*click*

I push the door of the record shop open and switch on the light. It's early in the morning, though I'm not exactly sure how early. I had forgotten to charge my phone and I barely gave a passing glance to my alarm clock, though it should be around 7:00 am. I bask a bit in the bright warm sun, the view isn't that amazing though.

Just a plain old deli store that doesn't get many customers, but hey, who am I to talk? I walk over to the counter and put on my apron, it's a bit dusty but it's nothing I can't deal with. On it are some pins from my workplace, Lightning Records, and my nameplate which read "Mistral" in a dark gold-ish font. I adjust the white and pink shades resting on my head that increased my cool factor by 10 points. God I'm fabulous. Grabbing the broom and dustpan leaning against the wall I start sweeping up. I'm happy that its not much, since we get less customers of course there's less of a risk for muddy boots or anything of the sort. Its waaay easier for me now! Don't get me wrong, I don't hate my job, but less work needed is always good. I sort through the disks in the boxes on the black iron tables. Each box has different stickers representing what types of music were in each box. They're also alphabetically ordered by the name of the artist. Of course, if they remember the singer but not the name (or vice versa) I can easily search it up for them. Speaking of, I walk back to the counter after cleaning and put back the supplies. I run my hands down the wall until I find a socket. Opening a counter drawer I take out my charger and plug it in to charge my phone. I leave it on the floor since the charger isn't long enough to reach the top of the counter, so I just have to remember not to step on it. I stick my hands in my pockets. My heart pounds for a bit thinking I've forgotten them. Phew, ok, my earbuds are there. But are they really there? I pull them out to prove to myself they were infact there. I tuck it safely back into my pocket. Now, have I forgotten anything else? Hm... Right! I walk back to the door and flick on the electronic "Open" sign.

It flickers for a moment before turning to its normal blue and red. I go back to my station and rest my head in my hand. There's nothing really to do at the moment. I don't really bet anyone would enter in the coming minutes, but by that time my phone would've probably been charged already. Or I could sit on the floor and play on it while its still charging. I rub my eyes, I'm too tired to think about what to do. Then the door pushed open as the bell made a ding.

Ah, my saving grace! I can feel my posture straightening as she walks in. "Hey." she says with a small wave, holding her duffel bag in the other hand. I smile and wave back,"Hey!". Topaz, I'm her (self proclaimed) best friend! She's kinda the only regular that comes to the shop, though she doesn't usually buy anything. The first time she came she bought a record for a song named "Stale Cupcakes", then she sat in a chair and did her own bit of work. I sparked up some chit-chat with her and we were set ever since! Shes kinda quiet but it doesn't bother me. Topaz sits down in her normal seat not too far from where I am. This time she brought a book with her. "So, whatcha reading?" I ask, leaning over the counter to look at her. There's a moment of silence before she realizes she's been talked to, "Oh! Yea, well, I haven't really, like, thought of a title..."

"Thought of a title?" I repeat. "Mhm. I'm just reading over it, I haven't finished writing it." she says. I smile at her, "Ah! Your own work? That's really cool!" I can't tell how she reacts due to her mask, I hope she was happy though! She looked at me, nodded, and looked back to her book. I didn't wanna bother her thought process so I stayed quiet and continued doing my job. Sometimes a customer would walk in and browse around, which I was happy about! Most of the time they would leave without making a purchase, but some actually bought a record or two! Even though we break even with sales most of the time, I'm scared that the place will shut down one day. Nowadays we're able to download music off the internet so records start fading more and more into obscurity. If it weren't for collectors or old timers feeling nostalgic I'm pretty sure I would've been laid off by now. After a while the stream of customers stops flowing and I'm left there with Topaz. My phone's charged so I turn it on. It's like 6 pm now. I play a bit of FEH and watch a bit of Netflix. Then, Topaz clears her throat, "Actually, now that I think about it, do you have anything going on other than working here?" "That's right! I never actually told you my hobbies!" I exclaim. She closes her book and focuses on me, "That is if you have any, now tell me. What do you do?" I give a small, pathetic laugh, "Ah, well...I make like this weird lofi remix thing? But other than that nothing else aside from video games." Topaz perks up, "You make music, you say?" "Yea, but it's more of amateur work since I only learned how to make it off Youtube." She leans more out of her chair resting her head on her hands, "Well, can I listen to it?"

This is my moment! My fated encounter! I feel smug energy arising around me as I start to respond. I strike a casual yet fabulous pose, "You see, there's actually a code you need to hear my songs.." "Oh?" Topaz asks, "Like a QR code or a download code? Or is the song on a record and there's like some weird riddle I have to answer.." "Well my dear, darling friend Topaz!" I strike another more flashy pose, "The code is actually..."

It's kinda blur what happened next, it felt like my feet were glued in placed and I could feel my profuse sweat. But no! I couldn't let up, not now! I wore the shades that were resting on my head, did an absolutely stunning twirl toward her and bent down on one knee without missing a beat! I whipped off my shades and put them back on my head and reached out my hand to her, "...your number?"

She....she just...she just stared at meeee... I could feel the perspiration as I put the shades back on as I did awkward finger guns backing my way to the counter. I turned away from her, placed one hand on the table, and started crying. Not like- bawling- just tiny small baby tears. Though, I heard her walking right behind me (Maybe to give me a beating? Stab me in the abdomen and run away with the bounty money? I don't know.) I turned around a slid on my shades for the 3rd time, to which she handed me a paper (probably a ripped out page piece from the book). She then walked to her bag and picked it up. As she walked toward the doors, she looked over at me across the counter. She pulled a finger gun at me, "Gotta say, that was awfully brave. I'll give you a B for delivery." I just awkwardly smiled and nodded, somewhat feeling better. "I'd saaaaay flashier poses, a red carpet laced with gold, and a choir of angels playing trumpets and scattering confetti." she sarcastically remarked. I laughed a lil while holding her paper. She put her foot out the door, "I'll message you later, and send me the link!". And with that she was gone. I looked at the paper. Sure enough a phone number was there!

Yep, I am extremelyyyy smooth.