Nylon Strings

Note 1: New String

"Good morning sir, what do you need?" I asked the tall guy who just entered the store.

He looked at me for a few seconds but quickly looked away and went straight to the guitar string section. This caught me a bit off guard but it's not like this was something shocking since getting rude or quiet customers was fairly normal for me.

It was pretty early in the morning, 7:36 am, so it's quite rare for customers to actually go to the store. I sat back down and continued listening to the podcast I've been playing since earlier.

I looked at the clock and saw that 20 minutes have already passed. I then looked over to the guitar string section and saw that the man was still there. He was just staring at the strings as if he didn't know what to buy.

I stood up from my comfortable seat and left the counter to help out the man. I approached him despite him ignoring me earlier, this is my job.

"Hello sir, are you having a hard time choosing between the strings?" I asked him, adjusting my mask in the process.

Once again he just looked at me for a few seconds and then looked back at the strings. Now this guy is just down right ignoring me. I sighed but kept doing my business smile.

"Sir would you like me to help you? I've noticed that you have been standing here for 20 minutes now." I tried to talk to him again.

He then put his right hand inside the pocket of his jacket and he pulled something out. He gave me a piece of paper and said nothing. I opened the paper and it just said "Nylon 3 Acoustic guitar".

I sighed in relief and nodded.

"Ok Sir. So Nylon strings are placed to your right, and the numbers are written on the plastic, so you can just look for the number 3. And the top brands are put on the top, but it's your choice." I instructed him to do.

He looked over to his right and saw the sign that literally says "NYLON STRINGS". He looked back at me and put his hand out; I automatically knew what he meant and gave the paper back. He quickly saw the number 3 Nylon string and picked it up. We both went to the counter the same time.

I walked back behind the counter and checked out the string he bought.

"Is this all sir?" I asked as I checked out the string and put it in a paperbag.

He nodded and I nodded back.

"5 dollars sir, card or cash?"

Without saying anything, he gave me 5 dollars in cash. I accepted it and got a quick glance at the tattoo on his hand, couldn't really make out what it was.

"Here you go sir, thank you and have a nice day." I told him as I handed him the paperbag with the Nylon strings. He grabbed the paperbag and without saying anything, he left, and our encounter ends there.

I sat back down on my chair and played the podcast again.

"What the hell was wrong with him?" I mumbled to myself.

And just like that, my day functioned as normal. No more weird customers. Just helping people with choosing between instruments, brands, strings, speakers, and helping the first time instrument buyers.

-----

It was almost the end of my shift, which was 12 pm, when I started packing up my things. I hoped and wished that no one would walk through the doors to buy something or need help with. I just wanted to go home.

As I was cleaning up the desk, a pen rolled off the table and I failed to catch it. I bent down to grab it and put it back on the table but I couldn't find it.

As I was trying to find it, I heard the chimes on the door shake. I closed my eyes tightly and mumbled every swear word I knew under my breath. I quickly tried to find the pen and stood up to put it back in place.

"Good afternoon customer, what may I help you wi-" I stopped when I was almost done with the sentence when I saw the tall man who was standing as the door. It was the same man as earlier, the rude one.

I fixed my mask and put on my business smile again.

"I'm sorry. Let me repeat that. Ehem! What may I help you with?" I repeated.

He once again said nothing and only approached the counter. Now that I was mainly focused on him, I just now noticed how much taller he was compared to me, he was basically towering over me.

"Is there a problem?" I asked him, slightly backing up since he was really close to the counter.

He then put the paper bag that has our store logo on the counter. I looked down in confusion and looked back at him.

"Is there a problem with the string? Was it the wrong number? Type? Brand?" I asked him.

"This was supposed to be my gift for him..." He said in a timid, quiet and deep-calming voice, it rung in my ears, this was the first time I heard him speak.

"What do you mean by that?" I asked.

"I would like to return this. Someone beat me to him." He answered, pushing the paper bag towards me.

"Oh uhm... Ok!" Was all I could say as I checked the item and grabbed 5 dollars from the register and handed it back to him.

I was about to say my usual customer good bye but he spoke first.

"Thank you for helping me out earlier, sorry that your help was all put to a waste though." He told me.

"Huh? Is it because you returned the item? Is that why you're apologizing?"

He nodded in response and was about to go out but he stopped. I also stopped what I was doing and we both just looked at each other. I could sense that he wanted to say something but he hesitated, he seems like a shy person.

"Do you need anything else?" I asked him.

He didn't answer.

"Wanna hang out?" I asked him as I walked out of the counter and walked towards him.

He seemed shocked but relieved at the same time. He nodded in response.

"Ok then. Well, my other coworker will arrive at 2:30pm for their shift and I just need to lock the doors for now. So wait for me outside." I told him. He nodded happily and walked outside.

I could still see him since the front of our shop is just glass. I saw him playing with his fingers and being all nervous. Does this guy even have any friends? I shook my head and quickly checked everything in the shop before finally going out and putting the final lock on the door.

"Shall we go?" I asked as I looked up at him, I could finally see his eyes.

'Pretty...' Was all I could think.

He once again nodded and I nodded back.

"Well, let's go then." I told him. He quickly followed me as I led the way.

Now that I think about it... WHY THE FUCK AM I HANGING OUT WITH SOMEONE WHO WAS SO RUDE TO ME EARLIER!?

I shook my head and just sighed.

'What the hell did I get myself into?'

To be continued...