It was a slow day at Page of Mind, but Beck really didn't care. It was usually pretty slow, after all. He sometimes wondered how Paige managed to keep the shop open. He'd considered asking her, but then decided that he'd rather keep his job, thank you very much. Besides, he trusted that Paige had it covered. The door to the shop flew open, the small metal bell clanging noisily, and he flinched.
"Beckett, thank God!" Paige exclaimed, walking into the shop with the swagger of a mob boss. She flew from shelf to shelf, plucking books off and dropping them into a PAGE OF MIND-branded tote bag. "Listen, honey, if you wouldn't mind, I need you to drop this at the hospital."
She jerked the bag up, then darted to the next shelf.
"See, they've been asking for donations and we just have so many books that we're nearly out of shelf space!" she explained. Beck stood up and walked to her, and she shoved the bag into his hands.
"Are you sure?" he asked. "I mean, aren't your orders coming in tonight?"
"Pfft. I can handle myself here," Paige said, waving a hand dismissively. "Besides, Nita will be coming over to help."
"Oh." Beck kept his voice purposefully unaffected, blunt. "That's awful nice of her."
"You still talk to Nita, don't you?" Paige's eyes sparkled, and Beck could tell that she thought she was playing matchmaker.
"No, not really," he said with a shrug. "I mean, Nita's fine and all, but we haven't really been keeping up."
"That's really too bad," Paige said. "I always thought you two got along. I'm surprised she hasn't called-"
"Miss Smith, I'll personally run the books to the hospital if it means we can end this conversation," Beck interrupted. God. Why did people always try to involve themselves in his life's conflicts?
Paige gave a soft hmph! and passed him the bag.
"Well, then," she said. "You'd better hurry. No need to come back after, you've met your hours for the week anyways."
"Alright," Beck said, unable to shake the feeling that something about their conversation hadn't gone quite right. He hadn't been too snippy, had he? He didn't think so.
He gave Paige a half-hearted wave as he left, that ridiculous bell clanging behind him, and walked to the bus stop to wait. He glanced down at the bag, spied the book on the top. A copy of Finding My Voice that was almost certainly older than he was looked up at him. He considered pawing through the bag to look at the other titles, but was interrupted by the bus's arrival. He boarded it, spending the short trip to the hospital looking out the window.
When he arrived, he felt a slight bit of unease standing in front of the building.