After Michael dropped Parker off at school the next day he decided to head to the music shop downtown, where Melissa had supposedly gotten him a job.
He was pretty nervous, because the only serious job he'd ever had was when he worked in a grocery store for a few months back in high school. He still figured that he would be fine, though, because working in a music shop couldn't possibly be that hard, right?
Michael walked through the front door of the shop and headed towards the counter, trying to hide the fact that he was so nervous as he approached the man sitting behind it. He felt pretty good about himself, pretty confident, because he'd actually changed into regular clothes today and wasn't just wearing his pajamas.
"Uh, excuse me?" Michael said, clearing his throat and getting the attention of the guy sitting behind the cash register, who was messing around on his phone.
"Hey, man, what's up?" The guy asked, setting his phone down in front of him. It was still pretty early in the day, and there probably hadn't been a lot of business there until Michael walked in, so the guy looked pretty excited to have someone to talk to.
"I'm looking for Matt?" Michael asked, using the name that Melissa had given him, even though he could see that the guy's name tag clearly said 'Matt' and he didn't need to ask for him.
"That's me." Matt chuckled, holding out a hand for Michael to shake.
"Oh, hi." Michael said softly, shaking Matt's hand. "I'm Michael, I'm - "
"Oh, you're Mel's boyfriend, aren't you?" Matt cut him off, and Michael was a bit startled by the word boyfriend. Were Michael and Melissa boyfriend and girlfriend already? Michael didn't even know.
"Erm, I'm something like that, I guess." Michael laughed nervously, rubbing the back of his neck. Part of him just wanted him to walk out and never come back, just because he was so embarrassed and awkward about this whole thing, but he knew that he really needed this job, so he didn't.
"I know what you mean, I dated her too." Matt laughed. He walked around the side of the counter and grabbed a box off of it, gesturing for Michael to follow him into the back of the store.
"Uh, you did?" Michael questioned. He really should have seen that coming.
"Sure did." Matt nodded from his place in front of Michael, finally stopping at a rack of CDs. He began to take even more CDs out of boxes and place them on the shelf, while Michael just watched. "We dated for a pretty long time, actually. Two and a half years, or maybe closer to three? I don't know, she was seventeen when we first got together."
"Oh." Michael said once again, not bothering to ask how old Matt was. He seemed older than Michael, maybe by a few years. Michael wondered how Melissa and Matt had even met, anyway.
"Don't worry, dude, it's over now." Matt assured him, and Michael just let out a sigh.
"I'm not even sure if we're - I mean we're kind of - " Michael stammered, unsure of what to say. "I just need a job."
"Well, then you've come to the right place." Matt said, letting out a small laugh. He gestured for Michael to follow him again and walked over to a desk towards the back of the store that was covered in papers. He picked up one sheet and handed it to Michael. "Here, fill this out."
"This?" Michael said, looking down at the paper. It wasn't even a job application, it was just asking for information about him. Like, phone numbers and stuff.
"Uh, yeah." Matt said, rolling his eyes. He handed Michael a pen. "It's just basic contact information, so we can call you if we need you to pick up a shift or whatever."
