CHAPTER FOUR; A NOTE

"Finn Wolfhard."

At that moment [ Y / N ] felt her stomach drop. Her eyes went wide as she stared at the piece of paper in front of her. With her shaky hands, she wrote down his name and gave him the card. The man took it and looked at the girl.

"How much will it be then?"

[ Y / N ] realized her awkward state and cleaned her throat.

"It's a 64.50$."

The curly-headed gave her the money and she accepted it, putting it in the cash desk.

While doing it she heard the storage door opening. She raised her head to see the motorcyclist walking slowly. He was a bit calmer than before but still, his outrage was visibly pulsing in his veins. He walked to the exit and before he stepped out the man glared at [ Y / N ] with bitterness. He harshly grabbed the doorknob and slammed the door for a goodbye.

What a dick.

Marked leaned out from storage and called her name. The girl went there, feeling herself sweating and her palms turning cold. She sat on a chair and observed as Mark slowly went to his desk. He sat down heavily, looking powerless, like all of his energy suddenly disappeared. He massaged his scalp and looked at the girl. There was a silence between them that [ Y / N ] couldn't handle.

"Mark, I'm sorry...I-..." - she got cut off when the man raised his hand to silence her.

Please, don't fire me

The manager finally looked at her and nodded.

"It's not your fault." - he announced simply before continuing. - "It's actually mine. I got the notification that someone ordered this guitar and we had only one example. I didn't check the notes and just sold it. It's a very expensive guitar and the person that bought it paid all the money for it. It's my fault. I sold it." - he sighed. - "And this month hasn't been as wealthy as the others and I don't have enough money to order another one."

Silence crept between them. Both of the adults still calculating the situation.

"What did he say?" - [ Y / N ] asked.

"Winchester? He was outraged but calmed down quickly when he saw his money. I told him that I'll get this guitar. But I don't know how. I can't afford that."

"Why he can't buy it himself?"

"Well, Winchester is an interesting guy. He's rich and dangerous. He is known in the States and they don't want to sell him most of the stuff to not get in a situation like we this. There were a few death threats to his persona, but it's not worth to get in his way. He can hurt others. Badly. Damon always got away with it, you know, money. That motorcyclist thinks that he can do anything he wants."

[ Y / N ] understood his words. There was only one thing that intrigued her.

"Can we email to this person that bought this guitar? Maybe they will listen to us and give it back. And when we have enough money we will order it again or just tell them to book it in another store."

Mark smiled at her and slowly shook his head.

"I thought about it too. But there is only one problem." - he paused for a sec to make the girl inpatient. - "That person bought it anonymously." - her eyes widened. - "There is absolutely no way I could reach out to them. They paid the right amount of money, they aren't fake so I didn't care. Our store needed them. Record stores are dying. Now you can listen to music anytime you want, even the old one. So don't look at me badly if I say that I gladly accepted them. I didn't even bother looking at the notes. I'm sorry."

[ Y / N ] was bouncing her leg nervously, biting the inside of her cheek from time to time.

We are fucked

She took a deep breath and glared at Mark. She felt pity for him. He loved this shop, he's been working there since he was 23 years old and definitely he wasn't dreaming of saying goodbye. This is all he has.

"Mr. Mark, I'd be able to help you I'll do anything I can. We'll raise this money together."

The man raised his head. His brown eyes softened, maybe teared up a bit.

"Thank you [ Y / N ]." - he shook her hand vigorously and then added. - "I think you should check what's going on in the store. We don't want to lose clients."

The girl nodded and left the storage. There wasn't any living person. A realization hit her. Mark always wanted his store to look clean, organized for the clients but also to attract them. At first, it was just a record shop that turned also into a music one later because of the loss of customers. [ Y / N ] felt her heart ache. Mark loved everything about this place and was ready to reconstruct it only to keep it alive.

She went around the store, putting things in their places. She arranged the guitars, pedals, and other things she's never heard of. The girl looked through the books checking if the authors' names are put behind the right letter. The store for the rest of the day was weirdly quiet. A few customers stepped in to take a look at products but no one bought anything.

It was ten minutes to 8, which was her typical time she slowly started to pack her things, check the store one more time, give Mark the rapport, and leave to catch the metro. She went to the storage to see her manager sitting on a chair, writing something on his computer. The desk was filled with papers. Everything was as usual. It looked like the unpleasant conversation with the motorcyclist man never happened.

The man raised his head, waiting for her to say something. [ Y / N ] cleared her throat and spoke.

"Everything is fine and in its place. Could I go now home?" - Mark nodded and didn't say anything. - "Well, see you tomorrow."

"See you tomorrow [ Y / N ]."

As she was walking to the doors her eyes caught an object laying on the shop counter. She came closer to examine it. It happened to be the notebook where she wrote the customers' names with shop cards. It was open on the last page and the girl gasped when she saw the note, that letters were written sloppily.

Um, hi. Would you like to meet me at "Cafiano" on Saturday? Around 3 pm? Obviously, if you have other plans it's fine. I'll wait there.

Finn:)

[ Y / N ] felt her heartbeat stop for a moment. She breathed deeply, before tearing the last page and throwing it in her bag. She put the notebook in its place and stepped out of the store, walking to the closest metro.

Well maybe this day wasn't that bad

A bad thing happened, but a good one too. While being in the metro she thought about it all. She met Finn Wolfhard himself, talked to him, and she's going to meet him because he asked her. Finn Wolfhard. The Finn Wolfhard. A man that could charm anyone. [ Y / N ] heard about some of the situations that happened to him. One of them was his fans waiting outside his hotel for 3 days until he went out and talked to them. Not to mention this situation took place in the middle of winter. The second one was about someone trying to climb a building just to take pictures of him or stare at him. That person failed, obviously, but met Mr. Wolfhard not so long after for the first time and probably the last one ever. It was at a court and they got a permanent restraining order. The others were about women and sometimes men asking him to marry them, go on some meetings with them, or even the inappropriate requests and questions.

[ Y / N ] looked through the window. There were also other nasty situations but there was one that stuck in her mind.

He got an offer to be an actor in the porn industry. They wrote something about his handsomeness, height, and that actors wouldn't even have to pretend their reactions. He politely declined the offer and spoke about this situation in an interview. He said that it made him uncomfortable because they kept messaging him after he showed his uninterest. He chuckled a bit, saying that he'll never escape the people's dirty thoughts on his surname.

[ Y / N ] smiled to herself. Well, some things just never change.

___________________________________

The girl opened the door and quietly stepped into her flat. She went to the living room seeing Lakeshia on a couch, eating chips, and watching some reality TV show. Lately, the woman has been into those. They were brainwashing and silly but perfect after a long day of stressful work. Lakeshia raised her head from a pillow and smiled at [ Y / N ].

"Hey, how's your day been?"

The girl hesitated for a second.

Should I tell her about today?

Here's a thing. [ Y / N ] and Lakeshia were trustful to each other, however, it was obvious that she had the closest bond with Bianca. But today was crazy. She got yelled at by a gangster, almost got fired, her manager doesn't have money to keep the shop alive, met an actor that's been crushing on since she turned 12 years old, and he asked her to meet him this Saturday. And even if she wanted to get it out of her chest, she simply couldn't push herself to. She blocked herself.

[ Y / N ] blinked and got off that weird trans. She smiled at Lakeshia.

"Oh, it was fine. Just tiring as always." - Lakeshia nodded.

"I get it. It's always Mondays."

"Where's Naomi?"

"In her room. She's finishing some commission for a company." - Lakeshia answered taking a TV remote and surfing through channels.

"And Bianca?"

"I dunno." - she shrugged but then her eyes widened. - "Oh yeah, she's with that dude...what was his name? Dean?"

"Yes, Dean."

Dean.

He was a guy that Bianca met recently while hanging out with her friends. They introduced themselves and talked a bit. Turns out they formed a nice connection. Bianca told them that Dean was very kind to her, and treated her with respect. Well, it was visible that they were into each other. It didn't take long for Dean to ask Bianca out and eat in a restaurant or go to a cinema. [ Y / N ] was happy for her friend. After all this time of being with boys and realizing they only like her for is her face or body, she desered being loved and cared for. She wished her well. Sure she was a little sceptical about this dude but from the way that Bianca's been speaking about him, she can tell that he seems cool. [ Y / N ] has never met him but from how Bianca is highly speaking about him and them going out on a date, it's just a matter of time.

"Well, that's cool. Good for them."

Lakeshia nodded and handed her a bag of chips. The two girls watched a foolish show, losing brain cells but it helped [ Y / N ] and she stopped thinking about the situation in the store.

The show was about people that showed their lives and how much money have. Nothing new. Some of the watchers might be envious of them. It's not hard to be jealous of something that you don't have. And thinking about rich personas not being grateful for it makes the blood boil even more. But they started somewhere, didn't they? Perhaps they worked hard for it all to be worth it in the end? Or maybe they were just born into wealthy families and they have never worked at all? We'll never know.

It wasn't long until her eyes started to close. She got up from a sofa and informed Lakeshia that she's going to take a shower. [ Y / N ] grabbed some old, oversized clothes that could work for pyjamas and went to a bathroom. She undressed, put her hair up, and twisted the faucet for water to pour before she stepped in the shower.

After she cleaned herself and did her night routine, she took the towel and hanged it on the door to dry. [ Y / N ] went to a living room to see that Lakeshia had fallen asleep. The girl smiled to herself before putting a blanket on her and turning off a TV. She put her phone close to a sleeping girl so it would wake her up in the morning. Lakeshia hated to be late and with a job like hers being late was not an option.

[ Y / N ] went to the kitchen and poured herself a glass of water. As she was doing that she heard a metal clicks next to the door, the sound of keys. She heard her heels before she saw her. She was wearing a lavender dress that ended at her thigh and her favorite white heels that made her look even taller than she already was. Biancas' black, slightly wavy hair was put into a ponytail, so she could see her pretty silver earrings. Bianca was in a good mood smiling to herself, she got to the living room and then went to the kitchen to see [ Y / N ] standing next to her.

"Oh, hi! I didn't notice you before!" - Bianca whisper yelled to her friend and when she saw her gestures to be quieter, her tone dropped down. - "Why should I whisper?" - [ Y / N ] could smell a little bit of alcohol in her breath.

"Lakeshia has fallen asleep and I don't her to wake up."

"Oh, ok." - Bianca grabbed a cup and poured water into it.

"How was your date?" - the girl asked.

Bianca did a "pause" sign with her hand and started drinking. She was really thirsty. The woman wiped her mouth with a palm of her hand, smudging the lipstick a little.

"It was great." - she announced out of breath. - "Dean is amazing. I think he loves me. Like, a real me."

"Well, that's cool." - [ Y / N ] said simply. - "Do you love him?"

Bianca stayed quiet for a while. Her blue eyes seemed lost. She always had this gaze when she was serious or thinking about something deeply. The girl hummed a bit and then turned her head to her best friend.

"Yes, I think...no, I'm sure I like him...but I don't know." - she leaned on a counter more. - "I'm going to give him a chance. We'll see how it goes." - [ Y / N ] gave her a nod. - "Ok, I'm going to get ready to bed. Goodnight." - and with that being said she left the kitchen.

"Night."

[ Y / N ] left the kitchen too and went to her room. It was too late to read and she was exhausted. She slipped to bed and immediately fell into comfortable and blissful numbness.

___________________________________

"It's 13,99$."

"One moment...there you go." - a man said putting money on a counter.

"Ok, here is the rest. Have a nice day."

"Yeah, you too." - he said and walked out of a store.

[ Y / N ] sat on her chair and checked the clock, hanging on a wall. It was 13:28 but she already had enough. She was tired and wanted nothing more than to lay on her bed and knock out. The girl tried to be present as always so she could hide it, but Marks' watchful eyes noticed that she was going to fall out of her chair at any moment.

"[ Y / N ], come here." - the girl suddenly became more awake when she heard her name. She got up and walked to him.

"Yes?"

"What's happening? You look exhausted."

"Yeah. - she giggled, rubbing her eyes. - "You can put it like that."

"Is it about yesterday's situation?"

"Yes...kinda."

It wasn't fully true but she agreed because she didn't want to explain that she stayed late to watch a stupid show about rich people basically wiping their asses with money.

Mark sighed. He also wasn't looking the best. He had wrinkles on his forehead and dark circles under his eyes, perhaps from not sleeping enough. The girl felt her heart throbbing. It looked like he got older overnight.

"I'm sorry that it happened."

Adults stood in silence for a second. There was nothing more he could say to her.

"Do you want coffee?" - the man offered.

"I'd love it." - [ Y / N ] smiled warmly. - "With milk."

"And sugar?"

"Absolutely! Two spoons."

Mark nodded and went to storage while [ Y / N ] sat back at her chair. There weren't many people in the store so she took her phone out and opened social media.

At first, she opened Twitter to see who's being canceled this time. Surprisingly every celebrity had a drama or done something questionable in the past. They are only people who make mistakes. However, some of their actions were too controversial and honestly don't deserve forgiveness. [ Y / N ] thought occasionally what would she do if she got famous. Fame has its pros and cons. Money, traveling, expensive, designer clothes, looking glamorous and desirable were pros of course. Having unnecessary drama with people, old actions, and secrets exposed, things you've said or done are also out, pictures where you don't look flawless, no privacy - cons.

After Twitter, she opened Instagram. She began to scroll down, liking some of her friends' and celebrities' posts. She had an account too, but she didn't publish pictures often. There were only 6 of them and [ Y / N ] thought it's enough. Bianca, however, had Instagram filled with her pics. She had a large following to no one's surprise. The young woman could catch a lot of eyes. Lakeshia had a profile too and mostly showed her family but everything was toned down. She believed that you shouldn't show too much of your life to others. That's why it's called "your life". Also when you're looking for a job your boss usually checks all of your social media. Lakeshia, who works in a kindergarten, would never get this job if she had pictures of herself with a bottle of alcohol. Naomi's profile was filled with color, because of her artwork. She was always getting DM's from people who were willing to pay her for a portrait or something original. She had to be active and make sure to post high-quality masterpieces.

As she was scrolling more and more her thumb stopped at one of the pictures of a face she knew pretty well. The user name of this person was finnwolfhardofficial. It was a casual one. He was sitting with a guitar on his lap, his browns were slightly furrowed, his expression showed his focus on playing. The caption said that he found this picture randomly and decided to post it to give his fans content. The young woman smiled to herself and went back to when she was 15 years old and the whole fandom was demanding any news from him or photoshoots.

She was pulled out from her memories by Mark who put a coffee cup on the counter.

"Here's your coffee."

"Thank you." - [ Y / N ] grabbed the cup for a counter. The smell of caffeine was wonderful and made her a bit more awake. She was taking sips from it still scrolling on her phone.

She liked Finn's picture and went into comments to see what people have to say. Obviously, many 12-year-old girls were begging him to notice and marry them. Others were asking him does he like their country. Nonsens. Why wouldn't he?  There were his friends' comments too, but one of them caught her attention. It said, "won't you credit your photographer?". [ Y / N ] went on their profile. It happened to belong to noalehf, more specifically to a woman named Noa Fisher.

Noa Fisher was absolutely glorious. She was 27 years old and had a body that you could kill for. She was a model, or at least she had some photoshoots before. Her hair was long, brown, a little curly, her eyebrows perfectly arched in the ends, brown, dreamy eyes, a nose that fit her face perfectly. She had plump, pink lips and straight, white teeth that looked so appealing when she was smiling. Symmetrical beauty.

Yes, that woman was something else.

Are they dating? it was the first thought that crossed her mind. Don't be ridiculous [ Y / N ]...

She was exaggerating, why would she care? It's his life. The young woman didn't want to go back in time when she was overreacting at any single rumor that he might be dating. Not only her, but his fans also reacted in many ways, not always the most polite.

She scrolled on Noa's profile for a while more and then, turned her phone down. It'll be the best for her.

"Hey, are you okay?" - Mark interrupted her thoughts sip his coffee. - "Your face dropped down. You've seen something you shouldn't?"

"What? No." - she giggled. - "Everything is fine, really." - she took a sip.

"Okay, whatever you say."

Mark reached down the counter and pulled a book from a shelf. When [ Y / N ] got a closer look, she realized it wasn't a typical book, but a sudoku book. She smiled. Lately, the old man was obsessed with this and filled it in his free time.

"How long have you been playing sudoku?"

"Hmm..." - Mark hummed, scratching his chin. - "Not so long, maybe for 5 years?" - the girls' eyes widened and Mark chuckled. - "You probably think it's boring?"

"No! Not at all. I'm glad you like it." - she paused for a moment. - "Okay, maybe a little."

"I knew it." - Mark smiled. - "I also like to play poker."

"I don't know how to play it." - the young woman admitted.

"I'll teach you one day." - and when she asked him "really?" he answered. - "Yeah, sure. When we will have free time."

[ Y / N ] knew what the man meant by saying "free time". Free time after they collect enough money to buy Winchester a new guitar.

"Thank you." - she said.

"No problem."

A customer stepped into the store and [ Y / N ] became more patient, ready to serve them any time. Mark caught it and felt proud that she is his employer. He's had this shop for such a long time, and many workers have walked here helping him. Some of them were kind and helpful, some of them not really. He was even almost robbed once. But no one of his workers was so dedicated to this job as [ Y / N ]. She wasn't working for money, she was interested in his life. If she hadn't asked he would never tell her that he used to play chess when he was very young or dreamed of becoming a lumberjack. He showed her his family photos and shared stories from his teenage years. The young woman wasn't just there to earn something, she was ready to help him if he needed support. Like right now. She could say "No, I don't care about your debts, give me my money. No, I'm not interested in getting to know you old prick." That would be hurtful to him, but he would not take any action. Mark was easygoing and didn't like confrontation, even if someone disrespected him.

Luckily, she's not like that. Thanks to her, Mark didn't feel as lonely as before. He was raised in the countryside and as a young boy, he liked to listen to grown men playing guitar. It was a sound he fell in love with at the start. There was nothing more beautiful for him than the passionate playing and Asus2 chord. As he got older he grew up from this, but not because he wanted to, but his family forced him to, saying that music is not a real job. He got into chess when he was 10 years old, but it was just a hobby. He was planning on becoming a lumberjack but the only wood that he wanted to hold in his hands was shaped like a guitar. Was a guitar. He went back to playing at the age of 15. He opened the store around his 20s and every day he took care of it and loved it more and more.

"Hello, um, I'd like to donate these records."

"Yeah, sure." - the girl took two records from a customer and checked them, looking for spots or other defects. She didn't find them. - Ok, thank you. Is there anything else?"

Mark looked at her this whole time, observing how polite she was with clients. He's checked her CV before so he knew that she worked in many bars and restaurants. Mark couldn't tell if she was faking it or was actually being kind. It didn't matter because, with her nice energy, she was making people feel welcome.

"Yes, I'd like to buy this album." - customer handed her a record and she took it.

"Ok, I'll be 12,36$." - she accepted the money and gave him the rest. - "Have a wonderful day."

"You too." - with that he left.

[ Y / N ] sat back down and took her phone again. Mark started solving his sudokus' squares, feeling optimistic. He won a lottery by finding one of the best employees ever.

✰ ❀ ✰ ❀ ! AUTHOR'S NOTES ! ❀ ✰ ❀ ✰
𝚑𝚎𝚕𝚕𝚘!
𝚊𝚗𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛, 𝚢𝚊𝚢
𝚒'𝚍 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚙𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚝 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚒 𝚍𝚘𝚗'𝚝 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚢𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚐𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚜𝚝 𝙽𝚘𝚊 𝙵𝚒𝚜𝚑𝚎𝚛. 𝚒 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚠𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑 𝙵𝚒𝚗𝚗'𝚜 𝚏𝚘𝚕𝚕𝚘𝚠𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚌𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚝𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚊𝚠 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚕𝚕𝚘𝚠𝚜 𝚑𝚎𝚛.
𝚒 𝚍𝚒𝚍𝚗'𝚝 𝚌𝚑𝚘𝚘𝚜𝚎 𝙴𝚕𝚜𝚒𝚎 (𝚖𝚊𝚢𝚋𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚒'𝚖 𝚝𝚊𝚕𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝) 𝚋𝚎𝚌𝚊𝚞𝚜𝚎 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚘𝚎𝚜𝚗'𝚝 𝚍𝚎𝚜𝚎𝚛𝚟𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚝𝚎 𝚜𝚑𝚎'𝚜 𝚐𝚎𝚝𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐. 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚊𝚌𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚝'𝚜 𝚙𝚛𝚒𝚟𝚊𝚝𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚊 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚘𝚗. 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚒𝚜𝚗'𝚝 𝚏𝚊𝚖𝚘𝚞𝚜. 𝚜𝚑𝚎'𝚜 𝚏𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚍𝚜 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝙵𝚒𝚗𝚗 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝'𝚜 𝚒𝚝.
𝙽𝚘𝚊'𝚜 𝚊𝚗 𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚜, 𝙴𝚕𝚜𝚒𝚎'𝚜 𝚊 𝚗𝚘𝚛𝚖𝚊𝚕 𝚐𝚒𝚛𝚕.
𝚘𝚔𝚊𝚢, 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝'𝚜 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚒 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚊𝚢, 𝚜𝚎𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚗𝚎𝚡𝚝 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛. 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚊 𝚐𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚝 𝚍𝚊𝚢/𝚗𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝.
𝚕𝚘𝚟𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞

𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚛𝚊𝚊𝚎