friends in low places

Chapter One

"One large peach wine slushy!" Charlie calls out of a tiny wooden shed. A person comes forward to take the slushy out of the hands of the sole employee inhabiting the tiny wooden shed. 

"There you go, have a lovely day and enjoy!" Charlie calls out again. 

As Charlie watches the last of the rush line leave his sight, he lets out a huge sigh and sits down on a box full of wine. It's about 90 degrees outside the shed, and because of a barely functioning air conditioner and the sun constantly beating down on it, the inside of the shed feels like it's in the 7th circle of hell. 

It had been an exceptionally busy day, and Charlie had faced the rush solely on his own. Between refilling the slush machines, fixing said machines when they decided to not work (which happened at least twice every hour) and treating every customer as though they were a long time family friend, Charlie had barely had any time to breathe. Relishing in the quietness, he opens the sandwich his mom dropped off for him earlier in the day. It was soggy and warm, but Charlie would take anything he could get at this point. He made a mental note to stop forgetting to pack his lunch. 

Usually these busy days were a lot more manageable when the shed was equipped with adequate staffing. Unfortunately, the other worker went home sick after about two hours in the scorching hot shed. Charlie didn't mind this however, he much preferred to work alone. He got more tips, he could control the music, and he could do everything at the pace at which he desired. He was exceptionally happy at this lack of help today though, because much to his chagrin, his ex girlfriend was scheduled to work with him that day. 

They had broken up last summer, and shortly after the breakup, she had gotten a new boyfriend, and Charlie ran away from his problems by going to college. He spend the entirety of his first semester being heartbroken, getting too drunk, and flirting with too many people. His careless attitude had reflected in his grades, and he knew he couldn't let himself get carried away like that again. The second semester was spent studying nonstop, desperately trying to fix his GPA. He luckily found a group of friends that were more like platonic soulmates, and by the end of the spring semester he was brand new person. 

Since he left in such a rush, and avoided all contact with his ex girlfriend, walking into the shed to find her setting the machines up had been a not so pleasant surprise. He hadn't talked to her in well over a year, on purpose, and now he was stuck in a tiny, tiny space with her all day. He had acted as civil as he could muster, and made small talk like he was expected to do. The inconsistent flow of conversation had stopped around an hour in, and he was grateful. Another half hour, and he could tell she was not doing good. It was already well over 90 degrees outside, and even worse inside. He practically begged her to just go home and rest, and when she finally agreed he felt a relief he had never felt before.

Almost immediately after she left, he changed the music from some sort of pop music to his current favorite album, which changed as much as the Pennsylvanian weather did. Music had always been a huge part of Charlie's life, since the minute he gained consciousness it seemed. He remembered head banging to a lot of the music his dad played in the car. When he was old enough to talk, he sang every word of those songs. He asked for a guitar for Christmas when he was 6, and he never looked back. Since then, music consumed every waking moment of Charlie's life. There was never a moment when Charlie wasn't thinking about something to do with music. 

He played a very integral part in his town's booming local music scene. He started a farmer's market with his friends that took place every other Saturday, and he would personally call different people and bands to ask them to play a set or two. He even convinced the owner of the winery he works at the have a band play at the winery one night a week in the summer. It had been a huge money maker, and earned Charlie a raise. He wasn't even worried about the money, he just wanted to be able to listen to music while at work as much as he could.