LIfe imitating art

When I posted this:

I'd forgotten that I'd once written this:

Zoe pointed across the street to the window display in Flourish and Blotts. Books were piled high in colour co-ordinated stacks. Large signs announced that customers purchasing any of the featured volumes could have them Charmed into their chosen colour scheme.

‘I don’t get it.’

‘Well, think. Where do most people keep their books?’

‘Umm. In a bookshelf?’ he tried.

‘And where are most bookshelves?’ Zoe persisted.

‘In libraries? Studies?’ She was still looking unimpressed.

‘Most people keep books on show in their sitting rooms,’ she informed him.

‘So?’

‘So,’ she continued patiently, ‘how long do you think the average woman spends choosing curtains or paint colours or furnishings for her sitting room?’

Ben shrugged, completely out of his depth by now.

‘A long time. But she has no control over the books that she has to put in there. Until now.’

Privately, Ben was starting to feel a lot of sympathy with Zoe’s boss.

‘And, er, has this been a successful promotion?’

She frowned. ‘Not quite in the way I expected. People keep asking for their books to be Charmed to match the ones they already have. They like tatty leather in brown or black best.’

‘What colour would you have?’

‘Pink,’ she responded instantly. ‘And turquoise. And mocha. And the occasional deep chocolate brown.’