BtB3:SoBtB part 2 (in which I finish the story about david)

The nice couple has left. The store is generally empty; there are old women getting romance novels; I am finishing up a transaction. [cue music]
David wanders up to the counter, holding a collection of horror stories. [weet! weet! weet! weet!] Ha! He's going to leave! He's going to get the book and leave! "All ready?" I ask him, a sliver of hope MAY have crept into my voice, but let's leave that to speculation.
"No man, not yet, I just saw this book," he holds it up, "And it reminded me of this other book I want to get for my friend; do you have any other books that look like this?"
He did not just say that.
"Sorry, I can't look anything up that way. Did you check on the shelf where you got that?"
"Yeah, I didn't see it. Hey, do you have any books by Vincent Price?"
Ah yes, Vincent Price, author of such fine books as "People: The Other Other Other Other White Meat," "Things That Go I Will Haunt You in the Night," and the classic "Goodnight Moon." You know the one.
"Um, was there a title you had in mind?"
"It's my friend's birthday next week and I wanted to get him a book by Vince Price, but I don't know any titles. I'd know the book if I saw it." He thinks. "I saw a movie at his house that had Vincent Price, do you have the book they made out of it?"
Of course, there's still an hour and a half until we close, I've got time. He'll be gone soon. Right?
"Well, what was the movie you saw?"
"The Black Cat or The Raven or something."
For those of you tapping your temple with your index finger, what I suggest next may be skipped. "Oh, those books were written by Edgar Allan Poe, he's down in the Classics section, you might want to try there."
"Thanks man," he turns to go downstairs and puts the book he was holding on the counter, "Can you put this away for me?"
He ambles down, I hear him greet Clint, who offers a less than enthusiastic response. Ah, time to relax and count my lucky stars he isn't talking to me anymore.

INTERMISSION
Man 1: My dog has no nose.
Man 2: How does he smell?
Man 1: Terrible.
(rim shot)
END INTERMISSION

We're about to close. It's three minutes to nine and I can still hear David talking to Clint. It's a sort of steady droning wafting up the stairs. Nine o'clock. Closing time. Being crafty, I decide to call downstairs from the phone upstairs in an effort to get Clint to answer so as to get him out of the non-sequiturian conversation that he is undoubtably trapped in. Patting myself on the back, I call. It rings. I hear it ring. He does not answer.
Eventually, I hear Clint tell him point-blank that we are closing. David comes ambling up, ambles to his things, takes them and begins ambling to the door. Of course he's not buying anything. Clint is turning off the lights. "Have you ever seen The Ring?"
I was sooo close. So close. What should I say? I have, the week before on TV, but that answer didn't work so well with Lord of the Rings... "No." Is it the right answer? Will he say You should and then move on, into the night?
He then tells me the plot, that it is "really scary, man." "Do you have a VCR?" he asks.
"Yes..."
"I'll bring it in, you can borrow it."
"Oh wow, thanks," I say. His hand is on the door. "Goodnight."
He leaves, finally. Clint and I breathe a sigh of relief. "Did he ask you about The Ring?"
"Yeah." We talk about how crazy David was for a while, he asked Clint about books by Vincent Price too. "Why didn't you answer the phone? I was trying to help you out."
"I didn't know it was you. Besides, I don't answer the phone after closing anyway."
He leaves and we give mutual words of good night and see you later. Guess when I see David again.

That's right, never.