Flourish and Blotts had been quiet for most of the morning but after lunch things had started to pick up a bit as families came and went, collecting pre-ordered books for the next school term or buying them there in the shop. Phaedra had mostly been looking after everyone, helping out the children that had gotten lost in some of the aisles between the bookshelves and helping people who weren’t entirely sure where their required book was. She was desperate for something to eat and drink as there was only so much coffee you could drink and after a while the stuff began to taste bitter. She’d need to pick up a pot for next week but she didn’t plan on doing so until they really, really had to.
But the coffee bean that her colleagues couldn’t live without wasn’t the reason she’d left. She actually not only needed some lunch but also something from the market to turn into a quick dinner. She wandered through the market place, weaving through the throng of people there. She stopped in front of a vegetable stool, one of many, and picked up a few carrots, looking at them intently to check if there were any imperfections. She’d been told to have nothing less than the best and although she was past that point in her life where she cared about that sort of thing it was still drummed into her when it came to her food – she was Greek after all.
Phaedra heard laughter not too far away from her and she looked over to see a young mother with her daughter. Phaedra smiled a little and put the carrots in the basket she’d brought with her, handing the seller some sickles as she did so. Phaedra made her way over to the stool that was selling herbs, the one that happened to be near the mother and she smiled at the woman before picking up one of the jars. She flipped the lid and smelt the herbs inside before putting it back and moving her hand to another. She hadn’t really decided what she wanted for dinner – it all looked, well, perfect really.