Treasures

That had been their last encounter for the next couple of days. Well, it was actually the last time they had talked to each other. Legitimately, Archie saw Harry at the train station again three days later, but he looked so handsome with his big hands strumming chords on a guitar that Archie didn’t even know what to say him. So he jumped up on his train leading to downtown London without even a quick glance back at the curly haired boy.
Today was a Saturday, which meant Otto’s held its big ‘Day of the Week’ sale where men and women in oversized glasses could buy records for 25% off their original sale price, excluding tax. It’s usually the busiest day of the week. From the moment Otto’s opens until closing time, there’s people running around the shop in a frenzy, asking him where they placed the new Suck It and See vinyl because ‘Arctic Monkeys is not and will never be alternative’. Which leads Archie to have to hold in his laughter because pissing off music snobs is what he absolutely lives for, though he’ll never admit that he is one himself. He pleasures himself in hiding popular records in their incorrect genre sections just to see the look on a person’s face when they can’t find it.
There’s been a ‘Help Wanted’ sign outside the door, that Archie wrote himself on cardboard with a Crayola cherry red crayon, ever since last Saturday when Archie had complained to Otto that working all alone was just too hard. And no one really bothered to try and send in resumes for the job, except for one girl with hair so bleached out it was crusty but Archie never called her back for an interview. He considers one of his best qualities to be refusing to work with someone who wore ugly shoes willingly.
He was only a little surprised when he was sweeping the floors for closing time and a curly-haired boy entered the shop.
“Excuse me, brain-dead, but we’re about to clo-” Archie stopped himself after making contact with bright emerald eyes. He tried to keep his expression impassive but just couldn’t when he caught sight of a deep dimpled grin and wasn’t able fight the urge to let out a smile as well. “Well would you look at that, I was starting to think you had gotten hit by a train. Are you here because you can’t go more than a couple of days without seeing my lovely mug?” Archie hoped and prayed that the hostility in his tone wasn’t noticeable.
The taller of the two stepped his way over to the cash register and hopped up onto the counter, swinging his long legs back and forth and ultimately scuffing the paint with the soles of his boots. But Archie could care less about that. “As a matter of fact, I just couldn’t keep away from you” his mouth was too big for his face and he smiled so wide no more emerald could be seen behind his long lashes, “And I also seemed to notice the sign out your door”.
Archie feigned confusion, “The one that says, ‘We Cum in Peace’ with the little alien jerking off in the background?” He tilted his head to the side and raised a bushy eyebrow at Harry, who seemed to be shaking with laughter. “No but in all seriousness, you’d like a job here?” he asked. All that was currently running through his head at the moment was getting to see Harry everyday and that he’d make him help out the annoying customers since his patience is practically non-existent.
“Yes, I very much would” Harry let himself down from the counter and took a couple steps closer to Archie. He took in all the posters that lined the maroon colored walls and hummed along to the Vampire Weekend vinyl that Archie put into the record player after a third person had asked him where it was. “I don’t exactly have a resume but I can tell you that my father always told me that I was a hard worker when I strived for something and I’m quite the people-person”. By the look in his eyes Archie could tell that he was just a bit nervous, like he wasn’t sure he’d get the job.
“Well I’ll just have to ask you one question as part of your interview” Archie said and folded his arms across his chest, the broom fell to the floor with a loud thud but neither of them flinched away from eye contact. “If a zombie apocalypse was to break out and you could only save one record, which would it be?” He’s actually supposed to ask about past working experiences, if any jail time had ever been served and his social security number. But Archie could care less about that. Even if he was setting himself up to work with a serial killer, nothing else really mattered to Archie other than making sure that Harry didn’t have an inadequate music taste.
Another quality that he prided in was not socializing with others who believed pop was the feel good genre of music.
Harry thoughtfully combed a large hand through his wild head of hair and after getting it caught in a certain knot without any luck in smoothing it out he removed his hand completely. “That question is a bit hard to answer seeing that I love all kinds of music,” Archie tried to imagine Harry listening to (and enjoying) pop music and felt bile rise in his throat, “But I would have to go with my favorite band hands-down, Nirvana, the In Utero album to be specific.”
A weight seemed to lift off of Archie’s shoulders and he bent over to pick up the broom, making sure Harry’s eyes were on his ass; at least the boy wasn’t tone-deaf. “You’re hired”. Thoughts about catching each other’s eye from opposite sides of the room while trying to cater to every (annoying) customer’s need littered his mind. Going to the deli next door during their lunch break and sharing a smoke on their way to the train station. He brushed these ideas under the carpet, much like he was doing with pieces of mulch and the shop’s cool Persian rug. Otto had come to work a couple months ago with it and plopped it down on the mount of overdue bills Archie had ‘accidentally dropped’ to the floor. ‘It’ll give the shop some flair!’ Otto had said, but no one ever really notices it except when trying to hide gum wrappers.
“When do I start?” Archie was suddenly brought out of nostalgia at the question and thought hard. Even though admitting to having or expressing feelings is something that’s quite hard for him, the teensy crush he seemed to have on the boy is undeniable at this point. He craves being around him, so the sooner he gets to work, the better.
There was a certain need for Archie to have his lungs filled up with smoke rose as he said, “Definitely tomorrow”. His cheeks flushed and he let his head fall to the floor in utter shame so Harry couldn’t see how embarrassed he was at having replied so quickly. Once he caught sight of the shoes Harry was sporting, a pair of brown pointy boots that appeared to have been bought from a dirty charity shop, he felt himself relax. The boy obviously wasn’t Cole Mohr, so he could stop his swooning and resembling of a thirteen year old girl and continue on with being himself. A twenty year old college dropout attempting to pursue a career in art and poetry while simultaneously failing at it. Because Archie can never seem to finish either one of his paintings or poems, he’ll start one then abandon it after a couple of minutes. Like most of the things in his life.
“Great! I really look forward to seeing you tomorrow” Harry said with a tinge of pink coloring his cheeks, Archie didn’t allow himself to dwell on that for too long. After Harry had stepped his long legs through the exit, with a delicate handed wave goodbye, Archie stayed back longer. Taking way more time sweeping the floors than he usually does and thinking about everything, except Harry. Like his grocery list, Kyle had come over the night before and emptied out his entire fridge. The only edible left would be his box of Lucky Charms, with no milk, so he had to resort to dry cereal for breakfast and cigarettes. Ever since meeting Harry his craving for nicotine has been at an all high and any thoughts of quitting has gone done drain.