Ficlet: More Bookstore!AU (Sherlock-BBC, PG, Sherlock & John)
Owning a bookstore was not John's first job choice when he returned to London. However, his army pension was not going to cover living expenses in the heart of England, so when a lawyer visited John's bedsit two months into rehab saying his client had left the bookstore to John, John had not looked the gift-horse in the mouth.
So after giving his respects to Lance Corporal Larry Finn's grave, writing a condolence letter to the man's wife, John Watson, former Captain of the RAMC, hired an accountant to look over the business's finances. While the store was closed during the time it would take for a full accounting to occur, John took the time to visit his new acquisition.
Finn's Rare Books was an interesting north-east corner 3 story building with 2 floors, the first floor of which was double the height of the second with walls of inbuilt shelves that snaked about and left alcoves hidden from the front door and windows with a sectioned off backroom full of crates. The organization was simply by broad subject, and had many glass cases doted around the floor full of various precious books. Where the floor plan was spacious, movable bookcases of 3 shelves high were crowded in and had piles at their ends and resting on top seemingly filled with more contemporary books then the inbuilt shelves lining the walls and in the cases.
Up a straight staircase in the backroom and a spiral staircase in the front room hidden behind a curtain near the cash register (which sat on top of a glass display case full of the rarest finds of the store and certain popular first editions) was the second floor. After struggling his way up, John found a spacious open floor planned living quarters with a utility closet in the far corner, next to a rather spacious seeming bathroom. The floor wasn't furnished but clean and ready to be moved into.
He spent the next few days getting the electric, gas, and water running again, shopping for basic furniture and supplies he couldn't just use some of the empty crates in the backroom to substitute as, while also packing up his few possessions from his bedsit and moving in. When he was done, the 2nd floor was still rather empty seeming with a miss-matched set of cook and dish ware in the cupboards, a second-hand toaster and coffeemaker on the counter next to the gas stove. An army cot was up against the wall butting against the next building to the east, one of the crates acting as a nightstand next to it. The sitting area was composed completely of crates for the moment, draped in some heavy fabric he'd bought on sale that had meant to be drapes.
By the end of the week, the accountant was finished. The store itself was in the red to certain loan agencies by a little over three thousand pounds and the property insurance payments were two months behind due to Finn's death adding another thousand pounds to the bill.
As his accounts didn't have enough to even cover the back property insurance after his small splurge to get the flat above up to snuff, he took stock of the various books and items in the glass cases and cabinets, and researched an appropriate auction house to approach. The next day he selected 3 books to put in as a last minute lot entry, and negotiated the auction house's up-front fee to be taken out of the auction results in exchange for a written promise of providing lots for two more auctions they were coordinating later in the year.
Pleasantly, his research paid off. The auction went a little over what he'd expected it to, and he ended up with a little surplus after paying the bills that he decided to put into hiring a painting crew for the store's outer facade.
He briefly debated changing the store's name as well. In the end, he figured it'd be better to leave it as is - homage to the man who'd built the business up from nothing, as well as a lack of headache in paperwork.
On a rare bright morning that lanced through the foggy streets, 3 weeks after hearing from Finn's lawyer, John opened Finn's Rare Books for the first time, starting a new unexpected chapter in his life.
It would be another 3 months before he met Sherlock Holmes for the first time. And while John liked having a purpose again, he'd find later that he wasn't really living until that frustrating, amazing man stormed into his store like he owned the world.
--TBC?
So after giving his respects to Lance Corporal Larry Finn's grave, writing a condolence letter to the man's wife, John Watson, former Captain of the RAMC, hired an accountant to look over the business's finances. While the store was closed during the time it would take for a full accounting to occur, John took the time to visit his new acquisition.
Finn's Rare Books was an interesting north-east corner 3 story building with 2 floors, the first floor of which was double the height of the second with walls of inbuilt shelves that snaked about and left alcoves hidden from the front door and windows with a sectioned off backroom full of crates. The organization was simply by broad subject, and had many glass cases doted around the floor full of various precious books. Where the floor plan was spacious, movable bookcases of 3 shelves high were crowded in and had piles at their ends and resting on top seemingly filled with more contemporary books then the inbuilt shelves lining the walls and in the cases.
Up a straight staircase in the backroom and a spiral staircase in the front room hidden behind a curtain near the cash register (which sat on top of a glass display case full of the rarest finds of the store and certain popular first editions) was the second floor. After struggling his way up, John found a spacious open floor planned living quarters with a utility closet in the far corner, next to a rather spacious seeming bathroom. The floor wasn't furnished but clean and ready to be moved into.
He spent the next few days getting the electric, gas, and water running again, shopping for basic furniture and supplies he couldn't just use some of the empty crates in the backroom to substitute as, while also packing up his few possessions from his bedsit and moving in. When he was done, the 2nd floor was still rather empty seeming with a miss-matched set of cook and dish ware in the cupboards, a second-hand toaster and coffeemaker on the counter next to the gas stove. An army cot was up against the wall butting against the next building to the east, one of the crates acting as a nightstand next to it. The sitting area was composed completely of crates for the moment, draped in some heavy fabric he'd bought on sale that had meant to be drapes.
By the end of the week, the accountant was finished. The store itself was in the red to certain loan agencies by a little over three thousand pounds and the property insurance payments were two months behind due to Finn's death adding another thousand pounds to the bill.
As his accounts didn't have enough to even cover the back property insurance after his small splurge to get the flat above up to snuff, he took stock of the various books and items in the glass cases and cabinets, and researched an appropriate auction house to approach. The next day he selected 3 books to put in as a last minute lot entry, and negotiated the auction house's up-front fee to be taken out of the auction results in exchange for a written promise of providing lots for two more auctions they were coordinating later in the year.
Pleasantly, his research paid off. The auction went a little over what he'd expected it to, and he ended up with a little surplus after paying the bills that he decided to put into hiring a painting crew for the store's outer facade.
He briefly debated changing the store's name as well. In the end, he figured it'd be better to leave it as is - homage to the man who'd built the business up from nothing, as well as a lack of headache in paperwork.
On a rare bright morning that lanced through the foggy streets, 3 weeks after hearing from Finn's lawyer, John opened Finn's Rare Books for the first time, starting a new unexpected chapter in his life.
It would be another 3 months before he met Sherlock Holmes for the first time. And while John liked having a purpose again, he'd find later that he wasn't really living until that frustrating, amazing man stormed into his store like he owned the world.
--TBC?