THE HARD LIFE

AMY

"What's with the weather today? Why so hot?"  My friend, Wilma whined as we were both sweating and fanning ourselves with two of the numerous paperbacks in my store. 

"You really need to get the air conditioning working or at least get the fans in here fixed." 

"Yeah well thanks a lot Wilma for reminding me that I cannot afford something as simple as the repairs of the rickety old fans in here. 

Do you know how much the repairs of this entire place costs? 

Freaking eight thousand dollars and I haven't even made up to five hundred dollars ever since I opened up this dang bookstore" I came, my voice high in frustration, trying to fight back the tears welling up in my eyes already.

Wilma kept a concerned expression, "Sorry love, but that's what happens when you decide to get a totally run-down space for your business." 

"That's because it was all I could afford and I didn't think the repairs would actually cost more than the rent." I groaned and dropped my head on the counter, thinking about how pathetic my life was.

So much for trying to earn a living in this dang city. I just didn't get why my life was this hard and such a mess too. The rich seemed to have it easy and put together, hence the reason why most of them were obnoxiously pompous, mean and conceited. 

This I was saying out of unpleasant experiences.

Would I say I had an aversion towards the rich? Not really, but I believed most of them were wrongly privileged and would rather use their wealth to oppress and selfishly control than help the underprivileged.

And yes, I would categorize myself as an underprivileged person. If not, what would you call a broke owner of a struggling bookstore?

"Hey, it's okay Amy, things will get better. You just moved to New York not too long ago and you're just starting out, so things won't just start out great from the beginning. It'll all be good pretty soon" Wilma stated as she came to me and held me. 

"Sometimes I can't help but think that I made a mistake coming here, maybe I should've just stayed where I was" I mentioned, getting my head up whiles adjusting my glasses. 

"With all you've told me about your former life? It would be better for you to die than go back there" Wilma came with a scoff and I gasped whiles she went back to her seat.

"That's mean." "And it's true" she added and I looked down dejectedly. "Hey," Wilma called and I faced her. "Non of it was your fault and you didn't deserve any of that, okay?" I nodded.

"Now cheer up and go get me some ice tea or something" Wilma ordered playfully, pulling out a magazine from her bag.

I groaned, "Really Wilma? I've told you to stop reading those things in here, what if a customer walks in and sees that? You know it would be bad for business. It's a bookstore which intellectually stimulates, not some porno shop" I expressed.

"Okay first of all, have you ever thought that maybe, just maybe, the reason why business isn't moving is because no one is interested in reading boring old books anymore? This is what people are into these days, okay? News, gossip, all that juicy information.

Besides, if there's anything anyone would want to know about everything there is to know, it's all up in the internet already so you see, no one really cares that much for books anymore. Just boring old librarians" Wilma came, letting me in on the sad truth but of course, I wasn't one to back down on the things I believed in. 

"You know, I'm pretty sure there are lots of people like me, who think the good old times were better when one could just sit and enjoy a good book rather than feeding our brains with all these filth the world cooks up these days. 

There are real and pressing issues to write about, things that really affect the public. So who cares if a celebrity has gotten a new car? Or if the Morrocan Prince is getting married to some Greek Princess? 

Who cares about the top ten hottest billionaires in America?" I asked, reading that last part from the cover of the magazine Wilma had with her, where a good-looking man posed seductively with his shirt all opened up, revealing his six packs.

"Uhhh, I do. Plus, I hope Josh Carter's number one" Wilma said excitedly. "And who's that?" I asked.

"Are you kidding me? You've been in New York and you've never heard of Josh Carter?" She came in surprise. 

"I must've stumbled upon the name a few times, but I don't really know the guy." 

"For the love of Christ, this piece of everything good and delicious right here, is Josh Carter" Wilma came showing me the man on the cover of the magazine and I rolled my eyes, typical Wilma when it came to men.

"He's the heartthrob of New York, as well as the richest and most wanted bachelor in the state. His family's into real estate." 

"So just to be clear, he's rich because of his family" I asked and Wilma raised a brow. "Yeah, he's the heir to the Carter heirloom, so what?" She came and I sighed. Obviously he's gonna be another bigheaded jerk with zero personality all because he had no real experiences in life's struggles. 

"You know Amy, not all rich people are bad." "And I honestly don't care at all" I stated and began arranging the things on the counter. 

"Really? So you mean you wouldn't care if this hunk of a man walked into this store right now and asked you to date him?" Wilma asked, holding up the magazine, showing me his image with a smirk on her face. 

"Not even if all the top ten hottest billionaires walked in here" I stated confidently, folding my arms.

That was when we heard someone enter into the store as the bell jingled. "Welcome to Reading Culture and what would you like to..." I paused as my eyes finally met who was at the entrance and I was momentarily stunned. 

Holy fudge, why was this tall, dark haired and green eyed man so gorgeous, and kinda familiar too? And why was he looking towards an hyperventilating Wilma with those sparkles in his eyes, like he'd just seen the woman of his dreams or something?