Book of Love - David Horne Page 0,6

wrist and led him deeper into the apartment.

The apartment was large with two rooms, two bathrooms, a large understated yet classy kitchen, and a room that appeared to be a study of some sort. "This is the room I use when I work a bit too late and don't want to track my way home. The other room is yours to do with as you please. The bathroom you used is yours as well. I don't use the study all that often so you can use that to study in." Alfred moved around the apartment as he spoke.

Dark wood seemed to be a thing with the apartment and the bookstore, clean and not too cluttered, it looked lived in and homey, just like the bookstore.

"So, um, what would I be doing exactly?" Matt asked when they returned to the living room to find Sam had fallen asleep.

Alfred flopped onto the couch and looked at Sam for a bit. "Stocktaking and register mostly. I work more on the background things such as ordering books and admin work."

It sounded easy enough.

"Oh, I forgot, there is a laundry nook in the kitchen if you want to wash your clothes. You don't seem to have much. Feel free to borrow mine. Some of my clothes might not fit you right though," Alfred said as he gave Matt's taller and broader body a once over.

"It's a miracle I bought those pants a size too big by accident, isn't it?" Alfred asked with an amused look on his face. "Funny how the world seems to work," he muttered mostly to himself, so Matt didn't answer.

The two men enjoyed the calm moment between them before Sam woke up, seeming to want dinner himself. Alfred rose from his seat and entered the kitchen. Matt decided to follow and see where some things were in case he had to feed the puppy.

It was cute to watch the puppy eat his food with relish. The little guy had a big appetite. Alfred was watching Matt. He looked a lot less lost, and it made him happy. Men like Matthew should never have a broken look like Matt had earlier.

Once the puppy had cleaned his bowl, Alfred gave it a rinse and placed it in the sink to be washed later.

"Let me show you where some things are, Then we can write up a contact for you to sign for the job as well as the apartment," Alfred said as he led both man and puppy back down to the store where there was another door on the other side of the bookstore's layout that would have matched the upstairs apartment where the study. . This office looked more used. There were filing cabinets, more bookshelves and a desk with a computer and printer and scanner near the back of the room. The desk also had a chair for someone to sit in front of it.

The writing up of the contracts comes with some hiccups. At first, Matt is adamant that Alfred is offering too much money for his salary. Alfred simply says that he doesn't understand how busy they can get as a lot of people order books through them and that they can get swamped on weekends too as the bookstore is located in the well-off uptown area.

They argued back and forth before Alfred said that he was the boss and what he said goes. Matt seeing that it was a fight he was never going to win, gave in.

Agreeing on the rent was a bit easier as Alfred said he was more like a roommate, so he only had to pay half more times than not. Alfred would be crashing in his room when he didn’t go home.

It left Matt with enough money to pay for his studies and have a little leftover for when he wanted to buy something. It made him feel good about his future once again. He no longer had toxic people in his life. Now he could call his mother and tell her about what happened.

Right after he charged his phone. It died two days ago, and he had been unable to charge it again.

He winched when it became clear that his mother would no doubt be wondering where he was. Alfred saw it and tilted his head. Matt rubbed his neck as he glanced to the side. "My mom is probably wondering where I am. I'm gonna head up and charge my phone and then hit the hay. I have some learning