brought up Mrs. Duncan's account to show she had ordered three books.
"This is Matthew Ward, a school friend who will be working here part-time while he attends college." Alfie then left for the back room; Matt knew that the back room was also meticulously packed to be alphabetical order for easy finding.
It still took him a few minutes to find the three books.
Enough that Mrs. Duncan could get a few words in.
"I'm glad that he has some help now." The woman was still looking at the door as she spoke. Matt hummed for her to continue as he ringed the books up. It said on her account that she hadn't paid for them yet.
Mrs. Duncan turned to face him. "Alfred has a lot on his shoulders. I'm sure he'll tell you all about it in due time, but I was his mother's best friend. I’ve watched him grow up. He works very hard and doesn't always take the time to breathe. Please keep an eye on him for me?" The woman's eyes showed how much she was worried about Alfie, but it was the past tense used with his mother that caught his attention the most. He barely stopped himself from asking about it.
Instead, he nodded. "I will."
"You will what?" Mrs. Duncan and Matt looked to the door to see Alfie closing the door to the backroom, three books under his arm.
Matt smiled and reached for the books so he can scan them. Alfie handed them over with a smirk. "Come on, out with it."
Mrs. Duncan chuckled and shook her head, she then started to rifle through her purse for her wallet. Matt scanned the books quickly enough before answering. "She just told me to work hard at my studies."
Alfie looked at Mrs. Duncan with a look of suspicion but dropped the subject. The woman paid for her purchase and the kissed Alfie on his cheek before placing her sunglasses back onto her face and sauntered out the door.
Looking at the clock, Alfie swore lightly under his breath and sped walked to the office and gathered Sam, who seemed to have been woken from a very deep nap and was looking around groggily. Alfie carried Sam around as he picked up his wallet and phone.
"I'll be back by two. If you have any problems, don't hesitate to call, wait…" Alfie stopped in his tracks before holding an open hand. "Phone, please, you don't have my number yet." A quick exchange of numbers and Alfie was out the door with a smiling “ta-ta” thrown over his shoulders.
***
It was quiet for a while, so Matt decided to browse the books to get a general idea of the types of books sold at the bookstore. It only took a few bookshelves to understand that the bookstore specialized in books in different languages as well as hard to find books about random subjects.
The door opened, and the bell above rang twice as the door opened and closed. Matt hurried to the register, slightly cursing at himself for leaving the register open. A young boy and younger sister were standing in front of their mother as she ushered them deeper. She was looking around, no doubt looking for Alfie. She spotted Matt and froze.
Putting on a charming smile, he walked to the back of the register. "Good morning, how can I help you?" That seemed to make the lady unfreeze.
"Did Alfred get some help?" the woman asked as her kids walked to the kids' section in the store, the boy helping his sister in choosing a book. The little girl seemed to be after anything with a mermaid involved.
Matt looked back at the mother and nodded. "Yeah, I'm helping part-time while I study." The woman stepped into the store and was about to say more when the door opened and a man walked in.
He glanced at the woman and smiled. "There you are." The woman smiled back and gestured at Matt. "I was going to introduce myself and the kids to Alfred's new part-timer." The man walked over to Matt and held out his hand.
"Hullo there, I'm glad that Alfie had finally gotten the hints from us all and got some help." It was while the man spoke that Matt realized that the man was British as well and had a slight resemblance to Alfie. The man must have seen his thoughts as he chuckled. "Alfie and I are cousins."
The kids came to the front and gave their mother their choice in books. The mother