酷视

"What kind of drinks are you looking for? Something for any particular kind of event? Or just stocking up your bar?" she asked, already dropping her pose as she rushed out towards the now vacant space behind the counter and pulled out quite a sizeable album.

"We are just stocking up," I replied, dismissing the woman\'s initial idea.

Pretending that we needed drinks for some sort of event would only lead her to suggest one, maybe two types of them but in all sorts of varieties. And unsure about Fay\'s tastes, I saw no point in choosing the kind of drinks she would like at random.

\'I have enough money to buy whatever the heck I want, so why hold back?\'

"If that\'s the case, then are you interested in any genre in particular?" the woman opened up her album and moved some pages before raising her eyes and giving me a curious look.

\'Casually using lingo rather than trying to flex it,\' I fought off the desire to roll my eyes. \'Just like I thought, this was the right place to go!\'

Given how my only prior knowledge about this relatively upper-class store came from the online reviews, I was glad to find out they weren\'t bought by the business as it often was the case.

"Vodka or maybe some other strong spirits? Whiskey? Brandy?" Hearing no response, the owner listed out a few types to guide my thoughts a little. And as she looked at Fay, she smiled a little and added, "Maybe some high-class wine?"

\'This isn\'t a smile straight out of the customer service course,\' I noticed, easily recognizing the genuine desire to show off perfectly obvious from the eagerness of the woman\'s gestures and attentiveness.

"If you had close to unlimited funds and wanted to give someone from the wild a crash course of all the tastes our civilization has to offer, what would you suggest?"

My question was, in a sense, riding the line. But in the current particular scenario, I could easily claim it\'s just a story I fabricated on the go to better explain what I desired.

To even further reinforce that point, I raised my hand and gently patted Fay on the top of her head.

"She came out from the boonies and only knows the taste of some questionable moonshine," I claimed, grinning when I saw Fay squandering to figure out what sort of expression she should make for her looks to fit the story. "Now that I\'ve saved her from that abusive uncle of ours, I don\'t want her to ever drink that kind of cheap and likely toxic booze ever again," I added, shaking my head.

In this short moment, what started as a justification for using a story that was dangerously close to home, did not turn into something deeper.

An attempt at leaving an impression with just enough details for the woman to remember us. And once the time would come for me to work out the issue of Fay\'s lack of credentials, having someone easily backing up our story for how she never had one…

\'I guess we are going to frequent this shop quite a bit,\' I thought.

"And you want to check what kind of drinks she would actually fancy, I see," the woman quickly proved to be the fateful pick for the job, given how quickly she swallowed the bait, the hook and the line of my story, even going as far as to build up on it all on her own.

"But still…" the shop owner shook her head. "Claiming that you have unlimited funds…" she shook her head in obvious disapproval before even going as far as to click her tongue. "Are you that keen for me to rip you off or something?"

I sighed in my mind.

\'Now I get how she managed to keep such a high review score,\' I thought.

This woman was likely the owner of this small, classy shop. As such, every bit of profit the shop made, every sale, big or small, would directly contribute to her own financial situation. And given how relatively expensive the goods here were and the ongoing drought that followed the economic meltdown from the collapse of the global market…

Even though there weren\'t many signs of this, I could pretty easily see that this shop wasn\'t in its best financial condition.

\'The dim lighting isn\'t an attempt to introduce a comfy vibe, but just an effect of using cheap lights and not being able to afford to replace the used ones.\'

I took a deep breath and slowly blinked my eyes.

\'Now that I have money, I don\'t think there\'s an issue supporting a local business.\'

"I appreciate your warning, but I really mean it," I added only to stop patting Fay\'s head and move on to rustle her hair a little. "What kind of a patron would I be if I held back?" I asked while nearly laughing out when noticing Fay\'s slightly bewildered expression. "So yeah, give me your worst, and remember," I raised my other hand with my forefinger erected.

"Close to unlimited funds, as long as we remain within the realm of a reason."

The look in the shop owner\'s eyes changed. From being happy to serve in her field of expertise… to taking my words for a challenge.

"So you indeed want me to rip you off," the woman laughed out, trying to cover the seriousness that flashed in her eyes. "How about a premium version of the starter, then?" she suggested, dropping the album back to the counter and pointing her hand at a row of huge packages stocked at the very top of the shelves at the back of the room.

"It contains a rich selection of shots of all kinds, ranging from wines and premade drinks, through heavier spirits…"

"I appreciate the gesture, but I don\'t think I\'m getting my point across," I sighed while shaking my head. Then, I moved my chin up and looked right into the woman\'s eyes, as if trying to drill holes in her face. "I\'m asking you to rip me off, but make sure I will have a literal truckload of drinks I won\'t be ashamed to serve."

Leaning back a little bit, I moved my hand down from Fay\'s head and to her shoulder, finding it extremely comfortable for a hand\'s stand.

"So don\'t hold anything back, and rip me off," I repeated my request. "Oh, and add one… no, two cases of pure spirit on top of everything," I added with a grin, recalling Leinei\'s requests.

\'Why do I have the feeling her drinks when mixed with raw spirit might end up being tastier than whatever I can buy here?\'

"In that case, I\'m going to rip you off indeed!" Finally encouraged enough, the woman exclaimed while only pretending to hold back the brightness that flashed in her eyes. "I will rip you off, but I won\'t let you leave my premises dissatisfied!"