“Oho? What is this? Did you already start hitting on the younger girls?” Audry grinned mischievously at Kane as he walked into the back room with Stacey hanging on his arm. 

“Don’t be mean to my brother!” Stacey let go of Kane’s arm and playfully punched Audry.

“So that is your thing, huh? BROTHER….” Audry grinned widely as she said the last word quite loudly. This made Kane shake his head and rub his nose.

“We had to act like that just now to chase off a guy who was harassing her. I will go talk to Mama Claire. I will be back tonight to walk her home. Audry, you are still on for a bit, so can you ask Monica to keep an eye on things as well?” Kane knew he would not see Monica today, so he hoped Audry could ask her for help.

“Yeah, no problem.” Audry’s teasing smile disappeared now, knowing what was going on. She turned to Stacey and asked: “Are you okay?”

“My wrist hurts a little, but thanks to Brother, I was able to escape being dragged off.” Stacey replied. She seemed to be dead set on calling Kane brother now.   

“Let me see.” Audry pulled up Stacey’s sleeve to see a handprint on Stacey’s wrist. It was also slightly swollen.

“I shouldn’t have let him off so easily….” Kane’s eyes were cold. He did not like it when people hurt girls. He had grown up being told that a man protects the women around him. While he was mad, he also felt bad. “Sorry, Stacey, I did not notice you got hurt.”

“It’s fine. It only hurts a little. I can still work, no problem.” Stacey beamed a smile at Kane. She had always been an only child and had to deal with everything herself while growing up, so to have so many people concerned about her and even Kane protecting her, she felt very blessed at this time. 

“Alright, but if it hurts too much, tell Mama Claire. I will go talk to her now.” Kane walked out of the backroom to go speak with Mama Claire. The two girls watched his retreating back with small smiles on their faces. Only Stacey’s eyes lingered a little longer, even after Kane was out of sight.

“So how was it to be the beauty that was saved by the hero?” Audry asked teasingly.

    “I… it’s not like that! Although, I do wish I could have a brother like Kane. He really knew how to deal with the situation to the point that even I got chills. His acting is very realistic. I could even feel his oppressive aura as he spoke to that idiot. But I know he is just kind. He is even going out of his way to walk me home tonight.” Stacey did not know how she should feel about this. She knew Kane was just doing it because he was kind, but she couldn’t help but feel sweet in her heart. 

“Hehe.” Audry smiled. She was glad Kane came, or else something bad could have happened to Stacey. “Go get changed and then get to work. Monica will be here in two hours.” 

“Okay!” Stacey smiled and hurried to the changing room.

In the main office, Mama Claire sat at her desk with an envelope in her hand. “Here.”

“This is?” Kane was confused and a little scared. He had just walked in and was being handed an envelope. He wondered if he was being fired.

“It’s your week’s pay. I do not do paychecks. So you get cash. Think of it as a means of keeping yourself from being forced to hand over thirty percent to taxes. At any rate, isn’t this what you came for?” Mama Claire asked. She was quite the blunt person.

“Ah no, well yes, but no. Ummm, it’s like this.” Kane went on and told Mama Claire what happened. Mama Claire’s eyes showed a hint of anger in them as she listened. 

After listening to what had happened, Mama Claire gave Kane an approving look and took out a fifty-dollar bill. “You did good. I will have to rely on you to escort that child from now on. This will be your daily duty. Pick her up from school and escort her home every day. Here is an extra fifty for the extra work. If you slack on this, you can forget about working here. My girls are the top priority here. I normally would never hire any men, but you would not give up, so I made an exception. Now I am glad I did hire you. Make sure that child stays safe. She does not have an easy life.”

“Understood.” Kane nodded. He had planned to make sure she was safe. Otherwise, he would never have offered to walk her home. But now that he was going to pick her up from school as well. He felt a little more relieved that Stacey had more protection.

“Just don’t try anything, or I will kill you.” Mama Claire’s eyes were firm as she said this. 

After reassuring Mama Claire he had pure intentions, Kane finally left after reminding Stacey not to go off on her own and wait for him to pick her up.

He then went to his other job, where he only worked five hours at. When he was done, he gathered his things and headed back to Mama Claire’s Pizzeria. “I am a little early, so I can stop by that place….” 

He had around two hundred on him now. This was his first pay from his job at the pizzeria, so he could check out the second-hand music store that was close to the pizzeria. He walked through the door and looked around. While he saw many guitars, most of them were quite expensive and out of his price range. Of course, not all of them were as expensive as the ones in the front. These were instruments that had been hardly used. He walked to the back, where the more roughed-up stuff was. He figured he would get the cheapest he could get for now since he did not know if he could even learn to play it well. Once he learned a bit, he would spend the money to upgrade. 

When he arrived at the back of the shop he saw a beat-up acoustic guitar. The body was quite beaten up, but the strings were new. He did not know if it was tuned or not, but he figured he could check it out after. He had planned to buy a tuner and a guitar bag as well as a beginner’s guide so he could start learning. He looked at the price and was shocked to see that this guitar was only thirty bucks! “Then I choose you!”