u gotta walk in rooms like god sent u as a punishment

Finn wasn’t a heavy drinker anymore, at least not like he'd been when he was younger. Between his hockey career and coaching, he tried to keep himself in check, if only to set some kind of decent example. He wasn't under any illusions about being a role model, but at least he wasn’t the worst person someone could look up to. However, that didn't mean he never indulged. Especially not after watching a brutal loss from one of his favorite teams.

One of the regular barflies (either feeling generous or already too far gone to realize what they were doing), had decided to buy shots for everyone lined up at the bar. Finn wasn’t about to argue with a free drink. These days he usually stuck to beer, so he suspected the tequila might hit harder than he remembered.

Still, muscle memory kicked in. He leaned forward and dipped his mouth to the rim of the glass, skipping using his hands entirely. He knocked the shot back like it was air. The burn that followed was sharp and familiar, and for a brief second, he almost missed it.

Setting the empty glass down, he eyed the remaining shot sitting on the counter. After a moment, Finn nudged it toward the person beside him with a small, easy smile. "I watched them pour it,” he said, voice casual. "No funny business or tampering, I promise. One's definitely enough for me tonight if you want it."

Vanna had already had a couple shots when the regular bought shots for everyone. Normally, she would be happy to partake, where it not for the Long Island Iced Tea she was currently working on, needing a fruity drink to slow herself down. She wasn't hellbent on going blackout drunk - the last time that happened, she'd been lucky to wake up on the couch of one of her old friend's apartment.

So, she'd mostly watched everyone else at the bar taking their shots, eyeing the remaining shot but not wanting to take it just yet. At the stranger's voice, she smiles, and plucks up the shot glass, wildly swinging it about in an almost cavalier motion. "Well, if a fine thing like you insists." With a wink, she downs it with ease. "But just know that you handing that last shot over means that you have officially made me your problem."

"I've lived in the south for a while and I went to Mexico on vacation and one day I'm going to retire there and watch animals run around me while sit on a rocking chair and... just not a thought in my head." She said wistfully before sighing and chuckling right after because she knew she sounded like the old lady she knew she was deep down.

"Sorry for interrupting your conversation. I try to never talk to myself because I can be kinda mean." PJ made a face, scrunching her nose before turning to the window in front of them and letting out a breath. "I have no idea what I'm going to buy my colleague. I don't know her at all." She mused.

"I think the furthest south I've ever been is probably Tennessee for a family vacation." Though that was when she was 12 and the only bit she had liked was going to Dollywood. "But that honestly sounds like an ideal way to retire, just... relaxing with no cares outside the animals around. Throw in a good book and I'd be sold."

"Please, interrupt away. The voices in my head are only so good for company, y'know?" Eden let out a laugh as she turned back to the window briefly. Eyebrows furrowing, she asked, "So, why buy her a gift? Is it some kind of office thing?"

❛ Any help is much appreciated. ❜ Up until that moment, she had all but deemed the jacket a lost cause. ❛ This is why I love walking through the vineyard. Rows and rows of vines and bushes, and there’s not a tree in sight. ❜ It was her fault, really; she decided to cut through the park and had become public enemy number one. That would be the last time she walked under trees wearing something she cared about. ❛ I hope your day is going better? ❜

"Mm, the vineyard is gorgeous. Remind me to stop by when spring comes." She could almost imagine the rows and rows of green, interrupted only by workers or Sabine herself. Flagging down a bartender, Eden ordered a drink for herself. She let the strong liquor flow down her throat for a moment before she spoke. "Oh, do not get me started. Or do, whichever you prefer. It has been that kind of day."

His thumb swept a line at her hip as he took in the warm glow. ❛ You won’t believe what someone tried to sell me today. ❜ It took a lot to surprise Theo when it came to the shop. He kept up with the industry pages, checked in with his stockists every morning for new records, watched release calendars like clockwork. Rarely did anything slip past him.

However, there was one item he'd hunted for over seven years. First with an over-confident certainty that he would track it down easily, and later with a quieter stubborn hope he kept to himself. An elusive album he wanted not for the shop, but for her.

The threat was light, she didn't have it in her to do anything to the records store. It was all his; in her eyes, it was very much his needed proof of independence from his family. Her eyebrows furrowed briefly in confusion. "Mm, I'm guessing some long lost record worth its weight in gold." She paused for a moment before frowning slightly. "Or was it that one guy trying to sell you his Kidz Bop Karaoke vinyl again? Because that's what everyone really wants."

"I'm with you on that one." James laugh as he heard the other's comment about winter. So unprepared for it, he had yet to buy himself a new winter jacket, hoping that his layers of shirts and a flannel would be enough to fight the chill away. Which so far, it wasn't. "I'm beyond ready for it to be summer again." He added after a moment, shrugging his shoulders some, his lips quirking up into an amused smile.

"Are you sure? The five layers of flannel seem to say otherwise." She couldn't stop the tease if she tried, a grin on her face accompanying it. There was also a nagging worry, but she didn't voice it just then. A stranger's business was not her own unless she was deliberately brought into it. "On that we're agreed. I'd happily trade the "magic of winter" for the magic of a warm summer night."

Katherine came to Eden's house with offerings - dessert from the bakery and a bottle of wine from the winery. The benefits of having a marketing-partner in Sabine Delmare meant that there was always the perfect wine to pair with the dessert she brought to her friend's house. "I bought french macaroons and chocolate crossaints," she explained, as she stepped inside the woman's home. "You'll have to tell me if you like them since I made them myself." She wasn't allowed to actually sell what she baked, but she did enjoy baking and on the day that the bakery was closed, Katherine would spend her morning there, baking for herself and enjoying the quiet moments in her bakery. Only a few people knew that Katherine enjoyed baking herself, most thought that she stepped in to buy the bakery because it was a town-favorite and no one wanted it to go to someone who would try to change its charm.

Though, she wasn't sure if anyone expected the eldest Cross daughter to expand the bakery into a dispensary. "Right - there's also - the tiny cookie sandwiches have THC in them, so only eat a couple, but I thought you would be a good taste and mood tester. You and Theo," she suggested. She was the one who would blend the dispensary side with the bakery side, experimenting and trying to make delicious desserts with mood-altering effects.

The cookies were cutely wrapped and had a little sticker with a warning to only eat one or two in a few hours and to wait for the effects. No one liked to green out, no matter how delicious the cookies were.

"My father ate one on my way out of the house." She lived with her parents and had since her son died. "So, I have my phone on silent. I may have to get a hotel tonight just in case he gets upset. I, selfishly, want nothing to do with him right now. He has a list of three men he wants me to go on a date with in the next three weeks. Can you imagine?"

It was almost kind of funny, the friendship that had sprung up between the two women. While Eden had clawed her way to where she was, reliant on her wits entirely, Kick was more akin to Theo, being born into the life of privilege. Hell, sometimes Eden was certain that her friend was more the type that Sir Arthur Gray had hoped his son would marry. It had caused a petty, little thrill somewhere in her head that Theo was her husband, that she had the utmost privilege of driving the old British man even more insane than he already was. "If you'd told me that you got THC cookies, I would have stocked up. Munchies are no joke." Though she couldn't wait for her husband to get home so they could try them. "I promise I'll have a full report next time we see each other."

At the mention of Kick's father, Eden frowned. A frown that turned into a snort at the mention of a hotel. "Don't be silly, Kick. You can stay here, for as long as you like. There's plenty of spare rooms, and I know Theo won't mind. And also, we both know that your father is a dingbat. Three men? Is he trying to give my father-in-law a run for his money?"

PJ finally looked up with her phone in hand and chuckled, "Sorry. I don't know if you were talking to me but I take any opportunity to bad mouth winter."

Eden looked over with a warm grin, waving a hand. "I was only talking to myself, so it's nice to not hear myself reply for a change."

theo kept the record store open late on book club nights, a conscious effort to stay out of his wife’s way. the club was eden’s, and she hardly needed him hanging around, hindering her pursuits.

instead, he used the extra hours for inventory. the store was his passion project, and while he hardly cared which artists sold more than others, he had a running log of requests to fulfill. first, some customers felt he was too stuck in the past, so he ordered straight from the billboard top 100 list. then, there was concern that he didn’t represent all types of music, which he answered by adding a selection of psychedelic meditation records.

he arrived home as the club was wrapping up, listening from the other room as someone debated celeste's motivations for staying with perry for so long. eventually the voices tapered off, leaving the house in comfortable silence. ❛ another success? ❜ theo asked, shoulder resting against the doorway.

It was a comfort, though, that he had his own passion project. His love for music and opening of Golden Hour had led to an abundance of records tucked away. So, she'd had a wide array of vinyls to pick from during the club meeting. For the moment, she had a compilation of Christmas songs playing as she re-folded blankets. Though she stopped the moment she heard Theo's voice, turning with a bright smile to face her husband.

"Yeah, it was great. I'm always glad to see my club members." They'd all become such dear friends to her, and it was always a fun time filled with laughter when she had them all around. Still, she crossed the room in order to loop her arms around Theo's neck so that she could better pull him into a kiss. "I missed you."