Her black rose

You're blushing, sweetheart

It came as no surprise to find Mia had booked business class seats. There was a sweet intimacy to it in Charlotte's mind; she got to experience just how Mia travelled when she was away and given their treatment on the plane so far, Charlotte suddenly understood why she was jetting off so frequently. For Mia, however, the luxury of it was no longer that. Instead, she'd somewhat begun to take it for granted...until she saw just how magical it was through Charlotte's eyes. She vowed silently never to underappreciate it again - and to also ensure this wouldn't be Charlotte's only time experiencing such service.

"If I'd have known all it was going to take to impress you was a plane journey, I would've done this weeks ago." Charlotte, as ever, was taken aback. She wasn't sure she'd ever quite expect Mia's flirting...or be good at receiving it. "Well, I'm not...impressed at you. It's not like you're flying the plane - or the one giving me attentive service." It was too easy, Mia thought. Charlotte always made it too easy. But, oh, she wasn't going to complain about low hanging fruit. "Oh." Mia started. "If you wanted me to serve you, sweetheart, you should've just asked. Learn to use your words." Her last sentence was whispered with a particular raspiness that only worsened the blush on Charlotte's cheeks. She cleared her throat, taking a moment to compose herself.

"On an entirely different note, I'm a little nervous." Mia stopped Char's sentence, a knowing smirk rising. "I've told you before that if you're nervous, just picture people naked." Just like the first time Mia had used words to those effect, Charlotte couldn't help but drag her eyes down Mia's body, a small bite of the lip occurring too. It didn't go unnoticed by Mia, who knowingly raised her brow. Charlotte shook her head quickly, getting back to the point at hand. "You're distracting me. Stop it. What I mean is...this is...a week away with people I don't know, right?" Mia pondered for a moment, slightly confused as to what Charlotte meant. "You know me." Charlotte gave an unamused smile. "I know that, dumb-dumb. But I can't follow you around like a lost puppy for a week." The confusion grew further on Mia's face. "Why can't you?" This time, Charlotte crossed her arms and gave another unamused smile. "I can't tell if you're purposely not taking me seriously or not."

That wasn't a sentence that Mia enjoyed. She didn't want Charlotte to not feel listened to, so she sat up a little straighter and shook her head. "Char, I mean it. This is your holiday. I asked you here because you deserve to be treated...and because," Mia tilted her head thoughtfully. It wasn't often that she didn't exude confidence but there were odd moments around Charlotte where sometimes, just sometimes, she faltered. Why? It was far too obvious. She liked the brunette. "Because I wanted to spend time with you. So if you want to follow me around like a little lost puppy for a week, mission accomplished." 

Charlotte didn't know how Mia did it, but she always knew what to say to ease her anxieties almost instantly. Her worries were diminishing as she flashed a sincere smile back to Mia. She didn't say much else, simply a mirroring "I want to spend time with you, too."

The rest of the journey went quickly and the plan for the day upon landing was easy: find their accommodation, ease themselves in, and then the day was their own. But there was also one more little snag that Mia hadn't yet mentioned. "There's one thing about today that I didn't tell you." Charlotte's face dropped, waiting in anticipation of what was going to come next. "I know I said today wouldn't be a day of meeting anyone...but there's one person I promised I'd see as soon as I landed. I can put them off. It wouldn't matter. Or I can see them on my own whilst..." Charlotte raised a finger, pausing Mia's mumble. "Amelia Roberts, are you rambling? Are you nervous?" Mia rolled her eyes at Charlotte's teasing but gave a genuine smile. "I just don't want this to be too much for you." The brunettes head shook. "I'm a big girl. I'm sure I can meet one person."

They made their way to their rendezvous - a quaint little beach bar overlooking the most glorious coastal line - where Mia was met instantly by a man of a similar age. She gave him a loose one armed hug before introducing Charlotte. "Marcus, this is Charlotte. Charlotte, this is Marcus." The man nodded, though his eyes lingered a second longer than appropriate. It didn't last long, Mia's kick to his shin made sure of that. "She's not interested, Marcus." He raised his hands defensively, apologising to Charlotte. "Won't happen again." 

With a reassuring wink to Charlotte, Mia led the small group to the best seat in the house. Marcus sat opposite them, whilst Mia opted to sit unnecessarily close to Charlotte. As they sat, Mia looked around expectedly until she saw what she was looking for. Charlotte had no idea what was happening, what it was that Mia's eyes had been searching for, or what she'd found. All she noted was the way Marcus nodded at Mia when she seemingly spotted what she was looking for. 

She was confused, but that confusion turned into intrigue as a small boy, no older than five years old, came running over to Mia. He was stopped in his tracks by the man they'd just met, who pulled him into his arms as the boy giggled. "No you don't, you little rascal! She's only just got here, she doesn't want you." He put the boy down, a cheeky smile on his face as he waved at Mia, as he ran back off to play again. Mia clocked the intrigue on Charlotte's face out of the corner of her eye, so she turned slowly and whispered into her ear. "Marcus' son, Leo. The biggest little shit you will ever meet...but also the greatest kid." It warmed her heart to hear Mia talking about a child like that. Despite having worked in the nursery, she wasn't always the warmest to the children.

Mia had turned back to Marcus at this point, their conversation flowing easily as two old friends caught up, but Charlotte couldn't help but reach for Mia's hand under the table. Mia didn't flinch, nor did she stop her flow of conversation, instead she obliged oh-so-willingly and accepted Char's offer, resting their interlocked hands on her own knee. Charlotte, meanwhile, was more than content with the setup. She got to spend some time watching the most incredible view, whilst feeling the least alone she'd felt in a few years.

Unbeknown to Charlotte, a silence had fallen around the table as Marcus had gone to the toilet. It allowed Mia a wonderful opportunity to turn to Charlotte and take in the beauty before her. Not only the view, but the side profile of the nursery worker. If anyone were to see the redheads eyes, they'd note the uncharacteristic softness to them as she tried to etch every detail of Charlotte's face to memory. There was a softness to her smile, too, the type that only ever appeared when Charlotte was around. Her hand at that moment squeezed Charlotte's, prompting the younger to turn to face Mia, not realising that what she'd find was Mia watching her intently. Their faces were close, inches apart, their eyes once again losing themselves in the others. Charlotte would've been annoyed at the way her body let itself down when her breath hitched a little, but she knew she was entirely under Mia's spell right now. It was Mia who spoke first, though she didn't dare move, so much so though that Char could feel the warmth of Mia's words on her lips. "You're blushing, sweetheart."