Thread Roulette: Something Perfect

[Event !]

Estelle Flores is searching for the perfect holiday gifts. Liam Bell can help.

[Liam Bell]

In Store: Rooftops and Invitations - Dashboard Confessional (2006)

It was a normal day in the Quarter Note. Liam was there in tandem with a few of the students he'd hired to work at the store. The rest of the attendants were busy, well... Attending to people. It was then that he noticed someone else walk into the building. Liam stood patiently behind the counter, leaning his arms against it and nodding to her slightly as she walked in. He'd never seen her before, but then again he struggled to remember faces and names for the most part. Forgetful guy, this one.

"If you need any help, let me know." He called out, before looking away again. He wasn't about to bug her unless she really needed him.

[Estelle Flores]

Estelle really, really, really loved Christmas! And yes it wasn't even Thanksgiving yet but she didn't care! Finding gifts for people was simultaneously one of her favorite and most stressful activity ever. She liked thinking about what people would want and making people happy. But the eternal question was what would be the perfect present to do this?

And this was the second Christmas she'd spent with Henry, and the first one with them technically dating. She wasn't sure if that made this Christmas somehow Significant, but she figured if she started thinking about a good present now, she wouldn't be scrambling so much later.

Music seemed a good bet. Henry was just difficult because it was really hard to get him to admit that he liked anything. Estelle didn't understand it, but that was Henry.

"Hi," she greeted the person behind the register. "Um, yes. I am looking for a present to get for my boyfriend." She brushed her bangs out of her eyes. "Aaaand that's sorta hard because I only have a vague idea of what he likes." She winced apologetically. "Sorry, I've never actually been in here before; I'm just sort of going from store to store, you know?"

[Liam Bell]

Liam had looked away, paying attention to nothing in particular. For the most part he was fighting off the itch to pick up one of the newest guitars and start playing it. He stood back to attention when he registered that someone was speaking to him though. His smile instantly broadened when she mentioned looking for a present for her boyfriend. He'd take a shot; "Christmas shopping early?" Liam asked, "Or does he just have a really late birthday." Ah, he shouldn't get so ahead of himself.

"I understand your dilemma, and I'll be glad to help. You tell me your ideas, and I'll see if I can help." Liam explained, pushing off the counter and walking around it so he could stand on the other side and walk with her if she needed him to.

[Estelle Flores]

Estelle looked sheepish. “Christmas shopping early,” she confessed with a grin. “Finals heads up right next to winter break, so it’s sorta easier to get some stuff done now.” She followed him when he circled around the counter into the body of the store.

“Henry’s…not very picky.” Estelle said. “I can’t tell if he likes all music or doesn’t like music at all.” She made a face. “Oh, but he does like classical music! Where’s your classical music section?”

As she followed him through the stacks of music, she glanced around the store. “This is really nice, I can’t believe I haven’t been in here before. How long have you been setting up here?”

[Liam Bell]

"Right. Better to do it now than leave it till the last minute. It gets to be a madhouse in here." Liam joked, though given the fabled Christmas rush there was a little truth to his statement. He just tried to be as cool and calm as he always was... And pray that no one knocked an instrument off its rack by accident.

Classical music? He let the words ring into his head for a moment. "CD's?" He asked, before taking a few steps through the store to find the appropriate racks she was looking for. With a small flourish of his arm he indicated to where it was.

"I've been managing this little store for about a year now. I took over for someone who wasn't exactly interested anymore." Since then he had put a lot of work into making the place look perfect. That and getting the best stock he could find. "But I originally came to the area to go to school at Hammel." He threw the school's name out there just to see her reaction, really.

[Estelle Flores]

"Oh gosh, I bet." Estelle nodded sympathetically. "Everything's a madhouse near Christmas. I don't really look forward to it, even though I really love Christmas." Estelle loved the holidays. She just didn't quite like the holiday rush.

"CDs would be great!" Estelle said enthusiastically. "We don't have anything like a record player or anything exciting like that, so CDs are what we work with." She laughed lightly, following his direction down to where the CDs might be.

Estelle brightened. "Oh, you went to Hammel? I just graduated from Hammel!" She paused momentarily. "...Wow yeah I graduated in like June. That's weird to think about. Oh, I'm sorry, I shoulda introduced myself." She held out a hand for him to shake. "My name's Estelle Flores, nice to meet you."

[Liam Bell]

"Holidays are great. Christmas can bring out the worst in the everyday shopper, but I try not to let it get to me." Liam shrugged. People's negative attitudes were an easy way to lose all Christmas cheer, so he dodged that as best he could.

He smiled, looking back at her. "CDs it is then!"

Liam nodded, a little brighter when she mentioned graduating from Hammel. It meant they had some kind of connection. He always felt a little more comfortable around people if he found out they were from Hammel. He extended his hand and took hold of hers, shaking it lightly.
"Likewise, and you can call me Liam."

[Estelle Flores]

Estelle grinned. "Yeah, me neither. But you know. It's best to avoid it where you can." She was grateful she'd found someone who shared in her optimism. Sometimes it was a little hard to find, which made her occasionally sad. She always tried to keep as positive as possible or she'd go crazy.

She laughed. "Excellent! Lead the way!"

"Liam. Good to know you. Have you lived in Pilot Ridge your whole life, or just after Hammel?" Nothing wrong with some light conversation, right?

[Liam Bell]

Liam nodded lightly, trying to keep his smile in check as opposed to letting it falter. "I always find the hardest thing about Christmas is telling people what I want them to get me. I don't really need anything, so I'm absolutely useless at explaining what people should get me. They have to suffer through window shopping until they think they found what's best." Sometimes he felt a little bad about it, but it couldn't be helped.

"For a while, I did. But I was in a band for a long time and we got to the point where we were actually touring the country." Liam explained. He was clearly proud of the fact, but he was doing his absolute best not to let it show. He folded his arms, leaning forward on a rack of CDs. "Things got a little personally hectic in my personal life, so I decided to come back here because it was the last place I remember as home."

Liam ran his hand along the stack of CDs, "So you've got your Beethoven, your Bach or Mozart. Or do you mean classic music as in more recent classics from the 40s to 50s. Different eras?"