Spoilers! (Mavi)

Chapter 4: MC

The demon named Avi was sitting behind my counter watching me work while Esther and Kirstie talked to customers. I had never so badly wanted to switch jobs with one of them. I loved working the register, but in this moment in particular, I wanted to be as far away from my usual place as possible.

"Why do you read so much?"

"Don't talk to me."

He hopped down out of the tall chair and walked over next to me. "Don't be rude."

I stopped, scoffed, and let my head drop forwards. "I shouldn't be rude?"

"Yeah."

"I should be rude?"

He looked in Esther's direction and back at me.

"Rude is spoiling other people's books for no fucking reason!Rude is when you are constantly ruining someone's day and when they actually get a good fucking book you spoil the ending like it was nothing. Quite honestly, I hope you die in a fire!"

"Can it be a dragon fire? Dragon's are cool."

"Esther!"

"Yeah," she chimed from across the shop. She was free thankfully.

"I'm going to lunch." I glared at Avi, who looked like he wanted to follow me and continued out to a random restaurant nearby. I ate my lunch in peace before heading back to the shop. I was secretly praying he'd left and went back to the hell pit he'd crawled from, but I had no such luck.

"Welcome back, Mitch."

"Don't talk to me."

"You're still mad? I'm sorry."

"Babyface! You know I don't like bugs. Can you kill this one?"

Kirstie laughed and directed a customer towards our new washing machines. After hours of sitting in silence, and helping about 45 people buy appliances, it was closing time. I locked up and crossed the street to chat with the older gentleman that watched the doors at Brewery.

"Well, well, if it isn't Little MC. Coming to sing for me again today?" Mr. Mark was a wide framed black man with a low and booming voice that still managed to have this rasp to it. He was terrifying from a distance, but once you knew him, he was a large teddy bear of a man. He smiled and handed me the small ukulele he kept nearby for my frequent visits and sat down on his chair.

"You know I always come to sing for you." I quickly tuned the small instrument before I started singing Count on Me by Bruno Mars. Partway through the first chorus, I started to hear singing behind me. I continued to sing and turned around slightly to Avi's smiling face as he sang this beautifully crafted bass line. "Excuse me, this is a solo act."

"Our voices sound nice together. Sing some more."

"He's right, Little MC."

I looked back at Mark and sighed. I continued to sing, without the ukulele and found myself lost in our voices. They really did sound nice together. I hated it, but I couldn't hate it. I wanted to kill him, but I never wanted the song to end. I had never felt more conflicted.

The song had ended. I handed the ukulele back to Mack and watched him tuck it back into the little corner he kept it in. Avi's presence had ruined what was usually the light of my day. He was ruining my life a lot actually

"Sorry, Mr. Mack. I'm going home early today."

"That's alright, Little MC. I'll see you another time."

I waved over my shoulder and headed back to the train station. Alone.