shook her head, “I have only read Five Find-Outers, Famous Five and Mallory Towers.” “Aha, perfect. Stay down, here. I’ll get the first one.”

I hope I don’t fall, Stacie thought to herself, it would be rather embarrassing. “If you fall, I’ll catch you. I have gotten quite good at it,” Auria reassured her, and Stacie felt her breath hitch. Had she said it out loud? Shaking her head, she started climbing. Seven steps up, and she reached the row of books she wanted to. Unlocking the shelf with the key placed in a box next to the shelf, she slid it open. She bounced her shoulders excitedly as she took out the book, and locked the case. Carefully climbing down, she landed in front of Auria, who was looking at the book with piqued interest. Wanting to poke at her curiosity, Stacie said, “Let’s read it in there.”

“I want to hold it,” Auria said, as they walked towards the inner room. “In a minute.”

It was empty, because it was early in the morning, and the mall had opened only an hour back.

Sitting down on a bean bag, Stacie placed the book gently on her lap, and waited for Auria to take a seat. Before she could hand over the book to her, Auria asked, “Don’t we need to pay for the book?”

“We are not buying it. It’s a First Edition. If we purchase it, we will need to sell our house. No, we are going to read it here, and then put it back. Before we leave, we will pay a certain fee for the time we spent. This is a bookstore cum library. That’s what it is so special. Here, take it. Be…”

“Gentle? Yes, I will be.” Stacie cracked her knuckles, as she watched Auria open the book. She had this unexplainable expression on her face. Her eyes shone, almost as if she had unearthed a treasure and she wanted to take it all in, before it disappeared. She looked up suddenly, and Stacie turned away, hurting her neck. “Is anyone watching?” Auria asked, nervously.

“Uh, no. Why?”

Auria did not reply, she just lifted the book gently to her face and sniffed the page. Stacie burst out laughing and slipped off the bean bag. Closing the book on seeing Stacie’s reaction, Auria asked, mocking hurt, “What? What is so funny?”

“You are. Your nose scrunched up all the way to your eyes when you were smelling it. What is it like?”

“It is rusty, like wet mud after rainfall, but mixed with a cool, comforting breeze.” Stacie nodded, satisfied with the review. “Go on, read it. I’ll go look for a book for myself.” Auria did not reply, she was engrossed into the first chapter, where the twins are playing tennis.

Stacie wandered back into the central area, and met Ms. Ollie, the owner. “Hello, Ms. Ollie. How are you? How did the surgery go?” The old lady had been admitted for her appendectomy, recently.

“It went well, dear. I was hoping you’d come by, today. I have something for you.” She walked to her desk and came back with a book covered in brown paper. “This was delivered yesterday.” Stacie unwrapped it carefully and yelped. “Tales of Beedle the Bard? Is this new?”

“It is a Special Edition, the first ever published by Bloomsbury. I see you brought a friend. You can read it while she reads Enid Blyton.”

Stacie was not surprised Ms. Ollie knew which book Auria was reading. There could be fifty customers in the store, and she’d know who was holding which book. “Thank you, Ms. Ollie!”

Walking back to Auria, she sat down next to her and was about to open the book, when Auria turned to her, saying, “It must be nice, to have a twin.” Stacie looked at her, questioningly. “You know, because you have someone to talk to, to share what you feel, to fight with.”

“Yes, I have always wanted a sparring partner.” Auria punched her lightly on her shoulder, and said, “You know what I mean. I wish I had a sibling.”

Stacie kept her book next to her, noticing that Auria looked genuinely sad. “Well, sometimes, when you don’t have a sibling, you find friends who can fill that space.”

“Did you?” Auria asked. Stacie bit her lip and said, “I did not really find anyone of my frequency. Instead, I found books.”

“Since when have you been coming here? You seem to know your way around the store.”

“I was four. My aunt brought me here, and I looked at picture books. With four-letter words. My parents disliked reading, and my aunt often lied to them about bringing me here. They wanted me to be more active, more extroverted.”

“Do you visit them?” Stacie looked right at Auria, and wondered why she emitted an aura that made her want to tell her everything. “Every year, on the day of their death anniversary.” Auria blinked, wondering if she had asked the wrong question. Stacie was eager to change the subject and said, “How are your parents doing?”

Auria looked taken back. Twisting the sides of her t-shirt, she said, “They are still fighting. But the shouting has ceased. They are dealing with it passive aggressively now. That is why I try to get away from the house as much as I can. I become the messenger between them, and it is just painful.”

Stacie reached forward to put an arm around Auria and she fell into her embrace. As she rocked Auria slowly, she wondered what went wrong in their lives, that as ten-eleven-year-olds they were sitting alone on a bunk bed, in a bookstore, one feeling the pain of losing her parents to God, the other to marital differences.

Nothing Stacie could say would make things better, so she just sat there, as Auria rested against her. She remembered how Auria had told her she couldn’t sleep for the past two nights because of the argument between her mother and father. She leaned in to look at her face, and saw that she had fallen asleep, her breathing steady. Stacie slowly picked up a pillow and kept it on her lap, resting Auria’s head on it. She picked up The Tales of Beedle the Bard and started reading, as her friend slept peacefully after days. In their own unique way, they were in their safe place. My space has been filled, Stacie whispered, as she flipped to the first story.