Page 16 of Lordes

“Do you prefer Lord or Lordes?”

“I prefer Lord but I get it if you want to call me Lordes. I’ve been dealing with this name my entire life. Most people want to see proof. They think I’m making it up. I show my drivers license quite often.”

“I like it. It’s unforgettable. We all want to be remembered.”

“I never thought of it like that.” I grinned. She was a nice person. Her compliments were real.

Our waiter was back with the bottle of wine. He uncorked and poured it at the table. I wasn’t one of those pretentious people that smelled the wine, twirled it around and sipped it. So James left the table just as soon as he arrived.

“Am I allowed to call you Bria?”

“Yes, of course. You know a few things about me.”

“I do.”

“You know where I work. What do you do for a living?”

“I own and operate a few tech companies here in Chicago. It’s boring and not interesting at all.” I preferred to talk about her. “How long have you been working at the book store?”

“A little over a year.”

“What did you do before the bookstore?” I was curious about her past. But why?

“I went to college, and then law school at the University of Chicago. Passed the Bar and I practiced with a downtown firm for a few years, junior associate, corporate law.”

“Wait, you have a law degree?”

“I do.” She modestly shook her head.

“But you work in the bookstore now. Why? I’m intrigued.”

“It’s a long boring story. Here’s the Cliffs Notes or Spark Notes. A few years ago both of my parents died in a car crash. After that I just didn’t want to practice law anymore. I lost all my passion for it. It wasn’t fulfilling or challenging for me. I guess, I lost my love for the law. It was more my parents dream then mine. I’m really not sure if it was what I wanted to do with the rest of my life. I didn’t need the money. My parents provided enough for me. They left me a house. I woke up one day and didn’t want to do it anymore.”

“Do you think you will ever want to go back to it, the law?”

“I don’t know. I try to never say never. I renew my law license every year. I can’t seem to let it expire. It’s hard letting go of that part of my life completely. It took so much time and effort to get there.”

“That’s true.”

“If you were wondering yes, I can survive on a bookstore clerks salary. Where did you go to college?”

“Moved to Massachusetts and went to MIT.”

“I’ve never been to Massachusetts.”

“It’s different but sort of the same. After graduation, I missed Chicago. So I moved back. Do you live in Chicago?”

“No, I’m not in Chicago. I’m outside, in the western suburbs. Do you live in here in Chicago?”

“I grew up in the Mt. Greenwood area and now I live on the Gold Coast. You mentioned your parents. Do you have brothers and sisters?”

“Yeah, I have a brother and a sister. What about your parents?”

“They’re dead. But I didn’t know them. It’s not a sad story. My grandmother raised me. She’s still here. I talk to her everyday. She’s the Will Smith fan. That’s who I bought the books for.”

“You have a cool grandma. This might be an odd question but I feel I need to ask it because of past experience.”

“You can ask me anything?” Hopefully I would be able to tell the truth.

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