Black Water Creek by Robert Brumm

teenaged boy looked at the back of an Xbox game and was talking his girlfriend’s ear off about it. She stared at her phone, ignoring his enthusiasm and looking like she’d rather be anywhere else. A mother with two young boys checked her watch and sighed, urging them to pick something out soon or they were leaving. Two other girls sat on the window ledge, looking bored as the two boys they came in with were amusing themselves with a game demo on one of Paul’s custom computers.
    Paul came around the counter with the used laptop from before and smiled. “How’s it going? Pretty busy today, huh?”
    “I just realized something,” Kelly said.
    “Yeah?” He dug under the counter for a power supply. “What’s that?”
    “The women in here. They hate this place.”
    Paul laughed. “What are you talking about? There’s women in here all the time.”
    “Yeah, but look around. None of them are in here on their own. The only reason a girl ever steps foot in here is because they’re with their husband, boyfriend, or son.”
    “Wow, I never realized you were so sexist.”
    “I’m serious, take a look around.”
    The guy purchasing the laptop came to the counter with his wife. “All right, I’ve got you folks all set to go,” Paul told the man. “It comes to $210.06 with tax. It comes with a thirty day warranty, or if you’d like, you can extend that for a year for an extra $39.99.
    The customer considered it for a moment. “Nah, that’s okay. I’ll take my chances.”
    “Ma’am, can I ask you something?” Kelly said.
    The man’s wife frowned slightly. “What’s that?”
    “This is probably going to sound a little weird, but is there anything in this store you’re interested in? Beside the laptop, I mean?”
    “I’m not even interested in that. He dropped the one we had at home and it smashed into a million pieces. I go online once and a while but that’s about it. I sit behind a computer all day at work and try to get away from them once I’m home.”
    Paul cleared his throat and handed the man his receipt. “Thanks a lot, you enjoy that.”
    The couple left the counter and Kelly raised her eyebrows at Paul.
    “Oh come on, one middle aged woman is hardly an accurate survey,” he said. “Plenty of women are into computers and video games.”
    “Yeah, of course there are, but you have to admit this store is more geared towards guys.”
    “Well , there’s not much I can do about it now. What do you suggest, offer a pink case for my gaming PCs?”
    “Look,” Kelly pointed to a woman sitting in the corner. She read a romance paperback while her kids browsed. “What about books? Way more women read books then men do. That lady there probably goes through at least one of those Harlequins a week, I’ d bet.”
    “There’s that sexism again.”
    “Seriously! If you want business to pick up, you’re going have to do something to appeal to the other fifty percent of the market.”
    Paul crossed his arms and glanced at the woman in the corner. “Books ? I don’t know anything about books.”
    “I do! Well, sort of. I always dreamed of having my own used books store and I read all the time. The used book business is practically the same model you have here with your computer stuff. We ’d buy the books for cash or store credit and sell them on for a profit.”
    Kelly stopped talking while Paul rung up another sale. The more she thought about adding books to the store’s inventory, the more excited she got.
    “Here’s the thing,” Paul turned to her after the customer left. “I’m not saying it’s a bad idea, but you’ve got to invest in initial stock before being able to buy and sell. I just don’t have any extra capital lying around for that. Plus, look around.” He waved his hand over the front of the store. “We don’t have any room for books.”
    Kelly ’s enthusiasm deflated. “Yeah, I suppose you’re right.”
    Paul gave her a pat on the back. “It is a good idea, really.