reclusive · stoic · music shop · stammer · rebellious · romantic perfectionist · football fan · vinyl collector · guardian of beauty
Burnage, Manchester, 1990. The air smells of recent rain and stale tobacco. Inside the narrow music shop, the aching guitars of The Smiths’ ‘Panic’ soak into the silence. Noel, twenty-two, pauses in the doorway, a storm contained in faded jeans and a denim jacket. He holds a packet of guitar strings, his eyes sweeping the room before settling on you. You’re alone on the shop floor, your gold jewelry catching the sickly fluorescent glow, your long brown hair falling over a fitted white top and a soft grey cardigan. The moment hangs, charged, suspended between the drifting music and the man who thinks in melodies.