Forever and Always (Sequel to Nothing More, Nothing Less)

Chapter 57

hey everyone!!! so... i had my first day of school today :P fun... it really wasn't that bad... it was just boring i guess, my classes kinda suck. ANYWAYS, i already had this part all ready to upload, and i just went over it, so HOPEFULLY there won't be any typos... cuz i realize i sometimes have a lot of them... but please do your best to ignore them... SHMANK YOU!!!! <3 i hope you all like it :) more to come!!! eventually!!! <3 BYE!!

MAYA’S P.O.V.

            I positioned my beanie on my head as I quickly walked down an unfamiliar New York City sidewalk. Camille said that the shop would be on this block somewhere, but I’d been walking for around half an hour trying to find it. “It’s sort of a sketchy shop,” Camille had told me, “but it’s definitely there!” I swallowed and tried to walk quickly, but slowly at the same time, since I didn’t want to slip on the ice that was covering the sidewalk. My boots crunched in the icy snow under my feet and a sharp wind bit at my cheeks. I stuffed my hands in my pockets and cursed at myself for not taking my leather gloves that I had in my car.

            I saw a small stairway leading down into what looked like a basement. I hoped this was it, because it was the only shop that looked like it might have records and music CDs in it. I gripped onto the ice cold railing as I took slow steps down to the doorway. Luckily, they had put salt on the stairs which melted what ice might’ve appeared. I slowly opened the door and scrunched my nose at the terrible smell coming from inside.

            I stepped down the single step and onto the dark gray, and old, carpet that covered the entire floor. It was ripped in some places. To my left was the actual shop that only had a couple lights shedding light throughout the entire room. I jumped when a cat ran towards me from behind the glass counter in the corner. It was a calico cat with patched up fur and dirty ears. I stepped forward, trying to ignore the animal that was trailing after me.

            Why was I in here, you may ask? Well, it was to get part of Harry’s Christmas present. Camille told me that they had signed, vintage records in here, but I didn’t ask how she knew. I just sort of nodded my head. So, here I am, trying to find a signed Abbey Road record for Harry as a Christmas present, since he loves The Beatles so much. I’d already bought him a pair of red converse from work, so I already had half of his present done.

            Three men walked out from behind a curtain and into the empty store. One was an older man with gray hair. He wore a red plaid flannel shirt and light wash jeans. The strange thing about him was that he wore an eye patch. An eye patch. I took a deep breath and looked at the second man. He looked like he was maybe around fifty years old with dark hair that was starting to fall out in the back. He sported a dark blue flannel shirt and he had this look to his face that was somewhat mischievous. The third man looked younger than I was, maybe in his mid-twenties. He wore a New York University sweatshirt and dark jeans. He smiled widely at me and raised his eyebrows, raking his eyes over me. I suddenly got nervous. This was a sketchy store.

            “Ooh look, we have a lady,” the middle aged man smiled and nodded.

            “A pretty lady,” the youngest corrected.

            “You’re going to make her nervous, shut up!” the older man scolded, pushing them out of his way. He stepped out from behind the counter and I jumped at the cat that started rubbing its head against my ankle. “Sorry about him,” the man said, picking up the cat and handing it to the younger boy who was still checking me out behind the counter. “And excuse my grandson, we don’t get a lot of young ladies in our store…”