Late Afternoon

As of late, work had been hell.  Things that should have been going exactly the way they were planned, were not, and most of all he now had to deal with people that he never would have if he hadn’t been so distracted.  As much as he felt guilt, he also felt anger.  Not with himself, of course, but with Celina.  If she had just been a responsible adult instead of acting like a child at her age, he wouldn’t be so focused on finding her rather than on his job. 

Alfonz knew that he needed to focus, but rarely having this kind of problem it was difficult for him to figure out what would help.  Thinking back, he thought of the most calm he’d ever felt in his life.  A calm day, sun shone through the great bay window of their childhood home; Alfonz had watched Celina intensely as her hands flowed over the harps chords like ripples over the ocean’s blue grace.  It was then he had felt the most calm, focused, and clear headed.

The streets of Diagon had been filled with families, and adults trying to make their way home from work and doing their late afternoon errands.  Alfonz had thought of doing the same after his meditation.  Harp music, though it would not be from the hands of his lovely sister, may be the exact thing he needed.  As he arrived, he looked up at the sign marking the store he had been looking for. Reducto Records Raising an eyebrow, Alfonz grunted in disbelief of what he was doing.

Opening the door with one hand, he looked around one last time before walking in.  Disbelief in what he was actually doing was getting the better of him, and making sure that no one was going to be noticing him was more important to him than it probably should have been.  Walking in, Alfonz looked around slowly and thoroughly, though he couldn’t for the life of him figure out where harp music would be.  Classical, maybe.  Cocking his head upward towards the front of the store, Alfonz decided that he needed to find someone to help him so that he could leave as soon as it was physically possible.

“Hello,” he said calmly.

(Jacoba/Open)

It was possible that, during Tony's shift, harp music might have drifted from the phonograph at the front of the store.  He, more than most of the members of the staff, had a musical taste that ran towards the quieter, softer side of things.  He was the one that tended towards the styles of music that parents used when they wanted to multitask in trying to get their children to be smarter and fall asleep at the same time. 

Unfortunately, Tony wasn't the associate working the shift when the new costumer graced through the door.  Instead, it was the shop's resident (literally and figuratively) muggle-turned-not-quite-muggle who stood behind the counter and the cash register that was better suited to a John Wayne movie than the heart of twenty-first century London.  At least, Jacoba was in a lighter-than-usual mood.  It was one of Joni Mitchell's[1] quiet, laid back classics that played in the background as Jacoba transferred tallies and sale records to the inventory logs. 

Not all of Reducto's employees were magically inept but most of them were.  The manager and a couple other employees were squibs.  The muggle shop bell that hung over the door was a rudimentary and quaint means of defense in a world where people could turn their enemies into toads without much more than a thought but it did help limit how readily people could sneak into the store without detection. 

"Allo," Jacoba offered, her German accent ringing true in her voice.  She set mechanical pencil down (she'd given up on quills about half an hour into using them) and turned her attention to the fellow.  "Are you looking for something for yourself or as a gift?  Most of it's arranged by genre and genres are alphabetical, starting in the front corner.  Muggle groups and artists are along the back wall and right over there is where we toss everything we don't know what to do with.  Browse there at your own risk.  And, if you're looking for something particular, let me know and I might be able to hunt it down."

1.

Carey

Alfonz walked towards the answer, allowing her to prattle through her disclaimer and marketing speech.  As he neared her, he nodded.  That was all and great, what she had to say, but it wasn’t until her final comment that he actually found any purpose in it at all.  Yes, he was looking for something specific. Yes, he would have her find it, because spending all of his evening in a music store was not his idea of a productive night.  He’d rather be grabbing a drink at the Leaky Cauldron and bringing some home to enjoy a drunken stupor in peace, hopefully being able to enjoy some music at the same time, while thinking up more ideas and details about where Celina could have gotten herself. 

“Actually, I did want something specific,” Alfonz started, his voice deep and calm.  “Do you have anything that would include or be primarily harp music?”  Studying the woman in front of him, she was taller than most women with darker hair and light skin.  She had a very distinct accent, which Alfonz would guess Russian or German, but he’d always gotten them confused.   His eyes darted from the woman to the counter, just out of curiosity and being aware that she’d been doing something prior to his entrance.  What was very interesting though was the pencil that she was using.  Alfonz smirked, though his face had a bit of sarcasm to it.  He carried a pen on the inside of his robes at all times, however, hidden from the wizarding world.  It was just amusing to see a pencil on this side of the wall, and just on that note Alfonz couldn’t help but nonverbally jest.

His eyes moved up to meet hers again, and Alfonz nodded slightly; it was back to business to get out of the store as quickly as he could.  “It’s the only instrument I can stand to be in the same room with for any length of time.” 

Ahh...so the fellow was one of those. 

There were certain businesses that lent themselves to a generally crabby clientele, such as dental offices and government offices.  Then there were businesses like candy shops where unhappy costumers were as uncommon as four leafed clovers.  Record shops tended to gravitate towards the later - most of their customers were the laid back, content-to-be-lazily-browsing types.  But, exceptions to that profile were slightly more common than with candy shops. And, it seemed Jacoba was the lucky winner of the today's daily sour puss. 

And, he would be one asking for music that didn't really align with her style.  "Harp music?"  Jacoba asked.  To be honest, that wasn't what she was expecting of the burly fellow.  Good thing she hadn't opted for Rammstein on the shop's record player that morning. 

With a light tap, Jacoba pushed the lead back into the pencil before abandoning her post on the far side of the counter.  While Jacoba didn't go as far as walking down the street with a "Invasive Muggle Pest," silk screened onto a hoodie, Jacoba also didn't try to completely hide her muggle-y ways.  Thanks to those obnoxious posters[1], most of Diagon's usual crowd already knew.  Or, knew what had been the gossip last spring.  The new gossip hadn't quite spread, yet. 

But, the brief flicker of amusement in the fellow wasn't lost on Jacoba and she arched a curious eyebrow.  "If you actually know what it is, chances are you're not in much of a position to judge.  Unfortunately, I'm not really so good with numbers that I'm comfortable using a permanent writing medium."  And, even if her 'magical status' wasn't what she thought it was, she wasn't exactly in a position magically remove ink from paper.  Or parchment. 

"Have you tried similar instruments?  Ones from the same family?" Jacoba asked as she led the way through the record bins.  "We have a couple harpists in the celtic music section.  Obviously a few that are more into the classical style.  And, we have a handful of bands that dabble in medieval-themed music that feature the harp heavily.  Any of those sounds seem more appealing to you?"

1.	Lovely posters

His request was an odd one, it seemed and Alfonz wasn’t too sure if he should feel embarrassed for his choice of style, or just annoyed that she didn’t direct him immediately toward what he wanted.  Alfonz sighed, at this point being uncaring of feeling either of the previously mentioned, and yet choosing to rather hang on to the feeling that his jesting was giving him.

If you actually know what it is, chances are you're not in much of a position to judge.  Unfortunately, I'm not really so good with numbers that I'm comfortable using a permanent writing medium. 

“Excuse my face,” Alfonz started, his smirk turning into more of a chuckle. “It was meant with no ill will.  However, you are right.  I can no more judge you for your pencil than you can for my preference of music.” Alfonz’s raised an eyebrow and shrugged.  To him their playing field was level and if was finally to be playing on a level field with someone again; even if it were just a store clerk at a local music store.

As he listened to her alternative choices of music, his smile faded however.  None of those seemed to be what he was looking for at all, but if they didn’t have it then what then could he really plan to accomplish?  “You say the medieval music you have are harp heavy?  No single harp music though?”  Alfonz wondered to himself for a moment if that would even be anything of his liking.  It probably would not, but at the same time Alfonz considered that even harp music may do nothing for him.  Only a specific person really ever did it for him, so maybe it had never really been the music really in the first place? 

“I suppose there’s not a chance I could listen to it first before purchasing, is there?” Alfonz looked back at the woman, crossing his arms slightly as he did so.

Jacoba quickly shook her head.  "I wasn't too worried," Jacoba assure the fellow.  She nodded vaguely back in the direction of the shop counter and, theoretically, in the direction of the pencil.  "My past experience has been limited but, so far, I've found those who are going to be judgemental about such things are generally not that subtle about it." 

Witches or wizards who were troubled by the stray muggle implement had a tendency to be very forward about.  There was really little need to be subtle.  Down here, the majority of onlookers were bound to be on their side. 

"And, who's to say my judgment wasn't a positive one?" Jacoba asked.  "Though, in all honesty, I was more curious and intrigued than judgmental."  She'd first started at Reducto about a year before, her love of music being her primary (if not only) qualification.  Her only real work experience before that had been working the phones at Amnesty International where gauging the mood or interests of the person you were talking to was an asset.  And, she'd been coming to find that little said more about a person than their taste in music. 

Jacoba started flipping through a stack of Celtic albums, pausing briefly to nod at the fellow.  "We have a stereo ... phonograph for trying out music.  You're welcome to try out anything you want.  I think a couple of the Celtic albums might feature just the harp.  Or, at most, a little background acoustic guitar.  Albums in the classical genre seem to feature more variety of instruments in the mix.  The medieval stuff...I'm guessing will be too orchestrated."   

She hesitated a moment, then glanced curiously towards the fellow.  "Would you object to muggle artists?" she asked.  "The last order I received had some Italian harp music.  A couple of the tracks might have featured some accompanying violin, though.  Most were unadulterated, though."