I'm not ready for the first page challenge ...

... but maybe a few paragraphs!

Accidentally On Purpose

It was a few days before Mitch came in. I wasn’t counting the days, because I wasn’t expecting him.
I was counting the days until my decree nisi arrived, but that’s another story.
‘Are you Rachel?’ he asked.
I couldn’t stop my eyes from flicking down to my name badge as I said yes.
‘Tom said you were pretty.’
Aah yes, Tom. I cast my mind back. He wasn’t exactly a difficult customer – not compared to some of the people we get in here.
But then, I spent four years married to Chris. Difficult doesn’t even register on the radar any more.
That’s why I don’t worry about some of the more – shall we say ‘eccentric’ - customers that come in here.
Bookselling and people-watching go hand in hand. I scan the shelves for new titles and scour the faces coming in for new material daily.
A new book can take you into a new world. Introduce you to new friends, new concerns, sometimes if you’re really lucky, a new lover.
And as I meet new people, I file away the things they say and do as future fodder. If I can think myself hard enough into being a writer, I will be one. But plunging into that icy pool of self doubt is something I shrink away from. I press my back up against the wall and never get closer than dipping a toe in. Will this time be any different? Well this time has to be different because I can’t allow the things I’ve seen over the last couple of weeks to slip away. Maybe I am just a fantasist, but fiction is a form of fantasy surely.