Timing Is Everything [Luke]

[jimbo brian blishwick vi]

@luke

Hogsmeade! Oh what a treat this was for Jimbo. Another outing to conduct research, as well as meet some potential clients that were interested in getting readings done while in a public place instead of his shop. Jimbo disliked that for a few reasons, despite always giving in at the end. The first was because his matchmaking abilities typically sucked beyond belief when put on the spot in public. Now typically, this would probably be true for the Three Broomsticks due to how many students would be milling about. The drone of voices and people bumping into him alone would be too much, not to mention every curious pair of eyes trying to figure out what the guy meditating in the corner was doing. With school out, the Broomstick was basically a normal bar during the day, and for that, Jimbo was grateful. It meant he was due to get a way better reading on his client than he would on a busy day there, and thus, a happy client. As for the second reason why he had a disdain for public readings: he preferred the comfort of his favorite chair to meditate on. The wooden bar stools and chairs were great after a few beers had been flowing through him, but they did a number on his gluteus maximus when trying to concentrate. Plus, drinking on the job wasn’t really his thing.

The plan had been to meet his first client in the pub around noon. Noon had long since passed, so it was on to client number two, who had a meeting at one. One had also passed, and now Jimbo was drinking. There was no hope for those folks, he had already decided on it. Wasting his time and making a mockery of his business was the final straw for him. As far as he was concerned, they didn’t deserve to find the loves of their life if they could so easily blow him off. His track record for accuracy was impeccable. Someone would have to be an idiot not to trust his judgement. There was a reason he was thinking of writing a book about some of the better ways he had managed to help people out. Anything to draw more of a crowd.

With his meetings cancelled, the second part of his trip was started much earlier than he had anticipated. Jimbo had found lately that he was spending a lot of his spare time in coffee shops and bars, basically just watching people interact and learning how to read into social cues of newer generations. Ultimately it would help him place people more accurately than if he hadn’t done the research. Growing tired of watching a small group of twenty-somethings laughing at a nearby table, Jimbo swiveled himself around on his stool to finish off his beer. “I’m going to need another one, bartender,” he called out as he set the empty pint back down on the bar.

[Deleted]

Luke loved his job. He loved being constantly surrounded by people and he loved that there was always someone to chat with at the bar. Luke loved being in the Uk, but he couldn’t say he didn’t desperately miss America. He missed his family and his friends. He missed his home and his dogs and his truck (which he had agreed to allow his sister to borrow this summer and was praying everyday that she wouldn’t crash). He hadn't made quite as many friends in England as he hoped he would. He had been here since April and most of the people he talked to were the ones he knew from Ilvermorny and who had also moved here. He had done what he came here to do, he met his siblings. He was still getting to know them, but that was going to take time and he knew it so he wasn’t trying to rush it. However, he did often find himself lonely. There were girls that would come in and get drunk and flirt with the cute, cowboy bartender. And they were fun, but he rarely saw them ever again.

Luke pondered his life as he wiped down the bar for probably the dozenth time that day. He started his shirt around an hour ago, at that point, the man at the bar had already been there, sitting with a pint and watching the door for someone to come in. Luke knew the feeling. When the man spoke, asking for a refill, Luke made his way over and obliged, taking his glass to rinse and fill. “You waitin’ for someone?” he asked. The man was well dressed, Luke assumed he was some business man or something along those lines, maybe waiting for a business partner.

jimbo brian blishwick vi

[jimbo brian blishwick vi]

@luke

There hadn’t been much of a conversation with the gruff bartender that had been working when he entered, so Jimbo didn’t really expect much from the new one either. This one was significantly younger, and probably the one they brought in for the closing shift to draw a younger crowd in. Jimbo never recalled the Broomsticks having that kind of nightlife, mostly because it was out in the middle of nowhere, and none of the young kids these days wanted to go back near Hogwarts so soon after getting away from it. Regardless, that was what came to mind when he saw the young bartender enter, and it would make sense to try and generate more of a crowd during the off season. Speaking of him, the bartender was quickly over to him, replacing the pint and starting to clean the old glass within seconds. Efficiency was a marvelous thing. It made the world go round and round perfectly.

Jimbo took a slow sip of his drink as the bartender asked him if he was waiting for someone. Was, was the keyword there. He leaned back in his seat a little, nodding his head slowly as he stared into the drink. “Mhmm. Was,” Jimbo cleared his throat. “Had a potential business meeting scheduled, but looks like they got cold feet. Can’t blame them. Sometimes people think they can do it all on their own,” he shrugged as he took another swig. There were times when clients came in asking, or begging rather, for him to help out, and upon further review, he figured they could do everything on their own. Not everyone was perfect for his line of work. Sometimes going with it naturally was easier. Jimbo realized that he had omitted his line of business, and was sure that the bartender would ask. That was their job after all, serve drinks and talk to customers. “I run a matchmaking business in Diagon Alley. This was supposed to be a preliminary meeting and discussion about what I could do for them.”

[Deleted]

When the man sitting at the bar agreed that he had been waiting for someone and explained that they had likely gotten cold feet and thus never showed up. Luke was never one to just blow off a meeting, especially a professional meeting, he’d at least send word that he wanted to cancel rather than just not show up. Luke opened his mouth to ask what the man did, but the man seemed to think a little further ahead than the American blonde and explained that he owned a matchmaking business in Diagon Alley. “Matchmaking? You don’t say!” Luke couldn’t help the interest show up on his face. He had never met anyone who worked in the matchmaking business before, at least not that he was aware of. Honestly, he didn’t know that it still existed. He had heard a few things about arranged marriages and parents enrolling their children in a matchmaking service with some of his Ilvermorny classmates, but he never really paid attention to it or thought much of it. He kind of thought it was a joke, or, just not very serious. “So how does that work exactly?” he asked. Luke had been known to do alright on his own. But he had been here for months and still found himself without a date. Maybe he’d be interested if he knew a bit more. 

jimbo brian blishwick vi

[jimbo brian blishwick vi]

@luke

Hook, line, and sinker. The bartender had bit on to the conversation, even if though that was basically the only one to be had at the time. Jimbo always ignored the fact that service employees were required to talk with their customers in this manner; he obviously did the same thing in his store, but these ones had to pretend to like and be interested in everything he said. He didn’t have to do that with his own customers. “Matchmaking,” Jimbo repeated again to reinforce his occupation. “It’s quite a neat business, actually.” He said as he settled himself in for the long story ahead. The boy behind the bar seemed genuinely interested, but bartenders were good at that after all. “None of that fortune telling garbage. Not that fortune telling is inherently bad, it’s just not accurate all the time. I pride myself and my business in accurate matchmaking readings. Wouldn’t be successful without them.” Jimbo noted that the bartender was American, so that meant he probably wasn’t aware of the history involved with the store. “Essentially, the business, that’s Blishwick Matchmaking Services in Diagon Alley, has been family run for six generations now. We have this, let’s call it a sense, a sense that allows us to understand how people feel about and want in a potential partner.” Jimbo paused for a moment to allow any developing thoughts or questions to come forward, before continuing again. “So our services are similar to a doctor’s appointment. I get to know the potential client, discuss with them what they’re looking for in a partner, and then go from there. I have a sort of storage thing in my head where I can locate each and every client and see who works with who. Wild stuff really.”

[Deleted]

The man sitting at the counter when on to explain his business and that it had been in his family for generations. That was fairly impressive, Luke supposed that the family must have a gift for matchmaking, otherwise they wouldn’t have stayed in business so long, surely they had to be good at what they did to have survived and not been driven out of business by upset clients over the years. That had to make it somewhat more legitimate, right? Luke couldn’t help but think so. Of course, he was an American and was new to the area. It would be easy for a conman to feed him this story, get him interested and then take advantage of him. It would be clever, to take advantage of single men who didn’t know that the business was fake. Luke kept that at the front of his mind as he continued the conversation. Not that he didn’t trust the man, he was just still skeptical about the whole thing. He’d have to ask around about it. He’d ask his coworkers and roommate. Finn would probably be able to tell him whether it was a legitimate business. Finn always seemed to know these things. “You get a lot of clients?” he asked, wondering what kind of person who want to do something like that. However, he shouldn’t be judgmental since he was considering doing something like that. Or, at least he was thinking about maybe considering it.

jimbo brian blishwick vi

[jimbo brian blishwick vi]

@luke

Finishing his rather elegant speech on the business, Jimbo took a long swig of his drink. He had practiced and performed those lines for years. He could recite them in his sleep. His wife, before she had died, had said so herself. Initially he thought she was doing it as a way to stroke his ego, but then Jameson said it happened too, but only when she was trying to get him to wake up in the morning to take her somewhere. He took another, smaller sip, as the bartender asked him if he had a lot of clients. “Of course. Hard to be around for six generations and not have them,” Jimbo said rather smugly. “We’re bust right now with students being out of school. You would be surprised by how many graduate, get a job, and decide they want to settle down. The answer is a lot.” That and he had been contemplating running a second round of his blind-dates; they had succeeded a few months earlier, and with the added bonus of the summer months ahead, he was sure this one would double in size. The idea to make them more public like they were now had been a genius revelation. Thankfully it had been his idea and not an employee’s. Then he would have had to give them a raise. “So what about you? Anyone special currently? We have the normal stuff, where you give me basic information and I go from there, there are blind dates which are mostly for fun, or you can shell out lots of money and probably get hitched to one of those stuffy, rich pure-blooded folk. Personally, I think the blind dates are shaping up to be interesting.” Jimbo said, making sure to be extremely clear on the last bit. He really wanted to sell that part of his services.

[Deleted]

He had a lot of clients, of course he did. However, Luke realized that it was easy for someone to say that they had a lot of clients when there was no way to provide proof or no desire to do so. It could still be a scam, and Luke was still slightly skeptical about it all. He had never heard of anything like this in America, not to say that it didn’t exist over there, but he had just never heard about a matchmaker, someone who matches people up using magic. It seemed like a love-potion type of deal. The man went on to explain that a large amount of graduates went on to want to settle down and Lucas cocked his eyebrow at the guy: that sounded like a scam. Luke had never thought seriously about settling down yet, and he had been graduated for several years now. But he did know of a few people who had got married and already had children at his age, maybe it was more popular to do so over here. “And you’ve got a good success rate?” he questioned, feeling himself being drawn in, at least on his own curiosity. The man began to question Luke on his own love life and Luke smirked, giving a charming chuckle and tossed his towel over his shoulder. “Nothing serious for me.” he admitted, at least not right now. If he met someone that made him change his mind, he was completely open to it. “Blind dates? Just like a set up, right?” he asked. “No strings?”

jimbo brian blishwick vi

[jimbo brian blishwick vi]

@luke

A good success rate? Ha! Jimbo tried to keep his composure at the comment, but failed to do so, a chuckle rolling out of him as he shook his head. Slowing the laugh down enough to take another sip of his drink, the hilarity of the situation ended as he wiped his mouth. “Superb success rate,” he said, switching to a more serious face. Calling his work superb didn’t really sell it all that well though. What he did was something else altogether. No one else could do what he could, aside from his father, and grandfather, before him. The services they provided were unique in a way that not even magic could replicate, the closest being a love potion. That sticky, mucky mess of a fake love was a disgusting smudge of the highest kind. Jimbo hated looking like a fool when people actually thought they found love via that nonsense. Thus, that was why he found the bartender’s comment hilarious. Success rates did not exist in his world, aside from those that decided to pay for his services, and those that didn’t. “You’ve heard ‘till death do us part’, right? It’s that kind of success that I have.” There were tiny flukes in the system here and there, but his own investigation into those matters usually brought up facts that were omitted from his initial intakes. Things so integral that he would never have put one with the other if he had known about it. That was something the bartender didn’t need to know about though.

The young man said that there was nothing serious for him currently, and Jimbo accepted the statement. Not everyone needed someone at all times. He respected that. He was the same way at one point in time. That changed, of course, but there was something special about being a bachelor in a world of limitless possibilities. Considering the bartender’s accent, this was one of those times for him. “No strings. Unless you count all expenses paid as one,” Jimbo shrugged as he took another, smaller sip of his drink, finishing off the rest of it. “I try to make it clear to those that pursue that route that finding true love in that manner almost never works. Personally, I view the blind dates as a way to get out and meet people you’ve never met before, or if you have, find a different side of them.” There was a kind of elegance to that, which was why he was heavily promoting it lately. Young people (who happened to be the majority of his clients and those that went on blind dates) needed to explore new activities and places, and find themselves. What was a better way to do that than with a complete stranger?

[Deleted]

Till death do us part. The man insisted that his success rate ran along the lines of till death do us part and Luke found himself standing there nodding and actually being very impressed with the man and his career and business and skills. He wondered if it was a type of magic that he had mastered or some kind of unique skill that he was born with. Luke wanted to think that it was genetic based on the fact that he had earlier said that his whole family had been in this business before him. “That is impressive. And this person you were supposed to meet here today was a potential client looking for the love of their life? And they bailed? Man do they miss out then.” he admitted with a smirk. He truly meant it, but he said it lightly so that it didn’t seem like he was thinking too much about it. The truth was, he’d be giving this whole thing a lot of thought for the next week or two. “Well that sounds like a good time. And even if it doesn’t work out, it could just be a new way to meet new people. Which could be good for someone like me who’s new to town.” Luke pondered. “I’ll have to look into it.”

jimbo brian blishwick vi

[jimbo brian blishwick vi]

@luke

Ahhh the look of captivation the boy had on his face! Jimbo had seen that look a million times before. Literally. It had all started in school, before others his age truly understood what love was. There was the feeling and the concept. Some could understand both, most only one, and a lot more than that got the two confused. The bartender had the look that he had grasped the concept of what Jimbo’s ability and business did. Either that, or he was extremely good at feigning surprise, which would make sense considering he was a bartender. They had to be interested in what customers were saying no matter what it was about.

The lad continued the conversation by asking if the person he was supposed to meet was one of those clients, and Jimbo nodded his head as he took another sip of his drink. “Getting cold feet is pretty common. I imagine that it’s hard to wrap your head around the fact that someone can tell you exactly who you will marry based only on your interests and qualities as a person,” Jimbo explained. He had never personally been matched, the family’s ability not working on themselves. That would be too overpowered to make sense, in his opinion. Being subjected to the old fashion way had made it that much more interesting. “Of course, some people realize that they either don’t want to be hitched right away, or that they aren’t desperate enough yet to rely on me.” Jimbo chuckled at calling his business an act of desperation, but it wasn’t inaccurate. The number of witches and wizards in their 30s and 40s that came into the shop was higher than those younger than them.

The blind dates, on the other hand, were something else altogether. The youngsters loved them, and so did the students at Hogwarts, much to his daughter’s horror. “Bingo,” Jimbo pointed at the bartender as he rationalized the blind dates. “Lucky for you, I have a flier on me.” Reaching into his pocket, Jimbo produced one of the ones from the last round of blind dates and slid it across the bar towards the other man. “You can’t use this one, but send an owl to that address and I’ll add you onto our mailing list. That will keep you up to date with any specials or deals when it comes to the blind dates.”

[Deleted]

Luke laughed and gave a causal nod/shrug combination when the man admitted that the person he was supposed to meet might not have been ‘desperate’ enough to come meet with him yet. Luke knew it was a joke, though there had to be some truth behind it. Even if the man's business was legit, Luke understand letting pride get in the way. Luke was a very proud, stubborn country boy, and like most others, he didn’t want to believe that maybe he needed help finding someone to love. He could see that most people, especially some of the younger people, would feel similarly to him. Luke was also, however, someone who liked a game. And the blind date thing that the man had described sounded a bit like a game, or something that could be made into a game. Luke would let a friend set him up on a blind date, so why wouldn’t he let a professional set him up? Luke took the flier and read over it quickly, not wanting to take his attention fully away from his job. He was still on the clock after all, though the place was rarely too busy during the day when it wasn’t a Hogsmead weekend for the students. “I’ll do that.” Luke insisted. He meant it, what did he have to lose? A customer called from down the bar. “I should get back to making drinks. I’ll be in touch.” Luke gave a friendly nod towards the man as he walked down to tend to the customer at the other end of the bar.

(Luke out)
jimbo brian blishwick vi