My parents love this café a few towns over and had gone a few times before inviting me (before the quarantine). I’ll admit the drinks were very good, but as we were leaving, I noticed a really small bookshop right next door. I adore bookshops, so my parents continued walking around town while I went in.
There was a little old lady behind the desk, who looked up at me when I entered. She told me that there were a few sales going on and to ask for help if I needed it. Most of the books were really old, and there were a few really interesting sections, like books for learning languages and old fairy tales. There was even a section dedicated to plant books.
However, as I moved to the back of the shop, I heard some noises coming from behind a book shelf (I was out of view from the old lady btw). The shelf wasn’t pressed up against the wall, but instead was maybe half a foot away from it. It was hard to see though and wouldn’t be really noticeable unless you looked closely.
I looked closer at the wall, and saw that it wasn’t even a wall, but a secret door. There was a small handle, so I opened the door a crack, and saw that it led into the kitchen of the café next door.
Suddenly the little old lady is right next to me, and honestly, I didn’t hear her walk up to me and just about jumped out of my skin. At first I thought she was going to yell at me or something, but she just looked through the door and smiled at me.
“Almost no one notices that door. Sometimes, I like to use it to get my coffee in the morning. Makes me feel like a secret agent.” She gave me another smile, and then walked to another shelf to organize some books.
I closed the door, and stood there for another minute, processing what just happened. I made sure to buy some books (A really old book on mosses and a book on German fairytales), thanked her, and left. She told me to come back anytime and to have a good rest of my day.
Not going to lie, it felt like I was in a video game or something. It made my day.