Falling in Love with a Con-Artist

Along the streets of Lombard, California, a lady walked into a bookstore. Grayson 27 of age, smart and approachable - His attention was caught by the Jingle of the Shopkeeper's bell. He sat behind the register reading a novel titled Lord of the Flies by Nobel Prize-winning author William Golding. He looked up to spot a lady, entering through the front door. A light dark beautiful lady probably in her mid-20s. She wore a deep brown gown with not much design on it and had also a brown bag on her back. She looked conserved with her glasses on and a quick smile. As she walked in, She surveyed the bookstore. She realized the store was small but at the same time cozy.

“Morning” Grayson still gazing into his book and not wanting to lose any attention greeted. “Morning” Adele replied without looking. She walked towards a shelf, browsing it from the top. Grayson peeked at her discreetly from behind his book

“Looking for something?”

“Yeah, a hardcover of Ulysses?” She adjusted her glasses as she replied.

Grayson dropped the book he was reading “Uh I think I might have one. Just a sec” He stood up and then moved to the back of the narrow store. He ran his fingers along a shelf of books not until he spotted it "Here we go” With a faint smile, Grayson removed a heavy copy of Ulysses, a book written by James Joyce. He walked back to her and handed her the book. Adele replied to him with a smile. As they both moved to register, Grayson voiced out

“Some light reading you got there”

“It’s actually a gift for my professor” She ended with a light scoff and then dropped the book on the desk.

“You’re a student?”

She nodded “yeah, I’m actually getting my Ph.D.’

“Really? UC? NYU? Colombia?”

UC stands for the University of California and NYU means New York University

“UC” She answered staring at him with a capturing smile. Grayson really is a handsome guy. With his styled blond hair and his well-shaved beard accompany by that great smile of his, it’s easy for any girl to fall in love.

“That’s great. what’s your thesis topic?”

Without thinking twice, she responded “Social resistance in Irish Literature”

“Wow! And how’s that going?”

“Well?” She made and half-shrug “good is the word”

Her last statement made Grayson laugh a bit. He took the book and began to wrap it while Adele turned her back on him and glanced at the books on the shelves. She shook her head with a smile before continuing the conversation “Seriously, I could move in here. It's sad how all these bookstores are closing. I blame the internet”

“Yeah, not only that, no one wants to read anymore” Grayson was now done wrapping the book with brown leather paper. He clicked on his system to check the price of the book ‘That’ll be twenty bucks”

“As I said, it’s really sad” Adele collected the book from Grayson, dropped it on the desk, and began to search for her credit card. She spotted it, took it, and handed it over to Grayson. Grayson spotted her name on the card: Adele Brooklyn. He smiled and told himself “What a pretty name” He then ran it through the machine, waiting for it to process.

Grayson also found Adele very attractive. He has never been attracted to anyone after the death of his first girlfriend many years ago, let alone a black. As they waited for the card to process, Grayson then decided to talk not regarding what they’d been conversing about since she got into the store.

“Hey, um, there’s this great restaurant along Altos. I was hoping if you are not doing anything, maybe we could have dinner and FYI the bills on me” He made sure he said his lines carefully not forgetting the smile on his face. But Adele was like “Oh, well, um” Not knowing what to say. Grayson got it all wrong thinking he did or say something bad “Sorry, was that weird? That was a little weird, wasn’t it”

Adele shook her head “No, it’s just that--” She paused and then wanted to say something not when Grayson thought “You probably have a boyfriend”

Adele laughed at his thought, she simply replied “No I don’t. I’m Single and I kind of like being single”

It was a bummer for Grayson. No one has ever turned him down. It’s actually the other way around. He turns them down. Grayson was hurt by what she said “Oh sure, I get. It’s fine” But his facial expression tells he was not. Grayson checked the machine and realized there was no payment “uh your card isn’t working” Grayson removed the card and handed it over.

“Ah! Not again” She collected the card with a sorry face “I must have maxed it out again. Let me see if I have enough cash” Adele then rummaged through her purse to see if she had cash. She did have but wasn’t enough. Grayson immediately understood the situation “You know what?” He continued after grabbing her attention “You can take the book, then come back and pay for it” He took the book from the desk and handed it over to her.

But Adele couldn’t collect a book she had not paid for. She shook her head with a sincere look “I don’t think that’s a good idea. What if someone comes asking for it with enough cash?”

“It’s not a big deal, they could just order it online” Grayson replied with a smile. He pushed the book for her to collect but she was reluctant to. “Don’t worry, Take it. I trust you” Adele chipped in a smile which made her a beautiful nerd. She collects the book and pinned it to her chest “Thank you, I promise I’ll be back with the money”

Grayson said back “Yeah, anytime”

She bade him before walking out of the store. Grayson moved to his window, rose the wooden blind, and watched her walk off. He sighed and then walked back to his Laptop. He opened a site and searched for the name Adele Brooklyn. He scrolled through Instagram and found her page. He saw different pictures of Adele, Adele with her friends, updates, and articles. He caught sight of a picture and he could swear that she was the most beautiful black lady he has ever met with. Gray then remembered what he said to her “Sorry, was that weird?” he muttered in a mocking tone. It was very idiot of him to ask that question. He angrily closed his laptop and took the novel he was reading. He sat back and continued his reading.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Hours later, it was closing time. Grayson didn’t have a lot of customers. Few of the customers who came coincidentally requested for the book Adele bought which she hadn’t paid yet. Grayson thought to himself if he did the right thing by giving the book to her. He said he trusted her but he had no clue who she was. That meant only one thing, he released the book not because he trusted her but because he liked her.

Grayson switched off the lights before walking out of the store with his black bag. He was still trying to lock the doors with his keys not when he heard a lady yelling “Hey, wait wait” He turned back and to his surprise, it was Adele hurrying towards him. “Hi, remember me, I got your money” Adele said stretching 50 bucks to him. She was without her glasses.

“Oh hey, you didn’t have to bring it back tonight” Grayson abandoned the door, attending to her

"Nah, I didn’t want to keep you hanging. You can keep the change” Grayson collected the money and realized it was $50. Funny enough he didn’t have a change to give her. That was in fact the only sale he made. Grayson snorted a scoff before smiling at her “Well thanks” He said before sliding the cash into his pocket. “yea, well see ya” Adele waved and turned to leave “Yeah you too” Grayson said back and turned to the door, this time to lock it.

Adele some steps away from him stopped. She thought about their weird conversation earlier that day. It was not nice of her to turn him down, at least it was a harmless dinner and also she was hungry. She could make use of free food that night. She felt embarrassed to turn back but she forced herself to. Grayson still battling to lock the door felt the presence of somebody. He turned and saw it was Adele again “hey”

“hey, So, remember this morning when you asked me to dinner?”

Instantly Grayson tried to apologize “yea about that I’m sor--” He was not done when Adele interrupted him “No, it’s-- I wanted to say yes. I was actually standing there thinking how nice would it be if this guy asked me out, and right as I thought it, you did and, I don’t know, I panicked.” She ended up not staring into his face. Grayson was shocked with a smile “Panicked?” His brows rose according to his word. “yea I did” She nodded and the two of them busted into laughter.

“I’m Adele by the way” Adele introduced by stretching her hand for a shake

“You can call me Grayson”

After that encounter, Grayson took Adele to a fine restaurant along Los Altos street which was 2 minutes away from his store. They entered the popular restaurant called “The Post” where they were served the best meals. Grayson ordered a Creme Brulee French Toast while Adele went for the popular Crispy Chicken sandwich. As they were eating, Grayson decided to tell her about himself. He told her about a story that made Adele laugh hard almost choking on her meal.

“You know I asked myself, what am I getting into? A short story was one thing, but a novel? I mean that’s like at least three hundred pages” He stopped to take a sip of his favourite wine, a 1990 Harlan Estate, Napa Valley. Grayson is a big fan of Napa Valley wines but this was his favorite.

“Yeah, you’re right. Sometimes more”

“Exactly and to worsen it, they offered me real money, I had to deliver something” he ended with a frown “and what did you do?” Adele asked, staring at him in expectation of his answe