Male Stories The Bookstore Tracy squatted and bent her neck to read the titles on the bottom shelf. Nothing much interested her so she stood, ready to leave. That's when it happened. From the man at the front counter came a sneeze- loud, echoing throughout the virtually empty bookstore. She'd heard the inhaled breath just as clearly as the outward release, the sneeze working its way up to expel itself out into a pleasant sounding "HuuhhhCHUMPH!" Tracy's ears caught the sound and it triggered the usual feelings inside of her. Because of the sneeze and the man she knew sneezed it, she decided to stay a bit longer, moving to the mystery section so that she could peer over the books on one shelf at the man at the counter. The man looked young, no more than twenty-three years old, with long, black-brown hair pulled back into a loose pony tail. His eyes were just as black, as were his dark features and tinted skin, the perfect, mysterious, dark stranger. Though his skin a dark peach, his face was nearly as white as the snow that fell thick outside and the bottom and tip of his nose were bright red in color. She wondered what had made him sneeze, whether it had been an irritation in the air, an allergy, a head cold- that had to be it. She was sure of it a moment later. The young man took a handkerchief from his back pocket and blew his nose loudly, breathing heavily and primarily through his mouth, wheezing slightly. He sniffed a few times, holding the right side of his nose closed with his index finger, then tucked his handkerchief back away and looked back at the computer screen as if he were trying to ignore his problem. Obviously it was something that had been bothering him for a while, and no one had allergies that terribly bad in the middle of January. The only thing it could be was a cold. She continued to watch him and noticed after a minute or so that, even though he seemed to be intently concentrating on the screen, he was really actually trying to hold back the urge to sneeze. He nose twitched and his large, masculine nostrils flared delicately. He sniffed continuously and managed with difficulty but success not to sneeze. "Head cold," she whispered to herself with a smile. She'd been noticing the man for weeks and months, every time she'd been in the store... it wasn't until now that she seriously thought of the possibilities... She saw him look up from the monitor and stare off straight ahead, as if in a daze. His eyes closed halfway, squinting with his eyeballs rolling back slightly in their sockets. His mouth opened wide and he raised a loose fist to right below his nose, holding it there with his index finger pressed up against his nostrils to block them. "Huh," he inhaled, closing his eyes all the way. He held the position a few moments. His nose wrinkled, mouth widened even more, eyes closed tightly squinched shut. The sneeze passed. He relaxed with a sigh and exhaling a soft and relieved, "Ahhhh." It happened identically twice more, the third time it bothered him enough for him to get out his handkerchief and blow his nose to try to clear it. Sniffing, he turned back to the computer, leaving a bent index finger at his nose to try to hold them in. Tracy, interested in the man she'd just seen in a whole new light, decided to work up all the courage inside of her and talk to him. She grabbed an Anne Rice novel off a shelf and went to the front counter to pay for it. Just as she set it down at the counter, he turned his head to his side and gave a sneeze. His head tilted back as his lungs filled, and then snapped forward as his nostrils widely flared and he was forced to release that which he'd been trying to hold in. "HuhCHUmm! HuhCHUMPH! HuhCHUCHH!" Three sneezes, each deep and forceful with five or six second pauses in between. "Bless you," she said quietly. He nodded a thank you as he sneezed again, catching it in his handkerchief this time. He sniffed, turning back to her with an almost dazed expression, though quite embarrassed. "Excuse me," he said in a deep, nasally stuffed voice. He took the book and typed its code in to the computer. "That'll be six fifty-three," he said, coughing to try to clear his voice, with little result. She took a ten from her wallet and set it down on the counter beside the book he'd just bagged for her. "Are you all right? You sound a bit ill." He nodded woefully, "I think I've come down with a cold. And what better day than interview day, right?" Tracy, though nervous to talk to him, was too curious not to ask, "A job interview?" He chuckled and regretted doing so a moment later as a hard series of moist coughs took his throat. "No, for college." She nodded, understanding. "You don't look that young." He smiled, flattered. "That's funny. I'm the youngest in my family; everyone treats me like a baby." "How old are you?" "Twenty-one next week." She nodded. "That looks about right, actually. I'm twenty-three myself." She took a deep breath and let it out as easily as she could, "Perhaps we could have a drink sometime?" Shrugging, "I'd love to... but I don't get off this whole week until midnight." "Midnight?" she exclaimed incredulously. "You're going to be here until 12? But you're sick!" He sniffed and wiped his nose. "I need the money. And Uncle Gu- my uncle who owns the place is gone for a few days, *sniff* so I have no choice; there's no one else to look after-" he stopped as he felt another sneeze coming on. He clenched his teeth and put his handkerchief under his nose, trying not to let it out rudely in front of her. But it was strong- too strong for him. He deeply inhaled the first part of the sneeze with a great "HUH!" and stopped. "Damn I hate that. I can still feel it buu- Huh!" Again, it backed away; there was no sneeze. He blew his nose loudly, fluids running from him as freely as the sneezes should have. He looked up at her with apologetic eyes. "Excuse me. I'm so sorry." "Don't be sorry," she said, shaking her head. "What you really should be is home in bed. Can't you let yourself off early?" He shook his head. "They're fumigating *sniff* at my house and I really can't let the boss down." She took up her purchase, change and receipt and headed for the door, turning back around before leaving. "My name's Tracy." "Nick," he answered, just before sneezing one of the loudest "huhSHUSHHH!"'s Tracy had ever heard. "Take care, Nick." She slipped out the door, watching over her shoulder through the glass of the store front at his form as he sneezed. He was graceful, flowing, but helpless against them as they pulled and urged him to sneeze. He had to obey; he had to sneeze, and she had to watch and love him for it. * * * She would have thought it to be closed and locked without attendant and clerk, but it was not the case. Though it was twelve thirty, Nick was still there, sitting at one of the tables in the place, head turned down, chest rising and falling slowly as strong snores sounded from him. She closed the door behind her and went to him, squatting beside so that she could look him in the eyes when he came to. "Nick?" she called softly, seeing his eyes open immediately in alarm. "Tracy," he just barely remembered her name. "What are you doing here?" She'd thought up the answer every minute that day and assured herself on the car ride over that she could really say it. "I was worried about you. I wanted to make sure you were all right tonight." "Tonight?" he repeated. "What time is it?" "Past midnight. Why are you still here?" He sniffed, rubbing his finger under his nose. "Fell asleep." "But you can't go home, right? You said earlier they were fumigating." He nodded. "There's a back room here I can sleep in-" She would hear none of it and, though it took all her courage to do it, made the offer she so wished he would accept. "You can come to my place for the night. I live in a cabin out by the river, nice and quiet and with good central heating." He chuckled, causing him to cough. "I don't even know you! And you don't know me at all." "We don't need to. It's not like we'll be sleeping together, you know. Just want you to have a warm place to sleep tonight when you're not feeling well." He froze a moment, finger under his nose. "Huh!" he inhaled, his face going into the typical pre-sneeze face, eyes shut tight, mouth opening- "HuhCHUMMPHhh!" "Come on, what do you say? I'll make you some hot tea and you can get a nice, warm sleep in a bed for a change." Unable to resist such an offer in his state, he agreed to it. "Fine, I'll gooohuuh... huuuhh... HUHCHUMPH!" he pulled out his handkerchief and buried the lower half of his face into it as he sneezed in a fast and perfectly even triple, the sounds of the sneezes muffled by the cloth. "huhMMMPH! huhMMPH! huhMMPHH!" he blew his nose and looked up at her with apologetic eyes. "Excuse me. I'm sorry." She took his arm and led him out slowly, with him leaning on her for support. "It's all right, Nick." * * * "huuhh-huhCHHHmmpphh!" he sneezed, long and drawn out, as he fell back against the mound of pillows that supported his sitting form. "Excuse me," he mumbled, dropping tissues into the trash can beside the bed and taking some new ones from the box. Tracy entered with two mugs of tea, handing him one and sitting down on the edge of her bed with the other. "How are you feeling?" she asked. His cheeks were as red as his nose; his flushed face grimaced. "The same." He sipped the tea and tried a smile, not succeeding. "I want to thank you." He put a tissue to his nose and, closing his eyes, took in a slow breath, his face changing from control to helplessness as he was forced to sneeze, "HuhCHHMPHhhh!" She nodded, feeling wonderful that she could help. "It's the least I can do, Nick." The phone rang and she almost regretted not investing in an answering machine. Since it was a little past one in the morning, she figured it must be important, so she got up and crossed the room to answer it. "Hello?" Just as she did so, Nick was caught by a horribly intense coughing fit. She strained to hear the voice on the other end of the phone over his coughs, and could only make out soft mumbling. "Hello?" she asked again, not able to hear any response. Tracy covered the mouth piece with her hand and hissed, "Keep 'em quiet now." Nick nodded and clamped a hand over his mouth, holding back the coughs as his body shook with them. Back on the phone, the mumbling had ceased and there was complete silence. Then, as if spoken by a voice in the distance, she heard the soft but distinct words, "Let's move out, cousin Tony!" Then there was a click and dial tone, and Tracy was left on the phone with herself, confused and a little scared. "Who *sniff* was it?" Nick asked as she sat down on the bed again. The coughs had left him as quickly as they'd come. She shook her head. "I don't know... they, um, hung up. All I heard was mumbling and someone talking to some guy called cousin Tony." Nick's eyes grew wide and a scared expression passed over his face. "They found me." Tracy jumped up, scared. "What do you mean they found you? Who's they?" What had she gotten herself into? Why had she insisted upon helping a man she knew nothing about? Who was this man and how much trouble was he in? "Please, please don't tell me it's the police." He sniffed and cleared his throat. "It's not, though they may be after me, as well. They have too much to do without tracing my steps, though; I'm not that important to it all." He suddenly couldn't believe he'd told her. What if they found out how much she'd just been told? They might kill her for it... but he couldn't help it; he couldn't stand putting her in danger and not telling her the truth; either way, she might end up dead. Tracy bit her lip and shivered as a cold chill ran up her spine. "Who's cousin Tony?" "Cousin Tony," he explained plainly. "Is the son of my uncle." "Oh, that helps!" she exclaimed, still not knowing more than she had at first. "My uncle is... huh... huhCHHUUmphh!" he sniffed and stopped his answer to tend to his nose a little. When done, he continued with a different approach, "Tracy have *sniff* you ever heard *sniff* of Giuseppe Gondolson?" She nodded, her heart pounding. "He's a mob boss. I hear his name in the paper all the time." "His son's Cousin Tony." She froze in fright. Stammering, "Your uncle is... is... the leader of the mafia?!" He sniffed. "He is, yes." She was frightened, confused, every emotion that she definitely did not want to be. "Then why do you work in a bookstore?" He chuckled and held back hard coughs. "Since when does the mafia run a bookstore, you mean? *sniff* It's not a bookstore, Tracy. It's a front for-" "Stop!" she said, backing away from the bed. "Don't tell me! I don't want to know!" "It's alright, Tracy!" he insisted, his stressed voice cracking. He sniffed and ran a tissue under his nose. "They're probably just concerned with where I am. It's only Cousin Tony; if... if... huh... huh... HUHCHUUMPH! Excuse me *sniff* If it had been Quintan, then you'd have cause to worry, he's the force behind *sniff* Tony's brains." By this time, Tracy was scared to death. "Um, Nick, I don't know these people, so I don't have cause to say but if Cousin Tony was on the phone with me and someone yelled out his name after the command 'Let's move out' who would be the logical person to be there?" Nick realized it had to have been Quintan. "Oh shoot. Yeah, now we huhCHUmphh! *sniff* have a problem. They must have thought you kidnapped me. And I was coughing... oh shoot. We have a big problem." Tracy's mind was spinning. "They're your people, right? Just tell them what happened, they'll believe you." "It's not them I'm worried about so much, Tracy." Sniffling and shivering at the cold of the winter night's air, he got up and pulled up the sweatshirt she'd given him to change into. He'd been wearing an expensive-looking suit before, so Tracy had found a sweat suit his size to change into for sleeping. Apparently, he hadn't changed entirely for as he pulled up the sweatshirt, a holster and gun appeared against his chest. He took the gun and popped open the chamber. Seeing it was filled with bullets, he clicked it back in place and gripped it tightly in his sweaty hand. "Oh Shoot," he muttered. Nick looked around the room for the first time since arriving. It was a plain bedroom, bookcase and laundry hamper, dresser on the side near a closet, two windows, two doors leading out to the main room and the other to the bathroom. "If shooting starts *sniff*sniff* get under the bed, Tracy," he whispered. She began to ask another question but all questions where lost on her tongue and swallowed by her mouth when she heard the front door to the cabin slam open and loud voices come closer. "Orteaga!" one yelled loudly and she heard Nick sigh as if in relief, then stifle a cough. He went to the bedroom door and opened it, gun tight in his hand but arm relaxed at his side. "Bloody entrance, Cousin Tony! Gonna give me a heart attack!" Tracy, peering out from the bedroom saw four men facing Nick, all dressed in expensive suits like the kind Tony had been wearing and with typically proper hats. The two on the side seemed to be preoccupied with looking around the place, holding guns out and pointing them about in all directions. The middle two watched Nick, one silent, with his arms crossed, the other tall and soft-faced. "Nick," the tall one said. "You look like Hell." The cross one added. "What are you doing here?" Nick sighed. "I can't spend a night at a woman's house without you guys coming?" The tall one started to talk. "Nick-" Nick wouldn't let him get a word in. He pointed back at Tracy. "She invited me over to her place because I'm not feeling well and I accepted. I certainly wasn't going back to my place since those rats blew it up last week!" Cousin Tony moved his hand with the gun in it and Tracy jumped back with a gasp, but Tony only turned the back of his hand flat against Nick's forehead to feel its temperature. "You are sick, aren't you?" Nick nodded. Tony sighed and patted his cousin's hot cheek. "You still should have stayed at the store." "She offered and I couldn't resist. You would have done the same, Tony." He felt his nose tickle and he held his hand up in a fist, sneezing into it twice. "huhCHUMph!" A moment's pause. "huhCHUMphh!" He sniffed and wiped his nose with his sleeve. "Excuse me." Tony sighed again. "My father won't like it, but I understand, Orteaga. Let the woman take care of you if she wants to. Have your night with her if you want to, but you know it'll be your last." Nick closed his eyes with a sigh. "Where are they?" Quintan shrugged, stating "Nobody's seen them since midnight, since you disappeared. That's why we thought they got you." Nick smiled and sniffed. "As if they could get me, Quint?" Quintan smiled back, "You never know, Orteaga; you're too young to know it all." They paused a moment, hearing complete silence. Their eyes all widened and Nick turned around, pointing Tracy toward the bed. She dove under, covering her head as if it were an earthquake. A few clicks were heard as they popped the safeties off their guns and prepared. Nick felt his nose tickle and he knew this wasn't the time for it; this was the worst time of all times for it. He put his finger under his nose and held his breath as he felt it build up, bigger and bigger, his nostrils flaring and his nose from the bridge down twitching. Cousin Tony saw him, and shook his head but Nick couldn't help it, couldn't control it. He struggled with the urge for half a minute then, realizing the futility in it, raised his arm and put his nose in the crook as he gave a smothered "huhchhh!" He sniffed and looked up just as three men appeared in the doorway, wearing suits and holding semi-automatics. Nick's nose still tickled fiercely and he sneezed again, into the crook of his arm, "huhCHHH!" Tony stepped forward from their group to face the three. "Long time since we saw your ugly face, Mercetti." The man in the middle grinned. "Same to you Gondolson. Still doing your father's dirty work for him?" Tony narrowed his eyes. "Giuseppe Gondolson sends in the best. He's too powerful to have to do his own." "Too old and tired you mean," the man corrected with a sneer. "Why are you here?" Tony nodded in Nick's direction, "Protecting one of our own from the likes of you." "Where's the woman?" Nick stepped forward, "She's not in this." The man narrowed his eyes at Nick, "I talk to Gondolsons alone, boy. Your father wasn't good enough to be any of the sort. And neither are you if you need four men to come protect you." Nick felt the tickle hitting him hard but tried even harder to suppress it. He wanted to defend his father, argue that his mother was enough Gondolson for them both, but he couldn't open his mouth without feeling like he had to sneeze, so he kept it shut and dealt with his tickling nose as Tony did it for him. "My aunt was more Gondolson than the family put together and if I hear one more word contrary..." he warned, raising his gun and pointing it directly to Mercetti's heart. Mercetti looked around, then decided it wasn't worth it. "We'll let you live this night, boys, but tell your father that we know where the shipments are coming from now, weasel. nd next time maybe we'll see you with the cops to back us up." He then snapped his fingers and left, the two men following in step, loyally behind. One of Tony's men slammed the cabin door closed. And Tony turned to Nick. "Think you could have handled that better?" Nick nodded. "The fools are... huh... huhCHHUMph! Excuse me. They're gonna go check out the docks and find Alexander now." Tony grinned. "Alexander's in the Bahamas with a woman on each arm and a new identity." Nick shrugged. "They found a lead from someone." "That someone," Tony said, softly, "got a bullet in him for squealing; he ain't gonna be talking anymore." Nick grinned, rubbing his nose with his finger to try to rub away the ever-present tickle. "You do good work, Gondolson." Tony patted him on the back. "So did you, Orteaga." Nick stepped back, startled, eyes wide. "Did?" Nodding, Quintan said, "You're out of this now, kid." Nick shivered, afraid and for the first time in his life, truly feeling like the scared boy they all saw him as. "What? I'm out of the family? I can't be out!" He hated to but knew he was desperate enough to beg. "Please, Tony, you gotta talk to your dad for me!" Tony patted him on the back. "Not out of the family, Nick, the business. You're going to college. Phone call came tonight. I tried to reach you at the store but there was no answer." Nick's flushed face lit up with joy and he would have screamed for happiness had the coughs not taken so much of his voice already. Tony felt his cousin's forehead again. "Get some rest, Nick. They won't be back to bother you and we won't either." The four left and Nick turned to face a still scared but more collected Tracy. "Did you hear that? I got into the college." She smiled angelically and nodded. "Congratulations." He sniffed and looked into her eyes, hazel with green surrounding the irises. "I'm sorry you had to go through... throu-huhCHUUMPHhh! Excuse me- through that. I didn't think. I shouldn't have put you into such danger." "I'm a little shaken up but otherwise I'm fine, Nick. Don't worry." There was a moment of silence. "I really like you, Tracy." She smiled and replied softly, "I really like you, too, Nick." They leaned into each other, slowly, going to kiss on the lips- when suddenly Tracy pulled back and cupped her hand over her nose. Her eyes closed and she turned her head to give a short and high-pitched sneeze, "Atish!" Nick went quickly into the other room and grabbed a tissue for her, handing it to her so that their fingers touched. She took it gratefully and blew her nose. "Excuse me," she said softly, realizing how fatigued she suddenly felt. "Do I feel warm to you?" she asked. He felt her forehead, then his own, then hers again. "I can't tell. Why? Did you catch my cold?" She nodded hesitantly. "I think so... Atish!" she sneezed again, into the tissue. Nick bent down and kissed her on the lips. She looked up at him, startled but glad. "I've been waiting to do that ever since I met you this morning, Tracy," he confessed. "Come on," she said, nodding her head towards the bed. "Let's get ourselves in bed." Nick grinned and sneezed suddenly, not given time to cover his mouth, but it didn't matter since she was already sick. Together they snuggled under the covers, keeping each other warm on the cold winter night, and passing each other tissues as needed for their sneezes.