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Author's Chapter Notes:
My second long fic. I decided to put this up. I know I haven't finished Pirates! yet, but that takes up a little more time. I'll try to update that one soon. For now, enjoy.
Prologue

I’m Buffy Summers. Full name: Buffy Anne Summers. I’m 25 and I live in New York. I own a record shop, called Archie M. It’s near Central Park and it’s very small. I sell CDs and records. The CDs are mostly bands who are trying to make it or non-commercial ones. I also sell some popular stuff, but that’s more to attract people and then force them into buying some other CDs as well. This business strategy turned out to be quite good, I might say.

The only people who buy records are the junkies, like me or the collectors. I’ve got some good stuff here: Frank Zappa, James Brown, Sex Pistols and more like that. They usually come by on Saturdays, because then most of them don’t work.

The shop used to be my dads’, that is, until he died 4 years ago. He left it to me, because he knew I would take good care of it. And I did. My mom sometimes asks me if I don’t just do this, because dad wanted to. And the answer is always ‘no’. It’s not what I planned to do, but it’s a good replacement for what I planned to do. I wanted to become a photographer or something. Maybe a music critic. I wanted to help bands to break through. And now I’m helping them as well. I trick people into buying their stuff and really make sure they like it. It works because they always come back or they send people over to buy albums.

My dad used to say, I had feeling for the business. I know how to sell my products. I can make up what people. Sometimes, I’m wrong. But that’s just because of the exceptions in this world. And they usually end up happy as well. And my CDs are very diverse. I sell rock, soul, blues, drum ‘n base, R&B in the new and old way, punk, country, western. You name it and I most probably got it.

I grew up in Sunnydale. It’s a small village near L.A. I lived there until I was 18. When I was 15, my parents divorced. They wanted different things or something. It wasn’t that big of a deal. My parents didn’t hate each other or anything. It just didn’t work out anymore. My dad moved to New York and opened up the shop. I stayed in Sunnydale with my mom to finish school.

When I graduated my mom and I had kind of a falling out. She wanted me to go to college in Sunnydale. And I didn’t. I wanted to go to Harvard or Yale. Maybe not even those colleges, but I didn’t want to stay in Sunnydale. My mom and I got into a fight. It started out as an argument, but I got bigger and bigger. Eventually I went to New York, to live with my dad. My mom was pissed off. But dad calmed her down enough, to let me live in New York. I got accepted at NYU and went to college. Part-time I worked at dads’ shop. Slowly, but steadily my mom and I made up. She stills lives in Sunnydale, but every once in a while we visit each other. And we call almost every week.

So, to sum it up: my live isn’t so bad. It could’ve been better and it could’ve been worse.







Chapter 1

It’s Tuesday today. I get up at 8 and I go through my morning rituals (showering, dressing and eating cereal). At 9, I set off to the shop. It’s a 10 minute walk from my apartment to Archie M. When I get there, Willow is already waiting for me. Willow is one of my best friends. She’s still in college and works part-time for me (Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays). She’s a bit naïve and all, but she has a good heart. She’s also the only employee I have.

“Good morning, Wills,” I say happily, “How was you weekend?”
Willow looks up and smiles. “It was okay. I’m sorry I didn’t stop by Sunday. My parents were coming over.”

I shrug as I grab my keys. “It’s alright. I’ve cleaned out my video collection. And then I watched Grease. So I had fun.” I smile and walk inside. When I switch the light on it reveals a small shop. It has racks full of CDs on one side and racks full of records on the other. At the back in this the counter. Willow and I usually sit there in the morning, to drink coffee. I check the mail and such and she puts away all the new stuff. And then at 10.15 we’re done and we drink a lovely cup of coffee while talking or reading the newspaper (it depends on which day. Today we talk)

We do our morning things and when we’re done, we drink coffee.
“So, how were you parents?” I ask before taking a sip.
“Okay…I guess.” Willow mumbles, “I never really seem to have contact with them, you know?”

“Why did you invite them in the first place?”
“Because of Tara. I wanted them to meet the girl I’m seeing, who’s moving in with me next week.” Her face lit up like a Christmas tree. It was sweet.

“They didn’t know you were gay?” That was a weird thought. Everyone knew that Willow was gay. It was so weird that her parents, the people you ought to be close with, didn’t know this piece of information.

“No. But they don’t know A LOT of things. They don’t know what my major is. They don’t know that I work in a record shop. They hardly know my birthday.” Willow muttered. She really doesn’t like it, that her parents are so uninvolved in her life.

“I’m sorry for you. I hate it to see you so sad, little sis.” I say caringly. My mom always treats Willow like a daughter. So yeah, she’s practically my sister.
The red-head smiles softly. “Ah well, you can’t pick your parents, but you can pick your siblings.”

I pat her arm softly and give her a smile. “That’s right. And now I want you to put on a smile. Sad faces scare our costumers away.”
We talk a bit more and around eleven our costumers start to seep in. There aren’t really any interesting people in the shop. Some regulars and some window shoppers.

The day goes by and nothing interesting happens. It’s 5 PM and I’m about to close up. Willow already left. Someone steps in

“How can I help you?” I ask. I’m behind the counter grabbing my bag. When I get up I see something pleasant. It’s a man. He’s tall and well-build. He has brown hair and light eyes.
“I’m searching for something. Uhm...”
I smile at him. He seems a bit uncertain. “It’s a gift?”
The brown-haired nods.


“Alright…” I mumble and then with a louder voice, “Who is this person?”
“My dad.” He squeaks.
“You don’t have to be so nervous. Nothing bad can happen here.” I say. The man relaxes a bit a takes a step closer.
“So…” I continue, “What does you’re old man like?”

“Ray Charles.”
“And?”
“That’s it.”
“Only Ray Charles.”
“Yep.”
“Okay…” I climb over the counter. “Vinyl or CD?”
“Doesn’t matter.”

I walk over to the records and start searching. I find an album called Ray Charles in person. It’s widely liked by the fans. I hand it over to the guy. He studies it and says: “I think this is okay. Can I return it if he doesn't like it?”
I nod. “That’ll be 20 dollars.”

He hands me the money. He doesn’t leave straight away. I decide to take the opportunity. I’ve single for a very long time and I deserve a date. “Want to have dinner with me?”
The man smiles and says: “Sure. When does the shop close?”

“I was about to leave when you came in. So the answer would be now!” I answer with a goofy smile. I grab my bag off the counter and put on my coat. “I’m Buffy Summers by the way.”
“Riley Finn.”


TBC....




A/N Hoped you liked this first part! For those who wonder, the story behind the shop name comes later. Please review!
P.S: The chapters will get longer. These two were just to start up





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