In the midst of the gloomy morning did I not think for a
second that something was to come off that day. It was going to be an average
day where I went back to the bookshop to run through the usual work errands did
I not stop to think that in that afternoon everything was to change for me…
Coming up from the basement of the shop to replenish the
shelves on the shop floor, I had only gone through the door to catch eye with
the person at the comic book boxes at the till. He looked and gave me this
eerily long and otherwise unsettling gaze. He raised his right eyebrow and I
smiled. Who was this man?
In my natural defence, I backed up through the door and went
back into the basement. Upon getting downstairs, I had told my manager of my
situation saying, “There’s a guy upstairs giving me weird looks.” So we both
ascended the stairs to deduce what is to become of this man.
Once upstairs, I had seen that the man in question wasn’t at
the comic books no more and that he had now moved to the film section. On
further precedence, I went up to him and popped the first question to break the
ice: “Any good finds?”
He slightly lifted up his comics he had handpicked earlier
on in his response. It was only then that I was called up to the till to cover
for the person leaving. Upon taking my place, the mysterious man came up to the
till and said that he saw me at the “Comic Mart”. Fumbling through my brain, my
first impression was the seller who sold me the collectable cards. Just to make
sure, I looked him up and down. He had a flat cap on, navy in colour with a
blue jacket on. He was sort of on the broader side – size-wise. He had narrow
eyes and slightly off-the-beat eyebrows that seem to brood over his eyes
keeping it hidden in plain sight. That seemed ridiculously mysterious in
itself. Was he Buffy Man? If he was, there is definitely no saying that he had
put on a bit of weight if he was.
He could see that I didn’t remember him in any form or way
so he asked, “what did you get at the mart?” Great, an opportunity to find out
who he really is! “I got some Buffy cards.” That didn’t prompt any facial
reaction. I was wrong. Great! What was I supposed to do now? I continued to
pretend that I remember him but I did realise that he clearly knew that I
couldn’t recall him at all. In all honesty, I couldn’t remotely recall him at
all. I then told him that I usually just stay until the door closes in on the
Comic Mart.
He had already counted up the comics which he called to £20
and said I should check it to confirm. Feeling guilty of having already that I lied
to him, I said, “let’s go for £10” to which he thanked me.
With the next comic mart coming up on the following Sunday,
he asked me whether I wanted to grab coffee after. The first thought that came
into my head was of this small coffee shop with metal chairs and round metal
tables, much like the ones they have in fish and ships shop. The second thought
I had was of annoyance, mainly from the fact that I had already told him I was
to stay until the end around 4pm, which I was to return to Oxfam to see the
rest of the Sunday posse. “OK. Yeah. Sure.”
He thanked me again and went to the exit before turning
around to smile and wave. I couldn’t help but notice that the sun was shining
outside so I couldn’t help but smile and waved back. Once his departure in the
store was felt, the manager asked me, “Who was he?”
“He’s Buffy Man…” I replied. Then another thought popped
into my head - how do you have coffee?
To be continued…
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