Closer

191.

"I'm sorry, it doesn't seem like it's here..." Meredith said with a sad look while Ray tried to wrangle a now pretty much hysterical Elise. "If you leave your number, I can let you know if it turns up, but..."

"Thanks, I'll... I guess that's the only option," Ray sighed, looking at Elise. He felt awful, and honestly wanted to cry just like she was. This was the first time she had proper reason to be sad, wasn't it?

He put his number down on the pad for Meredith before dragging his feet back out of the store, passing a girl with light brown hair and pink ends that had the same uniform as Meredith on the way out.

"I'm so sorry, baby, uncle screwed up," he sighed as the automatic doors opened for them. He hugged her tightly, his heart breaking when she hugged back tightly around his neck. What was he going to tell Brett and Eddy? "I know you love Sharkie. I'm sorry I lost it."

The walk back out to the car was a heavy one, and the guilt was slowly tearing Ray down. It was fine to lose stuff or forget stuff, to be late for things and in general be a mess when it mainly affected himself. He was the god of apologizing for showing up late to live streams he had scheduled himself, he was amazing at apologizing and making it up to conductors when he changed his mind for the millionth time about a passage. Getting new sheet music was always possible when the old one was lost, because he never accepted originals.

Being a mess when it affected the most prescious little girl in the world, though?

He sunk down into his own passenger seat with the crying little girl in his arms trying to figure out how to fix this.
"I'm so sorry, Elise. God, I really am, okay?" he whispered, trying to wipe some snot and tears from her face with some tissues he kept in his car. "I should have paid better attentio..."

"Hey! Sir?" he heard a female voice call out to him from the shop entrance. He wiped a tear from his own cheek before looking up.

His heart sped up when he saw the girl from earlier with the little shark in her hand. She half ran over to them with it.

"I think this is yours," she said, mainly to Elise who at first was a bit shy to see someone new talking to her, but quickly grabbed the shark. Ray considered maybe they should wash it, but right now it was more important she knew the shark had come back to her.

"Thank you so much," Ray said, almost crying with relief. He stood up to shake the girl's small hand, and ahe took it with a giggle. "Oh my god, where was it?"

"It was sitting at my till, waiting, but I was on break just now! Found it while cleaning up the ice cream aisle," she explained, pushing some hair behind her ear. "Bad timing, huh?"

"Yeah, bad timing. Thank you anyway..." He squinted to read her nane tag. Maybe he needed glasses? "... May..?"

"Of course, couldn't let a sweet shark be lost like that," she laughed, and Ray couldn't help but smile a bit. She paused for a moment, looking up at him with a sweet smile. "I guess... I'll see you around?"

"Yeah. Thanks," Ray nodded with a similar smile before turning his attention down to Elise who was smacking him in the head with Sharkie with a large grin.