Confessions of a Curious Bookseller(59)
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From: Florence Eakins
Sent: Mon, Mar 18, 2019 at 3:23 PM
To: Fawn Birchill
Subject: The Pirates of Penzanse
Hi Fawn,
I hope you are well! I just wanted to fill you in on what’s happening in our neck of the woods. Little Joe got the main part in The Pirates of Penzanse. He is absolutely thrilled about it, and I’m so proud of him. It would be great to see you there for a performance if you have the time. I know you’re very busy.
In other news, I got that promotion at work—finally! It will mean more hours, and I’ll be managing a small group of people, but honestly I’ve wanted more responsibility for years so this has been way overdue. It’s crazy to think that I am now director of marketing. Doesn’t it sound so authoritative??
How is your store doing? I hope that other store down the street isn’t giving you too much trouble. Let’s stay in touch more!
Talk to you soon,
Flo
From: Fawn Birchill
Sent: Mon, Mar 18, 2019 at 10:20 PM
To: Florence Eakins
Re: The Pirates of Penzanse
Florence,
I am glad to hear that Little Joe got the part, though I am not at all surprised. He has always had a flare for the theatrical, just like his father—but also just like me! It runs on both sides of the family, I believe! Let me know the dates, and I will see if I can make it. I am also happy to hear about your promotion. That repetitive office work can’t be easy or at all stimulating, so I have great respect for it. I imagine that day after day it really starts to wear you down, and you begin to see the world as a very repetitive and gray place indeed. But you somehow rise above with your vivacious personality! Sometimes I think about what we wanted to do as children and how our lives are now, and I imagine what I would pay the devil to take me back to my childhood so that I don’t make the same mistakes.
I am so happy to hear of the good family news. In my news, Butterscotch has been missing for well over a month. I have posters everywhere but haven’t heard a peep from anyone. I do not sleep anymore and when I do, I need to take Ambien. Don’t be alarmed; it’s not something I’ve gone to the doctor over. My neighbor has a plethora of pills that she lets me take for emergencies, so it’s nothing serious. I just have to make sure I am in bed before taking the Ambien—a fact I learned the hard way when I woke up one afternoon facedown on the kitchen floor. I am missing a part of myself with Butterscotch gone. I feel like half a person all the time, and this despair makes it impossible to sleep. I don’t mean to burden you with this. Lately circumstances have been challenging and I’ve found that sometimes, indeed most of the time, it’s best not to shut down, to turn away, to hide. So I’m compelled to tell you the truth. I’m sorry if it’s uncomfortable.
The store is doing well. I let two of my staff members go because it is a slow time of the year, but no doubt they will return when things pick up. The new bookstore (thank you for asking) has made very little impact on the business (which I’m not surprised to find). I am not threatened by them and even encourage my staff to browse the new store’s aisles on their lunch break.
Miss you much!
Fawn
P.S. Penzance is spelled as such.
From: Florence Eakins
Sent: Mon, Mar 18, 2019 at 11:40 PM
To: Fawn Birchill
Re: The Pirates of Penzanse
Hi Fawn,
Actually, my job is extremely stimulating. Otherwise I wouldn’t be doing it. Not all of us want to be business owners. I could really use your support right now without the snide, thinly veiled blows to my “office worker” status. Joseph is not as thrilled about my promotion as I hoped he would be, and it’s weighing on me. I kind of expected him to at least say that he was proud of me, but I came home from a very happy day at the office only to be greeted by him complaining about every little thing. So, I’m a bit sensitive tonight. I could use a kind word, thank you very much.
Flo
P.S. I’m so sorry about Butterscotch. He is a lovely kitty, and I hope you find him soon.
From: Fawn Birchill
Sent: Tue, Mar 19, 2019 at 1:12 AM
To: Florence Eakins
Re: The Pirates of Penzanse
Dear Florence,
I am so very sorry for my transgression. Plase forgive me. I am trly excited to for you and your win at the office. I know you are a hard worker and Joseph should see that and appreciate it about you.
Have a good night,
Fawn
March 19, 2019
I think it’s important to mark the date on which I shared an honest exchange with my sister (even if I was a little tipsy for it). I can truly say, now in the sober light of morning, that it was freeing. It doesn’t make any logical sense as to why it would be, but I suppose life isn’t always logical. In fact it’s quite messy, and sometimes things don’t fit the way one would assume they should.
My sister, though somewhat intolerable in the way she raises her boys and the way she interacts with the world around her, is not a bad person. She doesn’t deserve to be alienated by anyone but especially not by me. We have been through the war together, and I am finding it hard to suss out why I have pushed her away all these years. I suppose it could be because she reminds me of my past. Sometimes when I look at myself in the mirror, I see traces of my father—in the shape of my eyes and the curve of my chin. I hate mirrors because of this. Perhaps these two things are related.