⇾ 𝐍𝐎𝐓 𝐅𝐀𝐃𝐄 𝐀𝐖𝐀𝐘 | 𝐂𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐜 𝐑𝐨𝐜𝐤 𝐈𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬

Christmastime Blues (J. Bonham)

1970

John rushed into the store at 10:00 PM on Christmas Eve. How the hell had he forgotten a Christmas present for his girlfriend? He guessed he'd just been been so caught up in everyone else that it had just...slipped his mind?

What a fucking idiot.

He didn't even know what he was looking for. He spotted a girl at the jewelry counter, reading a paperback book as she waited for a customer to serve. John was about to be that customer.

"Excuse me?" he asked, panting as if he were out of breath.

She looked up and John immediately noticed how beautiful she was and swallowed. "Yes?" she asked sweetly, closing a bookmark between the pages of her novel and standing up straight so she could look at him.

"I need something for my girlfriend," he admitted. "I was hoping you could help me?"

The girl raised her eyebrows. "At this time of night? On Christmas Eve?"

"I'm a little late to the game, aren't I?" John responded with a nervous laugh. "We've been—well—I'm sure you don't care, but...I just kinda...forgot?"

The girl at the counter was curious to know how exactly he'd forgotten his girlfriend all month with all the Christmas commercials and advertisements for couple's gifts everywhere, but she didn't see it as completely ethical to ask him, so she kept her mouth shut. "Well, what kinda stuff does she like?" she asked instead.

"Well, she really likes the color blue," John said, thinking hard. "Got anything like that?"

"Well, we've got these." She led John over to some necklaces. John studied each of them, but had no idea what to settle on.

"They're all so beautiful," he said to himself.

"Any girl would be lucky with any one them," the girl responded and John smiled at her.

"I'll go with that one," he said to her finally, pointing to a heart-shaped necklace with a blue jewel right in the middle.

"Good choice," she replied with a smile, ducking down to retrieve it. She put it in a box carefully, then handed it over to John.

John smiled at her as he reached into his pocket to pay for it.

"What's your name?" the girl asked nicely.

"Oh, me? I'm John. You?"

"Y/n," she responded with a smile. "And what's the name of this lucky girl you're buying for?" he asked.

"Candace," he responded simply.

Y/n nodded. "Well, here you are," she told him, sticking his receipt in the bag and handing it over to him.

"Thanks, y/n," he said as he took the bag with the necklace in it. "And don't think too lowly of me for forgetting the present. If you knew Candy, then you'd understand.

Y/n laughed. "Merry Christmas," she told him. "Congratulations on being our last customer." With that, she disappeared into the back room to get ready to leave.

John stood at the door for a moment, then sighed. He could only hope Candace liked the gift, though she'd probably have something shitty to say about it. She always found something to complain about. John wasn't sure how much more of it there was that he could take.

He turned around and opened the door, but before he stepped out into the frigid December air, he flipped the sign on the door to "closed," just to delay getting home a few seconds more.