Chris, just a guy looking for a gift for his girlfriend

Chris walked through the mall at a fairly brisk pace. He didn't like spending too much time there, but since it had been a while since he was last there, he wanted to see if any new stores had popped up.

He needed to find a gift for his girlfriend, Sarah. It didn't have to be anything fancy, or frankly even that thoughtful. One thing he loved about their relationship is that they agreed that they'd never have to try too hard to show affection, at least not with gifts. Gift-giving was neither of their love language and they were both more than happy to accept that.

But societal norms dictated that they should at least buy each other something small for thir respective birthdays, so that's what Chris was out to do. He knew that if he couldn't find anything easily, he could always fall back on buying a liscensed t-shirt from the movie & music store, or a new workout top. Jerry knew that Sarah wouldn't care what he got her, she'd just be happy to spend time with him, and that made him love her even more.

As he rounded a corner in his hastened tour of the mall, one store in particular caught his eye. Chris had never seen it before, but he knew it was possible that he missed it on a prior trip. He stopped in his tracks to assess it. It had a smaller entrance than a typical mall store, maybe slightly bigger than an average door, and it had a fake brick wall barricading what would have been the rest of its entrance. Ornate lamps jutted out from the walls with dim red lights inside. The words "District Red" were emblazoned in red fluorescent lettering. From out in the mall, Chris couldn't make out what the store actually sold, but if it was a novelty shop like he suspected, he was sure he could find some interesting trinket for Sarah.

With his interests piqued, Chris crept towards the unusual store entrance. The thrumming bass of music inside began to envelope him like a warm, sultry blanket. A smile spread across his face. He had never seen a store quite like this.