Total pages in book: 160
Estimated words: 164263 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 821(@200wpm)___ 657(@250wpm)___ 548(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 164263 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 821(@200wpm)___ 657(@250wpm)___ 548(@300wpm)
I know this for certain because although I haven’t chosen this life, I feel at peace with where I am and I couldn’t imagine a different outcome.
I live in France now, with the need to sell Uncle Edgar’s antiques I originally came for a month and opened a market stall. It did so well that I started trading and now find myself the proud owner of a boutique antique store in Nice. Funnily enough, without any prior knowledge of the industry, I apparently take after Uncle Edgar and have a sharp eye for antiques and have carved out a very successful career for myself.
My store is a true piece of my heart, the people who work for me are my close friends, I have a beautiful terrace house in Mont Boron and the most wonderful boyfriend in the world.
Life is…. Blissful and full of joy.
Simple.
I’m laid back and feel at ease with where I am in the world, and although I miss my family in the States, they come to visit often.
My left arm holds out as I turn the corner, weaving between the cars like a pro, I ride my bicycle to work every day. It’s baby blue and has a wicker basket on the front, it even has a bell. So French, that some days I hardly recognize myself.
“Morning, Alora.”
I ring the bell on the handlebars as I pull up onto the sidewalk. “Morning, Franck,” I call back as I dismount my bike.
“Beautiful day.”
“It is.” I inhale the heavenly scent drifting out of his patisserie. “I will never tire of that smell, Franck.”
“My strategy is working, then.” He disappears back into his store.
Franck is the best pastry chef in all of France, also a very bad influence.
“Good morning.” I check the mailbox on my way through the front door.
“Bonjour,” Jonty says as he fills the cash register with money.
“Bonjour.” I smile.
“Good morning,” Helene calls as she carries the heavy sign out the front and sets it up on the pavement. I’m lucky enough to have the most beautiful people working for me. Jonty is twenty-eight and a budding artist, he was supposed to be here for a month helping us through a busy period but was too amazing to ever let go. He’s funny and quirky with long auburn curly hair that he pulls back into a ponytail. He wears little circle gold glasses like John Lennon. Helene is twenty-six and the hardest worker you will ever meet. She’s the exact opposite of me but has somehow become my best friend. While I am easygoing and carefree, she is highly strung and wild. Where I have long dark hair, she has a blond bob cut. She dates everyone and anyone, is never home, hates to cook and loves to club. While my favorite place to be is at home, chilling out while cooking or gardening. She says that I am the yang to her yin and somehow even through all our differences, we just work. To be honest, I think that Misty organized our friendship from heaven, she had to. There’s no way I would be lucky enough to have two best friends in one lifetime that were so similar unless someone pulled some strings from above.
“Morning, Alora,” Jonty says as he powers up the cash register. “You have five messages on the answering machine.”
“Thanks,” I say as I flick through the letters. Ugh…. Bills. I look around my store and smile, no matter how long I work here, I will never take it for granted. The vivid rich colors of the furnishing and that distinct antique-store scent, I love this place. It’s quaint and has an eclectic beauty about it, one person’s trash is another’s treasure. Luckily for me, my idea of treasure seems to be appreciated by the masses.
Who knew I would turn out to have good taste?
I walk around the store and turn on all of the lamps, they are varied in size, style, and texture but I always put in a warm glow lightbulb to tie them into the ambience.
“Are you ready?” Helene calls.
“Hang on.” I quickly straighten my hair up in the mirror and walk over to her. “Let’s go.”
She holds her phone up and smiles. “And go.”
“Good morning.” I smile. “I’m Alora from Sorenson Antiques and this is our morning run-through of our store. This arrived yesterday and isn’t she beautiful.” I run my hand over the double doors, “This is a Baroque armoire, circa early seventeen hundreds.” I point to the carved details. “As you can see it has beautiful craftmanship, fully hand-carved cherubs and detailing around the edges.”
Helene twirls her finger in the air to symbolize to keep going, ugh…social media, the bane of my existence. Unfortunately though, it’s what sets our store apart and why we do so well, many people tune in each day to see our new arrivals.