Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Waking up to my alarm buzzing noisily in my ear, the red numbers burned "6:40" into my mind. Why did work have to start so early?!

I rolled out of bed and rubbed the sleep out of my eyes. Turning to my calendar, I found that not only was it my sister's birthday in a week and I still had yet to buy her a present, but it was also Saturday. Saturday! I didn't even have to wake up so damn early in the first place!

I crawled back into bed, only to find it was no longer warm. Groaning, I convinced myself that I should get ready to go out. I apparently had some shopping to do.

The shopping centre was still fairly empty; it was still too early for the masses. I walked around most of the centre before entering a shop, familiarising myself with its layout.

I reached the shop I had been looking for; a bookstore. I was sure I could find something Lana would enjoy in here. I entered, feeling rather out of my element. I had never been much of a reader.

Coming across the Crime section, I stooped down to the bottom shelf where a book had caught my eye. I picked it up and skim-read the back, still crouching. I looked at a few others on the shelf before deciding that the first on I chose was the best bet. I stood up quickly and turned around towards the counter, but walked right into someone.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't see you there…" I started to mumble while stepping back away from the man's chest.

The man chucked. "That's quite alright, Fraulein," a voice that was becoming far too familiar said. I froze, afraid to look up into the eyes of the man I was trying so desperately to avoid. I concentrated on breathing regularly, and hoping, wishing, that some miracle would occur so I wouldn't have to talk to him and embarrass myself all over again.

What was becoming a long stretch of silence was abruptly broken by a chorus of girls screaming. "OHMYGODOHMYGOD, IT'S KLAVIER GAVIN FROM THE GAVINNERS!" one of the voices screeched. I frowned; I knew Mr Gavin was a star prosecutor, but I had no idea he was that famous…

He chucked again, breaking me out of my train of thought. "I see you have yet to meet my fan club."

I went to reply with some witty statement. All I got out was a feeble "Well, I…" before I was pushed firmly out of the way by one of Mr Gavin's "fan club". Collecting myself, I stormed towards the rude woman who shoved me out of the way. If she thought I was some kind of pushover, she could think again—

Once again, Mr Gavin stopped me thinking. "Chillax, baby," he called to me over the crowd of girls starting to form around him. Somehow, the order didn't seem condescending. I took a couple of deep breaths, and flashed a smile his way before turning to leave.

"Achtung, Ema," he yelled, causing me to stop in my tracks. I whirled around, coming face-to-face with him again. He'd apparently made his way out of the crowd, and was holding something in his hand. "I think you forgot this," he said softly, holding up the book I had chosen for Lana. I must have dropped it earlier.

I smiled sheepishly, and like some schoolgirl, blushed a rosy pink. "Thanks," I muttered, taking it from him. I went to say something else, but before I got a chance, I was interrupted by the screaming girls again.

"Klavier, can we have your autograph?" one of them asked, giggling, and waving a CD case at him. He sighed, smiling, but agreed anyway. The girl screamed, and he signed his name with an angular G the same as his necklace. I caught a glimpse of the CD case; it belonged to a band named "The Gavinners". One of the girls had mentioned this already, I was sure.

I left then, after paying for my book, and waved at Mr Gavin who was still held up by hordes of girls even after I had left. I knew exactly where I was going next; a CD store. If Mr Gavin was in some band I'd never even heard of, I wasn't going to pass up an opportunity to listen to it!

A/N: Translation. (Not much German in this chapter, though…)

"Fraulein" Miss, Ms.

"Achtung" Attention.