Quixotic (2)

6

Mila approached them with a large lion stuffed animal gripped in her arm, "Snow! It's perfect!" She exclaimed, placing it at her feet to show that it was exactly her height, "Snow, I have to have it!"

"Mil, this is too big for the flight home." Aria hummed, shrugging, "You'll have to choose something smaller."

"But --."

"Mila, it won't be allowed on the plane." Aria told her seriously, saying, "I'm sorry, those aren't my rules."

"I could always, uh, mail it to you." Brian shrugged, watching as the child's frown flipped and excitement sparked through her eyes.

"Yeah, Snow!" The child cheered, saying, "Mr. Brian could mail it to us!"

"No." Aria was quick to say, glaring at the smiling man for a moment, "Choose something else."

"Aw!" The child sighed, a pout on her lip as she dragged the large stuffed animal back where it belonged.

"So, are you ready for my questions?" Brian asked, scanning through the photos on the camera as he leaned against a wall of stuffed animals.

"Let me guess," She began, watching as his eyes glanced up at her with interest, "You want to know about Kevin?" She asked, her eyes rolling back as a grin pulled at his lips, "Why are you so interested?" She asked with a laugh, telling him, "He's just one of my many horrible ex-boyfriends."

"Mila mentioned something about Brazil, is that where he met Sara?" He asked with a teasing grin on his lips, slightly shrugging his shoulders as she looked up to meet his eyes.

"He did more than just meet her while I was in Brazil." She answered, a sigh escaping her lips as she moved to lean against the wall beside him, "It's hard to trust people when you're always moving around." She shrugged her shoulders, her eyes moving to look around the area for Mila, "My travel career has screwed over more relationships than I can count."

A light sigh escaped her lips and her shoulders lifted for a moment as she spoke again, saying, "Besides, it's probably best that it's only Mila and I." A hesitant grin pulled at her lips as she child searched through a stack of stuffed animals twenty feet away, "I've always been afraid that no one will want her."

"Nonsense!" Brian exclaimed, unknowing of where the sudden courage came from. She turned to look back at him, and he stared forward to avoid her eyes, sighing, "I mean, you're a beautiful woman and she's well behaved." He shrugged his shoulders as he forced himself to face her. Unconsciously, his eyes traveled down to look at her lips as he continued, saying, "It would be ridiculous for a man to pass on the opportunity to be with you."

He looked to meet her eyes, noticing how she stared down at his lips for a moment before turning away, "Thank you." She hummed hesitantly and looked to find Mila walking toward them with two smaller stuffed animals in her arms, "Are you ready to go?" Aria asked the smiling child, her eyes refusing to look back at Brian.

"Here, Mr. Brian." The child cooed, lifting the animals toward him, saying, "Thank you."

"It's no problem at all, sweetheart." He hummed, a small smile flashing across his lips as he looked to the beautiful woman standing a foot away, "I hope you both enjoyed your day." He cleared his throat, lifting the camera from around his neck and passing it to Aria, "I'll check these out, then meet you ladies by the exit."

Aria lifted Mila to her hip and walked toward the exit to the store, pausing to glance back at Brian as he weaved through the small crowd to wait in the short line. Approaching the register, he paused at a small key chain with the date on it. He lifted it into his hand, sneaking a glance toward the exit to see that Aria was facing the opposite direction.