Plump & Pretty

by Mary E Thompson

  My drive to READ was short, another reason I’d picked the house I did. I was surprised to see another car in the lot, but I immediately recognized it as belonging to George and Pam, my bosses and the owners of READ.

  When I was in college and looking for a job I found READ one afternoon when I was driving around. I stopped in, always loving independent bookstores that catered more to the customer than to the corporation behind them, and fell in love. READ was exactly the kind of place where I felt comfortable, at home. Although not as large as big box bookstores, READ was no slouch. The space was large and open and they stocked books in every genre, including some of the less popular ones.

  Pam and George were both working that day and we ended up talking. They offered me a job on the spot and I started within a week. Seven years later I was still there, loving my job more and more each day.

  The store was my favorite place to be and I didn’t want to leave, even once Pam and George retired. Running a business wasn’t something I’d ever considered before working at READ, but after seeing how Claire, Charlie, and Sam did running their businesses, I knew I could do it, too.

  I let myself into the store and passed by the cash registers at the front of the store, through the new releases section, then the mysteries, then the fantasies (think Tolkien, not Penthouse), and finally reached the back of the store where the offices were.

  “Hello!” I called out as I pushed through the ‘Authorized Personnel Only’ door.

  “Hello!” answered Pam from the owner’s office at the end of the hall.

  I flipped the light on in my office on my way past and tossed my coat and lunch on my desk before going to find Pam.

  “Hi guys! To what do I owe this pleasure?” I asked after I hugged both Pam and George and settled into a chair in their office.

  Pam’s light grey, poker-straight hair was cut in a stylish bob that framed her thin face. Her green eyes were bright, but didn’t miss anything. Her small frame was something I found myself envious of more than once, especially in her signature black leggings and oversized red sweater. Knee high biker boots made you wonder if she was younger than her 62 years.

  George was the perfect match for Pam. His short hair was thinning, but still nearly black despite being 65 years old. He wore jeans that were on the skinny side without making him look like he was trying too hard to be young. An old band t-shirt was a nod to his younger years when he moonlighted as a roadie for whatever bands came through the local hotspots.

  They exchanged a look that immediately had me on edge. When they faced me again I saw excitement mixed with anxiety on their faces. I loved them like I did the rest of my family. Whatever was going on wasn’t all good news, and I was nervous.

  “We wanted to come in and talk to you,” George began. “Pam and I have a few things going on and we wanted to make you aware of everything before you heard it from anyone else.”

  Oh, shit. I started to panic. What could they possibly be talking about? My mind immediately went to one of them being sick, then bounced to them selling the store, then to them moving.

  Hell, it could be all of the above.

  “You know we’re getting older. We’ve started traveling a bit, thanks to you,” Pam beamed. “With all that though, we’ve decided we’re ready to step back even further. We want to step completely out. We’re retiring.”

  My breath came out on a whoosh that left me feeling relieved that they weren’t sick and sick that I wasn’t ready to buy the store. Unless…

  “What’s going to happen to the store? Are you still going to be the owners?”

  Pam and George exchanged a look that told me what they were going to say before they opened their mouths. My heart sunk as I waited for them to tell me they’d sold READ already. “Well, we don’t want to be. We don’t know if you’re in a position to buy READ from us, but we wanted to give you the first chance. If you don’t want it then we’ll go looking for other buyers.”

  “Really?” I asked, shocked and excited that I would have the opportunity to have my dream come true. I’d gotten a name from Brady of someone to talk to at a local bank, but I hadn’t made any phone calls yet. With Pam and George being done, I knew it was time to make that call.

  “We don’t want you to feel like we’re pressuring you into anything. If you don’t want the store, we’ll completely understand. We just wanted to talk to you first before we talked to anyone else.”

  “I want it,” I blurted out. “I’ve always wanted it.”

  Pam and George grinned at me like I’d just given them the best news ever. “That’s great news, sweetie,” Pam gushed. “We have Andy working on coming up with a value for the business and we’ll go from there. Do you have someone to talk to about loan?”

  I nodded. “A friend of mine gave me a name a few months ago. I’ll call him this week.”

  “Excellent. I know this is an awkward conversation, but do you have money in savings?”

  “Yes. I don’t know if it’ll be enough, but yeah. I’ve been saving for a while, but I’ll have to talk to the bank once you know what you want for the business. If I can’t buy it, what will you do?”

  Pam and George exchanged a look that made my heart sink and my pulse kick up. I knew I had to ask the question, but I also knew I wasn’t going to like the answer.

  “We have a few other options. We’ve been looking into anyone who might be interested in READ for a few months, but never made any plans. The big stores would love to see us go under, of course, and wouldn’t pass up the chance to buy us out, but we’d rather sell to someone who will keep READ. Someone like you.”

  I nodded. I understood their position. They wanted to retire and needed the money from their equity in READ in order to make that possible. I understood, but I didn’t really like it. Especially if it ended up that I couldn’t afford READ.

  “We know this is sudden, Riley,” Pam was saying when I started listening again, “but we’re ready. With you running everything we’ve realized we can retire and know the store is in good hands. If you end up not buying us out then we could try to negotiate you staying on for a certain period of time in the contract.”

  “Yeah,” I answered absently. “That would be great. Hopefully it won’t come to that though. Hopefully I can get a loan and we can make it work.”

  Pam’s grin was brighter than the sun on a beautiful day. I wasn’t sure everything would work out the way I hoped it would, but it was really sweet that they were wiling to protect me if I couldn’t buy READ.

  “Okay, so we’re thinking we’ll make it official in about two months. Andy said that should be more than enough time to finish all the paperwork and settle things on his end. Then we can move out of your way.”

  I waved my hand like she was being silly and told her, “You’re never in my way. This place is as much your home as it is mine. You guys built READ up from nothing. I’m sure it’s hard to walk away.”

  Pam hugged me tightly. Her baby powder smell twisted around me and settled in my nose. I would always think of Pam when I smelled baby powder, no matter what. Sudden tears burned the backs of my eyes as I realized I wouldn’t smell that on her much longer. Sure we’d keep in touch, but it wouldn’t be the same, and it wouldn’t be frequent.

  “It would be harder to walk away if we didn’t know we were leaving READ in such good hands,” Pam said, her eyes glistening with unshed tears when she stepped back. “We’re really going to miss you, Riley.”

  A tear snuck down my cheek and I wiped it quickly. “I’m going to miss you guys, too. It won’t be the same here without you.”

  “We’ll miss you, too,” George said gruffly, his voice betraying his outward appearance of indifference. George stood and wrapped me in a fatherly hug. He kissed the side of my head, as he’d done many times before, and whispered, “We love you Riley.”

  George released me and I reached for both of their hands. “I love you guys too.”

  Pam kissed my cheek then laughed as s
he wiped her tears. “Oh, this is silly. We’re acting as though we’ll never see each other again. We’ll still be around for a while and even after that you’re not going to get rid of us that easily. We’ll probably be here more than you want us to be. We’re going to have a big party to celebrate our retirement. Here at the store. Do you think you could work up some flyers that we can post? And do your magic online? We want to invite our customers too. They’re the reason we’ve made it this far and we want to assure them things aren’t going to change once we’re gone.”

  If only that were true, I thought to myself. Everything would change. Especially if I didn’t have enough money to buy READ. I’d learned over the years that you had to love what you were doing in order to survive with a business like READ. Without that love, that heart that made the place what it was, READ would die a slow death.

  And I’d be right there with it if it wasn’t mine.

  Five

  I worked through the rest of the day in a fog. Pam and George stayed until I had a chance to eat my lunch uninterrupted then headed out for the day. My afternoon left me feeling worse and worse as the time went on. The only good thing was, I didn’t think about Connor Lee once.

  At home that night I fixed myself dinner and got more and more frustrated. I decided I couldn’t deal with it alone and had to talk to someone. A quick text and thirty minutes later Carrie was at my door.

  “What’s going on?” she asked by way of greeting.

  I sighed heavily. “Pam and George are retiring.”

  “And you don’t have the money to buy them out yet,” Carrie finished for me. “Ah, damn, that sucks. Are they selling?”

  I shook my head and led Carrie into the kitchen where I opened a bottle of wine for us. “They want me to buy it. I have money saved up, but I don’t know if it’s enough.”

  “You’re crazy good with money, Riles. Have you talked to Brady’s guy yet?”

  I shook my head. “I didn’t want to call him until I really needed him. I was going to call this afternoon to set up an appointment, but the store was busy and I didn’t have a chance.”

  “Call in the morning before you go to work. If he works at a bank he’ll probably be there before ten. What are you going to do if you don’t have enough cash? Would your parents help you?”

  I shook my head. “No. They taught all of us to be careful with our money, but once we were living on our own Mom and Dad made it clear that we were on our own financially too. If it was something I really needed, like surgery or something, and couldn’t afford it, I’m sure they’d help, but I wouldn’t ask them to help with this.”

  “READ is the most important thing to you,” Carrie argued.

  My best friend knew me well. I nodded, but it didn’t change anything. “It is, but I can’t jeopardize their retirement for my business. Dad’s getting ready to retire. Hopefully Brady’s guy at the bank will be able to help me out. Maybe I’ll be able to get the money.”

  “What can I do to help?”

  I shrugged. “I should probably write a business plan and get some financials together to show the store is profitable. A bank isn’t going to give me a loan for a dying business.”

  “True. So it sounds like you need to talk to Andy.”

  I nodded. “Yeah. Pam said he’ll be working for a little while at the store to come up with a valuation and get things settled. He’s been doing the books for a while though so he’s pretty familiar with what I’d need. Hopefully I can talk to him in the morning.”

  “Okay, so tomorrow you’re going to call the bank and talk to Andy. We can start working on your business plan now and talk when Andy gets you the numbers you’re going to need. Grab your computer and we’ll get to work.”

  I saluted my take-charge friend and did as she asked. I was lucky to have someone like Carrie on my side. She had a business degree, and after so many years working for Beth the Bitch she knew how to run a business, even though she had no desire to do so.

  Carrie and I worked late into the night and she crashed in my guest room. When I got up in the morning she was already gone but left me a note wishing me luck and saying she thought we had a great start on the business plan.

  Once I woke up a little I called Brady’s contact at the bank, Marshall Loveless. I set an appointment with him for that Friday, giving me three days to get as many of the details together as possible.

  I headed into work a little early, hoping I’d catch Andy before we opened the store. He was back in the owner’s office going through paperwork when I arrived.

  “Good morning, Riley,” he said, standing to shake my hand. “It’s good to see you again.”

  Andy was a decent looking guy, just a bit boring for me. He wore a heather grey suit with a black shirt and red tie. He was on the skinny side, which always made me think I’d crush him if we cuddled, or God forbid, slept together. He had his dad’s dark hair, but his was working it’s way free already, with a little bald spot in the back of his head in his early 30’s.

  “Hey Andy. How’re you doing?”

  “Great,” he nodded, returning his focus to the computer. “I’ll be here for the day going over the books. I’m already pretty familiar with everything, but I might need your help.”

  “Sure. I actually had a few questions for you, if you’ve got a minute.”

  “Of course. I know you’re looking into buying READ. Everything here is available for you if your bank needs details. I’d be happy to go with you to a meeting also, if you need me there. Just let me know what you need from me and I’ll be happy to help.”

  “Thanks, Andy. I really appreciate it. I have a meeting scheduled for Friday. I want to have as much information as I can get by then, but I’ve got a good start with a business plan. Do you know what they’re going to want?”

  Andy focused back on the screens in front of him and clicked a few buttons. The printer in the corner spurred to life and started spitting out pages. When it stopped Andy grabbed the sheets and turned back to me. “This should be a good start for you. If you need them digitally, I can give them to you, but for now you can review these.” He handed the sheets over. “The first page is the overall profit and loss report for READ for the last year. The bank will want to know that the business you’re taking over is profitable so they’re not getting into a sinking ship. The P&L will show them that.”

  I looked down at the sheet in front of me, recognizing the sources of profit we had and the expense accounts we paid. There weren’t many details on the sheet, but I knew a P&L statement was a high level view that just offered a glimpse into the business, not details.

  “The next few sheets are going to give you more information. It shows the details of the accounts. Where the biggest differences are in what we buy and what sells. This will help you in the future too. It’s one of the first things Dad uses when he’s deciding what books to order. We keep track of the best sellers and the biggest losers, both in terms of author and publishing house. I know you’ve been stocking more indie authors lately and local authors too. Those two groups are broken out also.”

  I looked over the forms and saw nothing I didn’t expect. The local authors were huge for READ, drawing in family and friends but also people who wanted to read something about their hometown. I’d set up a special section for local authors a few months ago and had a hard time keeping the shelves full.

  “This is great information to have.”

  Andy nodded. “Yeah, it’s valuable to know where the money is coming from. So the last few sheets are the details that went into the P&L as well as the P&L statements for the last five years. That will show the bank that we aren’t just profitable recently, but over a period of time too. I’m not sure what the terms of your loan will be, but this will give the bank an idea of the kind of money they could get back out of READ. Hopefully they’ll be willing to work with you so they aren’t stealing all your profit. When Mom and Dad leave I imagine you’ll have to hire a couple new employees so make up the
time. With Karen working weekends and you here during the week I imagine you guys are pretty busy all the time. You might want to talk to her about her hours and see if she wants to change something, but adding someone to cover your hours so you can do the detail work like Mom and Dad have been doing might be a good idea.”

  I nodded. I hadn’t thought about that, but Andy was right. I would need someone to work more hours so I could order the books, promote the store, and keep things going. If no one was around to pay the bills, READ would be out of business within a month. I wasn’t going to let that happen.

  “I need to get some training with your parents on all this. It’s all stuff I’ve done before, but not on a regular basis. I have a lot to learn.”

  Andy smiled kindly at me. “They’ll help, but I think you’re more prepared than you realize. I know you’ve been doing a lot of this. Plus, I’ll keep doing the books for you, if you want, for as long as you want me to. We have time to get everything straight.”

  I nodded. “Yeah, I’m glad I’ve got two months to figure everything out. I’d be losing my mind already if they were leaving sooner than that.”

  “I understand completely. They want to travel and while I’m happy for them, I’m going to miss them when they’re gone. I want them to be happy. As for you, you need to get your stuff straight with the bank and then we’ll get into the rest of it. I’m sure you won’t have any trouble getting a loan though. This is a good, solid business. You’ve done a lot of great promotions and you seem like a pretty responsible person.”

  I smiled. “My parents taught all of us to be thrifty. I could always do better, but I’ve saved everything I could since I started working here. I hoped I’d get the chance to buy READ one day.”

  “And now you have that chance,” Andy said with a smile.

  “And now I do,” I agreed, feeling like everything was falling into place for me.

  “I’ll send you an email with more details, but I’ve got a preliminary number for the business. My parents will have to set a final number for the sale, but this should be close enough for the bank to get started on their decision. You know Mom and Dad are going to give you a good deal. They were so excited when I talked to them last night. They feel like they’re passing READ down to their own kid. Since I never wanted it, it’s great that you do.”