Chapter 19 - Back to Routines

One day while back at work in the bookstore, Rachel was shelving books in the inspirational section. She noticed some movement out of her peripheral view as if a peacock was stuffing back and forth. She stopped and gave the drama her full attention and saw Jeff and sone girl. He was giving her this loving, attentive look as if he had just seen her for the first time. She first thought, “He knows I work here. This is staged.”

Her second thought was, “How shallow!” Then she went back to work and once he saw that she was not reacting, he and his prop left the bookstore. Rachel pur her head down and shook it from sided as side. She was privately happy that she had escaped that shallow water and had not scratched her toe on the cement. She remembered a phrase that her mother Phoenix had shared with her. “If it doesn’t  matter to you, then it doesn’t matter.” At that point, it simply did not matter.

June 28, 2025