Put your records on, tell me your favorite song Who: Penny Layne Schwartz-MacCabe and Reese Cameron When: Saturday, September 5th 2049 Where: The Record Shop Rating: PG-13 Summary: Penny's first shift at the Record Store Warnings: Coarse Language Status: Completed
Penny hurried inside the record store and out of the fading sun a full 10 minutes before her shift was to start. While this was to be her first "real" job (an impressive task at the age of 23), and keeping track of time had never been one of her strong points, she had been counting on getting lost. It was a pleasant surprise to have arrived at her location without having to endure that. Being lost was always an unpleasant experience, but it was worse when you couldn't work up the guts to get someone's attention to get directions. Penny often found herself wandering aimless, too terrified to take the time to speak up.
And so here she was, and the terror was proving equally inconvenient. She stood in the doorway, those wide blue-eyes at their widest, looking entirely bewildered. She had thrown a hounds tooth fedora on her head, recognizing that showing up with the aura of chaos around her head that she called hair was likely inappropriate for work. Otherwise, she was less than put together. Tattered blue jeans hung around her legs, paired with an oversized arguyle sweater in earth tones. She certainly didn't look like someone showing up for her first day of work.. and the manager who had hired her was no where to be seen. This being the case, she hovered uncomfortably by the door, unsure of how to approach the situation.
She had managed to land the gig.. gig, she hadn't gotten used to the word job, yet.. or the concept that she would have to be here for set hours on a regular schedule. Anyway, she had managed to finagle the job after the manager had seen her play at a local club. He had met wasted Penny. The Penny who was talkative and brave and amiable. The Penny that could sing and play in front of a room full of strangers (though it helped that the stage lights made those people faceless silhouettes). She swallowed hard.. she could do this.. she could even do this sober.
Shuffling steps moved towards the counter and the man who stood behind it.. presumably her new co-worker. She scratched a bit nervously at her side, nibbling on her lower lip before finally managing to speak in a quiet tone. Voice was sweet, with the slightest hint of gravel invading the ends of her words. Her accent was odd, the tight-lipped twang of people who lived in the far north. Places like Vermont, and Minnesota and Wisconsin.
"Um... hi.. I'm Penny.. th-the new employee?" She blushed as she stuttered, obliterating her ability to make eye contact. Those baby blues turned down towards the counter as she spoke the last two words. A sales associate who couldn't talk to strangers... well, at least not for the basic greetings. If you asked her about music, especially the classics of the twentieth century, she could go on for hours.