The Book Keeper

Two secrets.

Cohen Darcy leaned over and blew the dust off the top of an ancient book. The dust flowed into the air like a wave turning over on itself, leaving the worn brown leather cover naked to the eye. He ran his finger tips lightly over the bizarre book cover. It was smooth and soft, like the skin of a newborn baby. But then he felt some bumps at the top right hand corner. It was blemished, damaged. He picked up the leather bound book and raised it level with my eyes to look closely at the area of damage. It wasn't tarnished, it was embossed. He raised his eyebrows, confused by the appearance of the book, and placed it back onto the bedside table while he figured out what to do with it. He didn't do books. Simple as that.

Cohen stepped out into the new day. A new rainy day. A new day of unwelcome events. It had started with the arrival of the bloody book, then came the seduction, the unlawful act of the CAI stealing his work, and the promise that his existence would never be the same. He wanted to do a system restore of his life to an earlier time and bypass the events of today. Could his day get any worse? Absolutely. He needed to meet a girl to get rid of the bloody book! He doesn't do books—or girls. Simple as that.