Read Online The Grasp of Nighttide by Sadaf Zulfikar - Free Book Online
Authors: Sadaf Zulfikar
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place.
After a hot shower, Alice wrapped her wet hair with a towel until she could decide what to wear. The closet was organized because there was something to organize. Alice had arrived there with two bags of luggage and a suitcase and she thanked God for that. There were a few casual house wear shirts and 5 jogging pants, 3 PJs, and a bikini- Which made her confident that she knew to swim. T -shirts, jeans, party dresses with price tags on, jackets, undergarments, socks and shoes, pumps and a black purse. The laptop looked used but all contents were erased. The thing missing though was makeup and perfume. Alice had somehow adjusted her money in order to buy the lipstick a few days ago, and now it, too, was gone. It looked like a concerned parent packing her kid off for college but in this case, Alice knew her mom had packed her away−for life.
*****
Her legs ached as she passed Anna’s home, on the way to the store. The cold made it just more difficult and Alice would certainly rewind the months if she could. Seriously the weather was ten times better when she had arrived there. She wished she had wings because she couldn’t make it there on foot now and if she did, it would be tomorrow.
A white Ford stopped beside her. Anna.
“Hey Alice, my car is back. Are you headed to the bookstore?”
“Yes.”
“Cool, that’s on my way. Hop in.”
“So Derek dropped you safe and sound yesterday,” Anna said, once they were on their way.
Alice couldn’t fathom if it was a statement or a question. Whatever it was, Anna was cool about it.
“Uh-huh,” Alice shrugged.
“He told me while he was helping me with the dishes last night. He broke three of them, by the way. He’s lucky that I love him.” She winked at Alice before turning back to the wheel.
“Broke three?”
“Back in high school everyone knew about him pretty much, dropping stuff, you know...”Anna stopped, flashing a concerned face. “Did he break something at your place too?”
“He didn’t touch anything.”
“Good,” she sighed in relief. “I still imagine if he were on basketball team rather than football, the opponents would surely be happy with Mr. Butterfingers.”
As Anna left after dropping Alice, Alice saw an old woman looking at her. A round hat covered her hair except for the white strands reaching her shoulder. A green scarf was tightly wrapped around her neck and her jacket looked like the one Mrs. Paul was wearing the other day, but this one would be oversized for skinny Mrs. Paul. The lady kept on looking.
It’s because I’m staring at her , Alice thought, looking away . After a minute, she did look over her shoulder, wondering, but she was right, the woman was no longer there.
The store’s long aisles was a book lover’s paradise. It was what attracted her there in the first place. Books spanned dozens of genres sorted on their respective racks. The store even sold used books, which were in the cellar, but the list of titles and authors were neatly recorded at the counter. Franny mentioned that she had a store room at her house−a short distance from the store−with hundreds of stacked books, numbered and ordered as well if a customer needed any. Plus, on request, she even ordered books from outside. Well, Franny wasn’t the best book dealer around for no reason.
Franny was talking to her full-time employee Rashi. Rashi’s complexion reminded Alice of mocha latte. Slender but not very tall, Rashi kept her raven-black hair, that curled only slightly, stylishly long. Her long dark lashes set off her dazzling emerald green eyes. Rashi waved at Alice and scurried over for a hug.
“The story of the thief again,” she whispered. Then she said something in Indian.
“I mean, it’s funny to listen to that story over and over,” she smoothed the crease of her
After a hot shower, Alice wrapped her wet hair with a towel until she could decide what to wear. The closet was organized because there was something to organize. Alice had arrived there with two bags of luggage and a suitcase and she thanked God for that. There were a few casual house wear shirts and 5 jogging pants, 3 PJs, and a bikini- Which made her confident that she knew to swim. T -shirts, jeans, party dresses with price tags on, jackets, undergarments, socks and shoes, pumps and a black purse. The laptop looked used but all contents were erased. The thing missing though was makeup and perfume. Alice had somehow adjusted her money in order to buy the lipstick a few days ago, and now it, too, was gone. It looked like a concerned parent packing her kid off for college but in this case, Alice knew her mom had packed her away−for life.
*****
Her legs ached as she passed Anna’s home, on the way to the store. The cold made it just more difficult and Alice would certainly rewind the months if she could. Seriously the weather was ten times better when she had arrived there. She wished she had wings because she couldn’t make it there on foot now and if she did, it would be tomorrow.
A white Ford stopped beside her. Anna.
“Hey Alice, my car is back. Are you headed to the bookstore?”
“Yes.”
“Cool, that’s on my way. Hop in.”
“So Derek dropped you safe and sound yesterday,” Anna said, once they were on their way.
Alice couldn’t fathom if it was a statement or a question. Whatever it was, Anna was cool about it.
“Uh-huh,” Alice shrugged.
“He told me while he was helping me with the dishes last night. He broke three of them, by the way. He’s lucky that I love him.” She winked at Alice before turning back to the wheel.
“Broke three?”
“Back in high school everyone knew about him pretty much, dropping stuff, you know...”Anna stopped, flashing a concerned face. “Did he break something at your place too?”
“He didn’t touch anything.”
“Good,” she sighed in relief. “I still imagine if he were on basketball team rather than football, the opponents would surely be happy with Mr. Butterfingers.”
As Anna left after dropping Alice, Alice saw an old woman looking at her. A round hat covered her hair except for the white strands reaching her shoulder. A green scarf was tightly wrapped around her neck and her jacket looked like the one Mrs. Paul was wearing the other day, but this one would be oversized for skinny Mrs. Paul. The lady kept on looking.
It’s because I’m staring at her , Alice thought, looking away . After a minute, she did look over her shoulder, wondering, but she was right, the woman was no longer there.
The store’s long aisles was a book lover’s paradise. It was what attracted her there in the first place. Books spanned dozens of genres sorted on their respective racks. The store even sold used books, which were in the cellar, but the list of titles and authors were neatly recorded at the counter. Franny mentioned that she had a store room at her house−a short distance from the store−with hundreds of stacked books, numbered and ordered as well if a customer needed any. Plus, on request, she even ordered books from outside. Well, Franny wasn’t the best book dealer around for no reason.
Franny was talking to her full-time employee Rashi. Rashi’s complexion reminded Alice of mocha latte. Slender but not very tall, Rashi kept her raven-black hair, that curled only slightly, stylishly long. Her long dark lashes set off her dazzling emerald green eyes. Rashi waved at Alice and scurried over for a hug.
“The story of the thief again,” she whispered. Then she said something in Indian.
“I mean, it’s funny to listen to that story over and over,” she smoothed the crease of her
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