Can't Sleep... Love? (Mavi)

Morning Seventy-Six

"Good Morning, Birthday Boy."

I stir in my sleep when I hear those utterly cheerful words.

"Get up, Mitchie. You're mine for the morning and I want to make the most of it."

"Mmhm... Scott. Just two more minutes" I mumble at my best friend, but try to wake up anyway.

"Okay, but only two. We have a lot of stuff to do. There's breakfast, we need to get you a cute outfit for your night with Avi..." he says which causes me to open my eyes.

"Night with Avi?" I ask.

Scott giggles. "Of course, Mitchie. I'm not allowed to tell you much, but you're going out with him tonight. He has something special planned for you."

"Really?" I look at Scott with wide eyes.

"Really. So you should get up, get dressed, have some breakfast and hit the mall. My treat today, as every year" Scott says with a huge smile on his face and steps aside so that I can climb out of my bunk. I get dressed in some comfortable yet fashionable clothes and head out to the lounge where Scott is already waiting.

"Before we go: Avi told me to give this to you." He hands me an envelope with my name written on in Avi's unique handwriting.

I am curious to see what's inside so I just open it carefully and unfold the letter.

My dearest Birthday Queen,
I hope you slept well, you're going to need a lot of energy today. I need to take care of a few things today and Scott told me he'd want to take you shopping anyway, so I'll just leave you with him. He'll take you to our hotel later on where you can fresh up and get ready for our date which I will pick you up for at 5 pm.
Have fun today. I'll see you later, Queen.
I love you!
Your Lovebeard

"Aww, that's probably the cutest thing a man has ever done for me" I say, beaming.

Scott smiles at me. "He really spent a lot of time planning today. He also wants me to say sorry that he wasn't there when you woke up but he's a little bit busy."

"It's okay" I return. "I can't fight the feeling that he's preparing something huge and although I want to know what it is, I'll be patient and wait for it." Honestly, there is something big going on. Everyone's gone. Kirstie, Kevin, Alex, Esther, Avi, no one is there. And usually we all tend to sleep in on our days off, being on the bus or not.

Scott nods. "You have no other choice but to be patient" he says jokingly. "But anyway, let's get going. Let me and some good new clothes take your mind off whatever curiosity is going around in your mind. And no asking questions. I've told you all you need to know for now. Understood?"

"Yes, Scott" I return and grab my bag. "Shall we? I'm hungry for some good and healthy breakfast."

~

We have breakfast at a small café near the mall. It's very good, just the right basis for the shopping trip that is to follow.

"So... Did Avi tell you what he wants me to wear tonight? So that I can look out for suitable garments?" I ask Scott as we're going over to the huge mall.

"No, he didn't. Besides we all know better than to tell you what to wear. You always manage to look flawless, no matter what" Scott tells me.

I look at him and roll my eyes. "You are not helping. I need a hint or something so that I don't look off tonight. Elegant or not so much, can I wear heels, shall I..."

"Okay, okay. Just search for something a little bit on the elegant side, heels are perfectly fine but most of all you should choose something which you feel comfortable in" Scott explains.

I nod. "That's something I can actually work with. I'd love to wear my black heeled boots, Avi loves them and they make me feel so sexy. I could wear a black skinny jeans with it and..."

"How about that shirt?" Scott interrupts my flow and points to a mannequin.

"That's... beautiful" I return, looking at the anthracite fine knitted shirt. It is very plain but there's a hint of silver in the material which makes it more elegant.

"Well then, come on try it" Scott says and leads me into the store.

A young male clerk comes up to us almost instantly. " Hello, how can I help you?" He asks politely.

"We've seen that anthracite slightly silvery knitted sweater in the display and I'd like to try it on" I say directly.

The clerk looks at us with wide eyes. "But that's from our women line" he says.

Dear God, another of those people that still see barriers between gender in something as simple as clothing. "I know, I know" I say and try to hide my annoyance. "But I've stopped caring about such things. If I like something and it fits me, I'll wear it" I explain to him as simple as possible.

"Ah, that's a concept I actually understand. Well then come on, I'll show you the shirt. Which size do you need?" He smiles at me brightly and I'm glad that he takes our previous misunderstanding so easy.

"It depends on the cut. I'd love to try the small one and see if I need more or less fabric" I say and wait for the guy to get me the right piece.

"Here that would be the small one. Just try it on and we'll see if it works." He hands me the shirt and I look at it in awe. "It's beautiful and the material is so light and soft" I say and look over to Scott. "What do you think?"

"I can't wait to see it on you" he returns. "Try it on!"

I go into the changing room and quickly put the shirt on before stepping out again.

"It's perfect" Scott says almost instantly. "It's elegant, it shows a little bit of your sharp collarbones with the deeper neckline and combined with black skinny jeans and the heels it will look amazing. Avi won't know what's happening to him tonight" he jokes.

"Yeah, your friend is right. It fits perfectly, I wouldn't take another size. But do you feel comfortable?" The clerk asks and I like how he doesn't want to just sell something but seems to be concerned about me.

I look into the mirror and smile. "I am very comfortable. The material is soft, it doesn't scratch and it just looks and feels perfect. I'll take it" I announce.

"Great" Scott answers. "Give it to me, I'll go and pay for it."

"Thank you, Scott" I say before I go back into the changing room, handing Scott the shirt as soon as I get out of it.

I meet him again at the checkout where he's just taking the small bag containing my new garment and says goodbye to the clerk.

"I can carry it" I say as we make our way out of the store.

"No, you don't need to" Scott returns. "It's your birthday, remember?"

"Mmhm, thank you once again" I say and beam up at him.

"You're welcome. Anyway, is there anything else you need right now or shall we just stroll a little bit?"

"Stroll. And if there's a bookstore, I'd love to get a new book or two."

In the end we find three books for me a new snapback and a light jacket for Scott and that's it. It's not much compared to our usual shopping sprees but we both just don't find anything we could like.

Apart from that the day is really nice. We pause at a café that sells fresh smoothies and each get a big one and just talk. It's been a while since we were really on our own and so we both enjoy our time together until I really need to go back to the hotel to get ready for my date night with Avi.

As much as I love spending time with my best friend, I'm looking forward to see what he has planned. I am completely clueless, but I'm bound to find out, soon.

~~~~~~

A/N: You all probably noticed the slight similarity between this one and Look Closer. It's complete coincidence that both stories are containing a birthday and a shopping tour, so... well... I hope you liked some Scömìche time. Mavi will be out on a date to properly celebrate Mitch's Birthday in the next part which should be up either tomorrow or Wednesday.