Midnight at the Bookshop
A Contemporary Romance
Chapter 1: The Boy in the Aisle
Claire loved working the late shift at Luna Books.
The quiet hum of the city.
The scent of old paper and fresh coffee.
The way stories wrapped around her like a warm embrace.
But most of all—
She loved the mystery customer who came in every night at 11:45 p.m.
Dark hair, tired eyes, always carrying a notebook.
And always browsing the poetry section.
She called him Midnight Boy.
And she was slowly falling in love with a stranger who didn’t even know her name.
Chapter 2: A Poem in the Margins
One night, while restocking the shelves, Claire found something.
A handwritten poem.
Scrawled in the margins of a book.
“To the girl who reads under the moonlight,
Do you believe in fate?”
Her breath hitched.
She recognized the handwriting.
It was his.
Chapter 3: A Silent Conversation
The next night, she left a note in the same book.
"Maybe. Ask me again tomorrow."
And when Midnight Boy returned, she watched as he found her note.
He smiled.
And the next night—
He wrote back.
For a week, they talked through the pages of a book.
Words becoming a bridge between two lonely hearts.
Chapter 4: The Night He Didn’t Come
But then—
One night, he didn’t show up.
Claire waited.
Minutes turned to hours.
But the bookstore stayed empty.
And she realized something terrifying.
She didn’t even know his real name.
Chapter 5: Love in the Aisles
The next night, the bell over the door finally chimed.
And there he was.
Soaking wet from the rain, eyes searching for her.
“I’m sorry,” he said, breathless. “I had to know—”
Claire swallowed. “Know what?”
His voice softened.
“If you’d meet me in the poetry aisle. For real this time.”
Her heart stumbled.
But she nodded.
And as she stepped into his arms—
She knew their love story had just begun.
Epilogue: A Love Written in the Stars
Months later, Claire sat at a table inside Luna Books.
A new book in her hands.
A dedication on the first page:
“For the girl who reads under the moonlight. I believe in fate. And in us.”
It was signed—
Ethan Carter.
Her Midnight Boy.
And as she looked up—
He was there, smiling.
Because some love stories are written in books.
But the best ones?
Are written in the heart.