The Bookshop on the Corner Read Free Page A

they’re in perfect condition.”
    â€œIt’s not that,” said Surinder. “And don’t give me that look, like I’m turning away orphans.”
    â€œWell, in a way . . . ,” said Nina, trying not to look too pleading.
    â€œThe joists of the house won’t take it, Nina! I’ve told you before.”
    Nina and Surinder had shared the tiny row house very happily for four years, ever since Nina had arrived in Edgbaston by way of Chester. They hadn’t known each other beforehand, and had thus been in the happy position of being able to become roommate friends, rather than friends who moved in together and then fell out.
    Nina lived in some worry about Surinder finding a serious boyfriend and moving out or moving him in, but despite a large number of suitors, it hadn’t happened yet, which was useful. Surinder would point out that there was no reason to think she was the only person this might happen to. But Nina’s cripplingshyness and solitary habit of reading all the time meant they both felt reasonably sure that Surinder was going to get lucky first. Nina had always been the quiet one, on the sidelines, observing things through the medium of the novels she loved to read.
    Plus, she thought, after another awkward evening chatting to the clumsy friends of Surinder’s latest paramour, she just hadn’t met anyone who compared to the heroes of the books she loved. A Mr. Darcy, or a Heathcliff, or even, in the right mood, a Christian Gray . . . the nervous, clammy-handed boys to whom she could never think of anything funny or witty to say really couldn’t compare. They didn’t stride over Yorkshire moors looking swarthy and furious. They didn’t refuse to dance with you at the Pump Room while secretly harboring a deep lifelong passion for you. They just got drunk at the Christmas party, as Griffin had, and tried to stick their tongue down your throat while bleating on for hours about how their relationship with their girlfriend wasn’t actually that serious really. Anyway. Surinder was looking furious, and worst of all, she was right. When it came to books, there simply wasn’t the space. There were books everywhere. Books on the landing, books on the stairs, books filling Nina’s room completely, books carefully filed in the sitting room, books in the loo, just in case. Nina always liked to feel that
Little Women
was close by in a crisis.
    â€œBut I can’t leave them out in the cold,” she pleaded.
    â€œNina, it’s a load of DEAD WOOD! Some of which smells!”
    â€œBut . . .”
    Surinder’s expression didn’t change as she looked severely at Nina. “Nina, I’m calling it. This is getting totally out of hand. You’re packing up the library all week. It will just get worse and worse.”
    She stepped forward and grabbed a huge romance Nina adored from the top of the pile.
    â€œLook at this! You already have it.”
    â€œYes, I know, but this is the hardback first edition. Look! It’s beautiful! Never been read!”
    â€œAnd it won’t be read either, because your reading pile is taller than I am!”
    The two girls were standing out on the street now, Surinder so cross she’d piled out of the front door.
    â€œNo!” said Surinder, raising her voice. “No. This time I am absolutely putting my foot down.”
    Nina felt herself starting to shake. She realized they were on the verge of having a falling-out, and she couldn’t bear confrontation or any form of argument at all. Surinder knew this as well.
    â€œPlease,” she said.
    Surinder threw up her hands. “God, it’s like kicking a puppy. You’re not dealing with this job change, are you? You’re not dealing with it at all. You just roll over and play dead.”
    â€œAlso,” Nina whispered, staring at the pavement as the door swung shut behind them, “I forgot my keys this morning. I think