Book Perspectives Novels & Stories

But it was the study at the end of the hall that caught her attention. Bianca stepped inside, her eyes immediately drawn to the bookshelves lining the walls. The spines of countless books faced her, their titles neat and orderly. She traced her fingers along the rows: military tactics, the politics of power. Advanced technologies. She frowned, pulling a book off the shelf. Its leather cover was worn. The pages filled with dense diagrams and meticulous notes. Why would a businessman need this? She whispered. Flipping through the pages, who are you really, Theo, she murmured.

Books stacked on the counter, a plant Sophie had given her that was surviving against all odds, her mother's old ceramic fruit bowl sitting empty because she kept forgetting to buy fruit. He looked around her apartment with quiet attention. "What?" she asked. "It looks like you." "Is that good or bad?" "It's exactly right." He picked up his fork. "You have three books on that counter with the spines cracked the same way." "I reread things." "Which ones?" She hesitated. "Don't laugh." "I won't laugh." "Two romance novels and a book on event management theory." He looked at her steadily. No laugh. "Which romance novels?"

But then, why were all her belongings still here? She stepped toward the shelves and ran an index finger horizontally across the spine of each book, noting the authors. Stephen King. Paul Tremblay. Lauren Beukes. All horror, violence, and morbid. Certainly not what Jade preferred to read. The magazines held a different texture, they were smooth but thinner, and her fingertip snagged every crevice. She plucked a random one out and examined the cover. Vogue. Flipping through the magazine, she noted several of the corners were folded as a bookmark. She glanced over the articles on those pages: Interviews with influential people, food and drink reviews, and beauty products.