Welcome to Gaia! ::

The store was quiet for the most part. She knew at least one person was there, the hell had announced their arrival but since no one had responded to her greeting she shrugged it off. Either they would find her if they needed her or they would give a holler.

She was dead center in one of the smaller sections of the store, the history section. Jessie had started by reorganizing and reshelving books but had become distracted by one of the bloodiest moments in the country's history. She didn't know what made her hand pause on the particular book or even why she opened it but as Jessie began to read she realized that her feelings resonated with those in the book.

As she stared at the granny black and white pictures of battlefields, maps of strategic battle formations, and color images of uniforms she hummed quietly a song she heard once while in Disney a long time ago.

((She is humming this song))

Jessie looked up in startlement, she wasn't expecting Mercy to be standing there. Not to mention what she had just told her. Jessie looked at the offered book and sighed, that book was one of the biggest pains in her a** as any other book she stocked in her store. She gently took the book from her young friend, "at least you admitted it." Jessie gave the book a little heft and with a move she wouldn't dare do with any other book she tossed it a little ways down the aisle where it thumped on the worn carpet.

"Sit and explain why you would even want that drivel let alone try to steal it?" Jessie gestured to the other side of her circle of books. Curious why the young girl would feel like she would have to take a book from the store when she could have just asked for it.

Jessie listened to Mercy's explanation in silence. Peer pressure and the urge to fit in with one particular crowd wasn't really a issue Jessie had experience with. Since she grew up in a small town the cliques were pretty well formed by the time high school rolled around not that Jessie really noticed. She had her friends and her books... Other than the one memorable time someone took her book in middle school she wasn't picked on, as far as she recognized, nor was she pressured into doing something she knew wasn't ok.

She didn't know how to deal with this situation. Tons of books dealt with the subject but other then using them for reference Jessie couldn't give any first hand knowledge of it. When Mercy finished with her tearful promise to pay for the book Jessie nodded in agreement, "you will pay for the book... By working here for about an hour and a half. Since the book is around nine dollars a hour and a half of work should pay for it in spades." Jessie's math might be off a little but a little extra work wouldn't hurt anyone. Besides she wanted to talk to Mercy to see if maybe she could impart some wisdom like the great writers do every time she reads and rereads their books.

"Mercy you do know that by asking you to come in here and steal those girls aren't your friends? They don't seem like anyone you would really want to be friends with anyway." She studied the young women sitting in front of her. "I don't know much about peer pressure and forming friendships in highschool but if it takes doing something that is detrimental to your health or your future then it really doesn't seem like they are kids you want to be friends with."

Jessie had no idea what was going through Mercy's mind at the moment but when the young girl mentioned the police Jessie was surprised. She leaned slightly and if being bowled over by the very idea. "For 8 dollars and 61 cents?!?!?" The very idea of the amount of paperwork for what Jessie silently considered as literarlly important as a VCR manual was laughable. She laughed long and hard at the very thought of the reactions of the police if Jessie even tried to press charges. It was rediculous.

Her giggling fit faded off and still trying to catch her breath Jessie did her best to explain. "Oh sweetie. That book is not even worth calling your mother over." With her cheeks hurting Jessie ran her hand over her face and through her hair, messing up her already messy bun. "Not only did you admit to the crime" she air quoted 'the crime', "but it wasn't even a terribly expensive book... Or good one." The last part of the sentence was muttered as Jessie went about straightening the mess of books around her. She had made quite a mess getting lost in the history of their country. "Mercy do you know why so few people steal from here?" Jessie asked quietly. The statistics for theft were quite easy to find, there was even a website called National Association for Shoplifting Prevention.

((Its a real site o.O~>linkage))

"In a mall or a much bigger store," Jessie tilted her head slightly as she thought, "it's entirely possible. It's even possible that the police would be called in smaller mom and pop type stores like mine. I honest don't know." She had never encountered such a situation. The trade of goods and services was the pure form of her desire to keep her karmic scales balanced. After all for every item she needed, Jessie knew she had to pay for it. Money was just the easiest way to do so.

"It's simple really," Jessie smiled at the girl, unsurprised that she didn't know the answer. Even her employees didn't really understand it. "No one ever steals from the store." She nodded like this made absolute sense before slowly getting to her feet. She reached down and offered a hand up for Mercy before explaining what she meant. "Life is a about balance. Ever action create a reaction. Every object costs something, either in energy or work in some way." She bent down and scooped up one stack of her reading materials. "In order to grow a plant you have to spend time and energy to get it to flourish. Even the plant owes its growth to the nutrients in the soil, the sun, and the rain. It's a balance." She had never actually tried to explain it in detail before and had no clue if Mercy was following along. She handed a few books over to her young companion and asked, "put them away for me will you," before continuing. "Most people spend time and energy to earn money while jobs provide money for their employees time and energy. A balance. Before civilization used coins and paper to symbolize gold, even before we used gold and silver for payment, we had a barter system. The roman fighters were paid in salt since it was so hard to get, it's actually where we get the term salary. In Central American cocoa beans were uses, Central Asia used bricks of compressed tea leaves, and believe it or not but parmigiano cheese was once accepted as bank collateral." Jessie was still rather surprised about that last one. She had found out about it during a random search of odd facts. Every so often she would write a new one on a small chalkboard that was behind the register. Few people actually notices it sadly.

"You know I think I might actually have a book in this section about money, both ancient and modern day. It really is a fascinating read." Completely forgetting about the books in her hands, she had only shelves a few of them, Jessie went searching for the book she knew had to be here.

"Who?" Jessie looked up from her search for a moment before she realized who Mercy was talking about. She had read the play a while ago but never really interested in it. "No not really. With the prevalence of the internet and Google there is actually little need for paper books other than the love of them." No one would ever be able to tell her that a ebook was better than paper. You can't replace the feel, heft, and smell of a good book. Besides a ereader always dies at the worst times, the break easily, and it keeps glitching. After trying to change the page three times and all it does is highlight the same line over and over again it drives a person insane. Besides how can a person be epicly excited on the arrival of a new book when all it does is download.

"More like I make people work for the book they meant to steal. It's a barter system. Their work for my book. I also tend to lecture them about stealing. It does wonders about repeat offenders." She stood up and hugged her small stack to her chest, resting her chin on the edges of the pages as she stared into space. "Maybe I sold the book already. It might have been a digital thing I got randomly once but I don't keep track of that list as well as I do my own collection." It bothered her that she couldn't find the book she was thinking off. It will have to be something she searched for when she got a chance. She liked knowing what books she stocked, what books were sold, what books she had, and what books she needed. Not being able to find a book she thought she had was quite distressing. She had completely forgot about the topic she had started with as she wracked her mind, trying to figure out the mysterious missing book.

Jessie glanced over at Mercy in surprise. She had been so lost in her thoughts she had nearly forgotten the younger girl. "It's not actually a big problem. Once or twice a year at that." She shrugged, shelved the last few of her books and empty handed turned to face Mercy squarely. "You are welcome here any time Mercy. You've shown more character in admitting to nearly taking the book then I've seen in others who b***h about the price of the books they get for enjoyment. Volunteering or otherwise, the store is here for you." That being said she turned on her heel, scooped up the book that started it all, and headed back up to the front counter. "Come on up to the front counter when your done. We've got orders to fill and I've been neglecting my paperwork."

Jessie hated doing paperwork and more often than not kept putting it off until it couldn't be put off anymore. Maybe she could get Mercy to do it. Jessie smiled slightly at the idea but shook her head to dissipate it. She wouldn't wish that kind of pain on a negaverser so she wouldn't ask Mercy to.