Author's Note: For people who might have joined Gaia after the GRS took away his shop, Liam's old store was called Crate and Apparel. Just wanted to make sure everyone was on the same page here, haha.

Chapter Seven – Sophistication, Ruggedness, Romance

Thankful that I didn't have to walk half way across Gaia to deliver Bludeau's poem to Liam, I walk over to the Crate and Apparel and push open the door. Luckily I don't have to fight my way through bustling crowds this time, but this time instead of pushing my way to the front of the line like I did last time, I wait patiently behind a few Gaians who are making their purchases. When I see one of the female customers bat her eyelashes at Liam and giggle at whatever it was he said (my bet is "Yo."), I find myself rolling my eyes as opposed to my old knee-jerk reaction of wanting to claw the skank's eyes out. That thought in itself made me take a slight pause as I watched the girl practically skip out of the door. Turning back to face the register, I'm surprised to find Liam right behind me, looking overjoyed that I'm there. I stare at him for a moment, trying to see if I feel even just the tiniest flutter or pitter patter of a heart palpitation but I feel nothing. Absolutely nothing. And this scares me.

"So have you talked with Bludeau yet? That guy is all about love." I nod slightly, realizing that he's right. Bludeau seemed to think of nothing but feeling the warm-fuzzy sensation that wasn't related to an electrical shock. However, despite his desperate need to feel such a sensation, I can't say that the robot has a firm grasp on the practical application of love… if that poem is anything to go by. Regardless, I take out the folded sheet of paper and hand it to Liam.

"He gave me this."

As Liam reads and re reads the poem, I watch him intently. Partially to see his reaction to this rather interesting string of words that was apparently supposed to be an epically romantic poem, partially to dig around somewhere in myself to pull out some sort of reaction… anything even remotely similar to what I had felt just this morning. "Woah," Liam says as if he has discovered the meaning of life, "This poem is great! It's the most beautiful thing that I have ever heard!" He looks up at me with a big smile and I return his look with an unsure smile of my own. "Oh man, between the sophistication and the ruggedness and this amazing poem, the girls are definitely going to flip out about what an amazing guy I am."Or they just might flip out… I think to myself. "Okay, I think I've got all of the advice that I need." Liam excitedly tells me to wait for a moment before he heads into the back of his shop to do lord knows what and I lean against the counter, trying to figure my brain out. I mean… I had just looked directly at Liam's pectorals, biceps, and other such god-like muscles that one could see with his tank top that perfectly displayed his guns and I didn't feel a thing. This was just getting to be too weird for me. I mean, just this morning I had been drooling over him, willing to do anything to just get him to look in my general direction. And now… well, now I was wondering if his mother accidentally hit his head with a wrench when he was a child.

Only a few minutes passed before Liam was back, now holding three envelopes addressed to the three girls that he was trying to woo. "Hey, could you do me one last favor?" He said as he handed the envelopes. I need you to deliver these letters to Sasha, Vanessa and Moria." Part of me desperately wanted to know what these said letters contained while the other part of me realized that the phrase 'ignorance is bliss' might have really applied to this given situation. "I wish I could see their faces when they look at these letters and realize that I'm, like, pretty much the deepest and most romantic dude of all time throughout history. Start with Sasha; I'm pretty sure we had a moment once!"

- - - - -

Three completed delivery errands later and I could honestly say that I was completely shell shocked. I had delivered the letters to each of Liam's prospects and each of them had reacted quite… passionately, to say the least.

"Ewwwwww! That freak!"

"Go tell Liam I'll see him real soon, and when I do, I'll be wearing my ass-kicking cleats."

The most mind-crushing one must have been the salon owner, Vanessa's reaction. She had actually said that the contents of the letter were kinky… a little tidbit of information that really flared my curiosity as to what exactly Liam had put in his letter. However, Liam's success was short-lived when Vanessa's face contorted into a pure expression of rage.

"Who the hell is "Vasessena?" That little weasel spelled my name wrong! Go tell your little buddy Liam that if he ever gets near me again, I'll tie him a knot he won't soon forget—and not in the good way, either."

And so, I then found myself standing in front of the Crate and Barrel, taking a deep breath to prepare myself for what was about to happen, I turn the knob on the door and enter the shop. Surprised to find it empty, I was about to call out for Liam when he came out of the back room carrying a box of merchandise. When he saw me, he dropped the package and rushed over to where I was standing, smiling like an excited little child or a guy who just scored. "Just the lady I was hoping to see!" Looking up at him, I was wondering if he would have that same reaction if he knew the news I was about to tell him. "I see that you delivered all of my letters. Come on, tell me everything! I want to know in detail what happened, word for word!"

I cringed, knowing that this was not going to go over well. "Um… well you see." I started to explain about how all girls had been disgusted by the letter… well, with the exception of Vanessa, who quickly became disgusted when she saw that he had misspelled her name. Throughout my retelling of the events, Liam's face fell more and more to the point where I started to feel slightly sorry for the guy. However, these feelings were crushed when I realized that I had done all of this work for absolutely nothing and… well, I guess it wasn't all for nothing. I did all of this because I had wanted his attention, right? Well this would be my perfect chance to ask him out myself, tell him that I always liked him. But then again, I'm not sure that's true anymore. In fact, I'm pretty damn sure it's not.

"What?" Liam said in breathless disbelief when I finished my story of how all girls had quite violently rejected his offer of romance. "They didn't like the letter? That's insane! Those chicks are crazy! I just can't win… I guess I'll have to live the rest of my life as a hermit or something." Looking at him with slight disbelief, I couldn't believe his melodramatic reaction. Sure, he got rejected by three girls, but there were plenty of other Gaians out there who would give anything just to be able to touch his pectorals. And I'm starting to realize I'm no longer one of those.

"Are you sure you want to do that?" I ask, unsure of Liam's mental and emotional stability at the moment.

"Nah, don't worry," He tells me with a small smile, "I'll get this thing figured out someone. Maybe I'll ask you for advice again sometime." I'm about to tell him that technically he didn't ask me, but refrain from making a comment at this time. Besides, something tells me that al he needs is the right girl, someone who can show him that he doesn't need to be a womanizer to get her complete attention, although the abs do help. A girl that isn't Sasha, Moria, Vanessa, or… me. "Anyway, thanks for trying to help, at least. What am I going to do with all of these photos of me?" Photos?"I had a ton of them printed! You might as well keep one of these stupid pictures, since nobody else seems to want them."

Handing me an envelope full of pictures, Liam smiles at me and I can't help but smile back, giving the shop owner a pat on the back. "Well, Liam, I wouldn't worry too much about this minor bump on the road. I'm sure one of those girls will come around." Probably not in a million years, but he could still dream. Giving him one last wave, I exit the shop and look around me before looking down at the package of photos. What the hell do I do now?

- - - - -

After a short aimless walk, I found myself sitting on one of the docks at Bass'ken Lake, letting my feet dangle over the edge. Off to my left, the blank-faced Gaian continues his task of fishing, apparently feeling no fatigue despite the amount of time he's spent casting his reel. Reaching to the envelope next to me, I look down at it and wonder if I'll open it or just throw it away. You know… as a form of closure or something. Because while I feel like I've accomplished absolutely nothing this entire day, I am no certain that I am no longer in love or lust or whatever that was with Liam. He's just a womanizing shop owner who is hopelessly in love with the entirety of the female population.

I can't help but wonder what brought about this change. Was it realizing that I was helping him woo three girls at once? Or was it the fact that he had me running all around Gaia for something that ultimately failed? Or maybe it was…

"Hey."

I jump slightly, looking up to see Ethan standing above me and suddenly I feel something flutter in my chest that strangely feels like…

Oh.

"H-hi." I say hesitantly, not sure of how I feel about this new feeling that is quickly spreading through my chest. Ethan sits down next to me and smiles, an expression that I'm finding I quite enjoy.

"What's that you've got there? You're next mission?" He motions to the envelope in my hands and I look down, realizing I had completely forgotten that I had it.

"Um, it's a… thank you present." I say, not really quite sure what to call it.

"From your friend?"

"Yeah…" We sit there for a moment, with Ethan just smiling at me while I desperately wonder if he can see the slight blush that I feel coming on.

"Are you going to open it?"

Was I? Looking down at the envelope, I rip open the seal and pull out one of the photos and when my eyes land upon the picture, I feel everything around me completely come to a stop. It was a picture of Liam, wearing a monocle while chomping down on a fish head… all while trying to give his most sexy 'come hither' look. Part of me felt like throwing up while the other half felt like laughing until I threw up. Turing the picture over, I saw the poem that Bludeau had written scrawled across the back of the photo in what I assumed was Liam's messy hand writing.

"What the hell is that?" I hear Ethan say, his tone of voice giving away the fact that his reaction was very similar to my own.

"I have absolutely no clue," I attempt to say through my fit of giggles as I reach back into the envelope only to pull out several more copies of this hilarious abomination. "And I have no clue what I'm going to do with all of these!"

After a few moments of consideration, Ethan took the envelope from me and removed all of the pictures. And before I could ask what he was planning, he threw the stack of photographs out into the lake and turned back to me with a smile.

"Finding those would be so much better than snagging a tire."

Author's End Note:

Soo... there you have it! Also, fun fact: My next story I plan on writing will be based off of zOMG, a story that has been turning about in my head ever since I started playing through it. And for those of you who have fallen in love with Ethan and Madison, you'll be happy to know that they make a return as major supporting characters in the cast of this story. :D