eleven eleven

of vinyls & love (2)

"Thank you for shopping at Moksha, we look forward to your next visit."

I smile at the old man who nods at me and walks out. I sigh and slump back in my chair. It is a quiet day at Moksha today, half of the day has already passed and so far only five customers have made purchases.

I stand and walk out from behind the cash counter and roam around the store. Fleetwood Mac's Rumours is playing on the speakers and it's taking a huge amount of self control to not start dancing right here.

I walk around for a while, picking up a few vinyls and keeping them correctly in their position. The intern, Kate, whom I hired last month is down with the flu so I have double the amount of work on my shoulders.

A bright blue vinyl cover catches my eye and I smile with bright eyes. It's been a while since I listened to this song. I carefully pick up the record from the showcase and walk over to a small door, to the testing room.

I take out the big black disc from the cover and place it on the record player. With precision, I set the needle at the start and listen to the familiar scratch in the speakers before the song starts playing.

When marimba rhythms start to play

Dance with me, make me sway

Like the lazy ocean hugs the shore

Hold me close, sway me more

I close my eyes and lean against the door, softly humming to the song. I stay like this until the end of the song and when I open my eyes, I see a pair of chocolate brown eyes staring at me. The guy has a small smile on his face. I have never seen him around here. I quickly stand straighter and clear my throat.

"I am sorry, sir. You want to use the player?"

"Yeah."

I quickly take out my vinyl from the player and place it in the cover. I step outside so he can go in the room. But he doesn't.

I raise my eyebrows at him and he finally walks inside. I turn around to leave but his voice stops me.

"Wait!"

I turn to look at him.

"May I help you, sir?"

He holds the cover of his vinyl up for me to see.

"Have you heard this?"

I look at the cover.

Fotheringay

I slowly shake my head. I have never even heard the name of the band. I become red with embarrassment. As the manager of a record shop, it is my duty to know about all the bands and artists to help my customers. I make a mental note to look up the band later.

The pretty guy looks at the record and then at me again.

"Neither have I. Wanna listen to it together?"

I look around the store. It is still pretty quiet around here with only a few customers. I can manage a few minutes. I turn to see him waiting patiently for my answer and I nod. He grins and moves further inside the room. I step inside with him. I notice as he puts the vinyl on the player expertly.

Scratch

A soft melody plays and I close my eyes. It's really good.

My friend I know you've suffered,

Although you are still young.

Why was it you who'd not take help

From anyone?

The song keeps playing and I open my eyes to see the pretty guy leaning against the wall with his own eyes closed. I stare at him, at his blonde hair, at his light freckles. The way a chunk of his hair covers his forehead. The way he casually leans back with his arms folded on his chest. He must be around twenty six, give or take. I don't know for how long I stare at him until the song comes to an end. His eyes flutter open and I avert my own.

I smile up at him. "Verdict?"

He shrugs. "Not bad, but not my type."

I have to admit I am a bit shocked. The way he was so relaxed a minute ago, I was sure he was going to buy the vinyl.

At my lack of response, he looks at me. "What about you?"

"I loved it." I did.

I move out of the room and he follows. I keep the Dean Martin vinyl that I am still holding in its proper place. He keeps back the one he's holding too. I smile a bit. I like it when customers place the vinyls back in there own place rather than leaving them on some random shelf. It makes my job easier.

I look at the cash counter to see that no one is waiting to make a purchase. I sigh. Today is a slow day. I look back at the pretty guy, who is going through other vinyls. I decide to continue the conversation, it's not like I have anything better to do.

"So, do you have a name or should I continue calling you Pretty Guy in my head?"

He looks up at me and grins.

"Let's see, you can call me... urm, Charlie."

I fight back a smile.

Fake names? Nice.

"And what about you?" He asks.

I think deeply, unable to come up with a good name. I quickly search around the store with my eyes until I spot the Eric Clapton vinyl.

"Layla."

Pretty guy, Charlie, looks at me with amusement. Obviously he caught the meaning behind the name.

"So tell me then, Layla, why does your name tag say that you're 'Anna'?"

Shit. I forgot about that.

I glance at my name tag and then look at him with a red tinge on my ears. He laughs. He has a cute laugh. I roll my eyes at him.

"Alright alright, you caught me. Now, what's your name, Charlie?"

He thinks for a moment before replying. "I'll tell you if you help me find a good record to buy."

I grin. That's something I can do.

I nod at him. "Alright, follow me." He does and I take him to the very entrance of the store and turn to look at him.

"What do you like?"

"How about something in Rock?"

I nod and lead him to the Rock section, aware of his eyes on me. My eyes scan the hundreds of selections before I pick up one of them with the word BIG on plain black background. It's a Big Star album.

I hand it to him. "This is one of my favourites." He looks at it and nods at me. "Alright, I'll take this one."

I furrow my eyebrows. "Don't you want to test it?"

He smiles a bit and shakes his head no but doesn't say anything.

I inwardly shrug and lead him to the cash counter. I put in the amount on the machine and bill him.

"Thank you for shopping at Moksha, we look forward to your next visit."

He smiles at me and turns to leave, but then stops.

"Neil."

And then he leaves the store.