Who: Maribeth Gallegos and Samuel Willoughby What: First meeting! When: Wednesday evening (12/15) Where: Spare ‘Oom, Paris. Warnings: Adorableness?
The week had passed slowly, crawling by until she heard from Samuel again. He was headed to Paris. She was finally going to get her chance to meet this new Mr. Tumnus. Lucy hardly knew what to do with herself she was so excited. Maribeth shared that feeling, but she was also nervous. Very nervous. She’d never been very good at meeting new people, and this wasn’t just anyone. Mr. Tumnus had been Lucy’s best friend, her first introduction to Narnia, and she couldn’t wait to see him again. So far, Maribeth really liked Samuel. He seemed fantastic, friendly and understanding. It was almost too good to be true. She didn’t want to screw it up by a meeting in person, though. On the internet, she could censor herself. Now she wouldn’t have that luxury. What if she made an absolute idiot of herself?
She’d spent the entire morning fiddling with the shop. It helped settle her nerves, and she wanted everything to look nice for the first impression. Of course ‘nice’ was kind of relative here. Her shop was a massive clutter of the clothes and shoes and general things she thought other people would enjoy. She loved it, and thought it looked like a huge whimsical closet. Everything was organized in one way or another, of course, but it all looked very casual. In comparison, she was neat as a pin in her habitual skirt and heels. The shop wasn’t the only thing making a first impression.
As the afternoon wore on, the more she paced and adjusted. There was a steady flow of customers to distract her, but for the first time, her attention wasn’t completely focused on them. She was having a hard time not sharing fond memories with Lucy, since Tumnus was all Lucy wanted to think about. It was a very good thing that she hadn’t had to wait longer than a week to see him. The girl might have popped out of her host’s skin if it had been put off any more. It was a miracle that she’d managed to keep them from going to find him before he came here.
About an hour before she closed up for the day, the bell on the door jingled again. Heart pounding, she fussed with her hair and plastered on a smile. Lucy gave her a supportive little pep talk before she rounded the short counter. She thought it would all be okay, of course. How could it not, her host was being ridiculous. Maribeth wasn’t as convinced, but then, she never was. Well, one way or another it was too late to back out now.
---
“... I’m lost.” Samuel said to the street sign, looking and feeling utterly miserable. “I’m lost, and I’m late and this is awful and she’s going to hate me.”
No, she isn’t. Tumnus assured him once again in an exasperated tone. Lucy loves us! I’m sure Maribeth will like you as well.
Samuel sighed, but didn’t bother responding to that. It had been an incredibly long and very stressful week. He’d been hoping to get out to Paris to meet Maribeth much sooner then this, but unfortunately life and work had sort of gotten in the way. ‘All that fuss over a stupid wardrobe,’ He thought with a snort. ‘Can’t believe how long that took to sort out.’ Thankfully, being kept so busy had helped him focus on something other then his nerves and Tumnus’ growing excitement at the thought of seeing Lucy again. After she had vanished at the end of Narnia’s Golden Age, he really hadn’t been the same. He had a feeling she wouldn’t just leave him on purpose, but he’d never been able to shake off that horrible twinge of betrayal in his mind. Now of course, Tumnus knew better, and he was excited to see his long lost best friend. First Edmund, and now Lucy! He could hardly figure how this could get much better. Samuel felt the same. He’d missed Lucy a lot, even though he’d technically never met her, and he was glad that Maribeth seemed like such a kind and sweet person. He was excited to meet her and get to know her again- and hopefully pick up their past lives’ friendship.
First things first though- they had to find the place. Using his very rusty French, Samuel had been asking for directions nearly all afternoon, and no matter how hard he tried he couldn’t get a taxi driver who would actually take him to the place he wanted to get to. Finally, after a lot of walking and finally finding someone who spoke English AND knew how to get to Spare Oom, he was there. In any other circumstance, he might have stood outside of the door, paralyzed from nerves. But this wasn’t any other circumstance- he was seeing Lucy. So with a deep breath and a nod to himself, he opened the door and walked in.
He knew the second that he walked in that he loved this place. But he wasn’t really in the mood to look at and appreciate clothes at the moment. He was a man on a mission. And that mission was to find Maribeth.
The second he spotted her he burst into a blinding grin that made his face feel like it was about to split. Lucy! Only not, but that was hardly the point. With a few long strides he closed the distance between them and wrapped her in tight hug. “Maribeth!” He crowed with utter delight. “It’s so good to finally meet you!”
---
At first, she wasn’t completely sure that he was the right guy, so she hesitated. She didn’t want to jump some random, unsuspecting customer who wanted shoes and not a hug. When he crossed the shop and scooped her up in a hug of his own, though, she knew that this had to be Samuel. Or a very strange person. Her money was on Samuel, though. Laughing, she gave him a squeeze, not feeling at all awkward about being this close to someone that she technically didn’t know. He was Tumnus, it was as natural as could be.
“Samuel! You made it!” Maribeth took a step back, keeping her hands on her arms while she gave him a once over. He was taller than her, but not by much while she was in heels. She had a moment where she was completely disoriented at being on eye level with Mr. Tumnus. It was entirely Lucy’s fault, and they got over it quickly. If they ever did end up in Narnia, the change in size was really going to mess with her head.
But that was something she would deal with later. For now, she was trying not to bounce up and down with excitement. Smiling up at him, she gave his arms another little squeeze. “I can’t believe you’re actually here! Look at you! I almost miss your old ears.” One of her hands raised to ruffle his hair right above said ear. Immediately afterwards she was embarrassed. Getting handsy with strangers wasn’t something she usually did. “Sorry. Don’t mind me.”
---
Samuel laughed. “Barely. I got a bit- okay, I got a lot lost. But! Here I am now.” His own hands fluttered awkwardly on her waist, not quite touching, but he wasn’t really sure where else to put them. His eyes scanned her face as they stood there, and he wondered briefly if, had they met before, he would have known it was Lucy Pevensie inside of this very pretty, rather excited woman. He decided that he might have. Either way, though, they were together again now. Lucy and Tumnus. Just as it ought to be.
“I can’t believe you’re here!” Samuel said, still grinning broadly. His eyes widened a little and a tiny blush crept up his neck when she went to touch the place above his ear. Well, he had not expected that. Not that it was unpleasant or unwanted, just a bit of a surprise. “Oh no, it’s alright.” he said, removing one of his hands from her waist and waving it in the air as though to fan away her embarrassment. “Things happen. Besides, you used to do it all the time.” His smile turned wry as memories floated to the surface. “Actually you used to tug them, but that’s a bit off the point.”
He paused for a moment, simply looking at her once more. At least until Tumnus told him he was staring- urging him to start speaking. “And what about you? You’re so much taller again!” He put his free hand on her neck, his thumb brushing the bottom of her check. “You look... You look fantastic. I really cannot tell you how happy I am to see you again. Well, we. Sorry. Always did mess up my pronouns.” Then he realized what he was doing and withdrew his hand. Lucy- Maribeth at least had a reason for touching him, habit and all. He was just getting touchy with a near stranger. Hardly a stranger. Tumnus muttered. “Sorry,” Samuel told her again anyways.
---
She smiled sheepishly, also blushing lightly. Feeling the heat in her face only made her more embarrassed, and she didn’t have the social grace to hide it. She could, however, use a different ploy, one that came almost completely from Lucy. When all else failed, teasing always worked. “Only when you deserved it.” Those were some fond memories, the kind Lucy had shared with her when she’d been feeling particularly blue. Nothing cheered them both up more than reminiscing about Mr. Tumnus. Now that he was here, those memories kind of paled in comparison to the real thing.
“Tallest in my class.” Her grin was wide and playful, though it softened almost immediately when he touched her. Normally she would have ducked her head to hide her blush, but with his hand where it was, it wasn’t possible. It wasn’t every day that someone told her she looked fantastic. “Oh, um. Thanks.” She understood what he meant. It went without saying that Lucy had missed him terribly. When they’d returned to Narnia, and so much time had passed...there were no words to describe how she had felt. It had been awful. She didn’t even like thinking about it, so she kept it simple. “She missed him, too. So much.”
Maribeth shook her head. “You don’t have anything to apologize for.” At a loss for anything else to say, she leaned in and hugged him again. That one movement summed it all up nicely, and it made Lucy very happy. If it was up to her, they’d stay cuddled up like this all day. She had her very best friend back, and she didn’t want to lose him again.
---
“Only when I deserved it?” he repeated, his eyebrows raised and his tone of voice jokingly incredulous. “I’m fairly certain you did it for fun, half the time.” He had to resist the urge to tug at a lock of her hair the way he used to. It was a little startling how easily he wanted to fall back into his old habits with her. While yes, he’d sort of done the same thing when he met Edith, this felt a little different. But that was probably because Tumnus and Lucy had been best friends. Edmund and Tumnus had been rather close, but their relationship was not as nearly as strong as Tumnus’ and Lucy’s.
Samuel was felt a mix of surprised and pleased when she blushed at what he’d said. Well, she did look really good, so it made sense to tell her so! Though he had to admit, it’d been a while since something he’d said had made a woman blush, and he was far happier about this making her blush then he should have been. ‘Honestly, flirting with Lucy? That’s- no. Just no. You don’t flirt with Lucy!’ He shook himself mentally, trying to focus on the moment, which Tumnus was far more intent on. Honestly, didn’t Samuel have any kind of priorities? His best friend was right there, and he was worried about if he had accidentally flirted with her.
The second hug was unexpected, but more then welcome in both Tumnus’ and Samuel’s eyes. Which of them let out that happy sigh was unknown, but it didn’t particularly matter. He wrapped his arms around her again, feeling incredibly content. Like Lucy, Tumnus would have been completely satisfied with just standing there and staying as close as possible to his best friend. But Samuel has something else in mind. With a wicked grin and a triumphant sounding “Ah haha!” he picked her up and spun around once, careful to make sure they didn’t hit anything.
Chuckling a little, he set her back down gently. “I promised you a spin, didn’t I?”
---
Her laugh was all eight-year-old mischief, yet somehow not out of place coming out of a woman well in to her twenties. Blending Maribeth and Lucy had always come as naturally to her as breathing. Luckily, it worked well for both of them. Or she thought it did, anyway. Things were never awkward between them, at any rate. “Well, when you deserved it and when I thought it would make you yelp.” She very nearly reached up to tug on his ears, just to demonstrate, but stopped herself at the last second. Reincarnates or no, she couldn’t go around grabbing people’s ears. She wasn’t a child, and he wasn’t a playful faun. Maybe she needed to write that on the back of her hand, because it seemed like she kept forgetting.
Unless she didn’t need to remember. The moment her feet left the ground, she let out a surprised (and promised) squeal. She clung to him even after he set her back down, in case he was about to try it again. And didn’t he look proud of himself? It was kind of cute, actually. If she hadn’t gotten along this well with Mr. Tumnus, Lucy would have been devastated. She was beyond gleeful that they’d clicked so quickly. They both were, honestly. Maribeth never did turn down an opportunity for a new friend that she didn’t continually trip over herself in front of, and Samuel fit the bill for that perfectly.
“You did. I should’ve been expecting it.” Now she did reach up to give his ear a tug. Because he deserved it. Her nose scrunched up as she smiled at him. It had to be some kind of miracle that things were so unbelievable easy between them. She already felt like she’d known him forever. In a way, she supposed she had, but she wasn’t used to the feeling. Maybe it would be like this when she met the reincarnates of Edmund, or Aslan, but she wasn’t so sure. She was starting to suspect that the easiness had just as much to do with Samuel as it did with Mr. Tumnus.
She gave him one last pat before she stepped away. “Oh, right. Would you like to have a seat? Or some tea? Or a tour?” Okay, so maybe she could still trip over herself, even with him. “Sorry, I probably should have asked before...”
---
Listening to her laugh, Samuel knew for sure he would have recognized Maribeth for who she really was without any outside help. Nobody laughed like Lucy did. Even if the voice was different, it still sounded almost exactly the same. “Oh yes, because making me yelp is such a worthy endeavor,” he commented dryly, but he was still smiling. Actually he hadn’t stopped since he first saw her. Not that he cared- he actually was glad about it.
Thankfully he’d been expecting her squeal, so he didn’t drop her or anything at the sudden noise right in his ear. He hadn’t been expecting her to pull at this ear right then though, and winced a little. But he smiled gamely and grabbed a lock of her hair and tugged it back. It almost felt like she’d never left him. Like they were still in Narnia, and they hadn’t spent any time apart at all. It was almost frightening how easily he fell back into this old rhythm with her. But he found that he didn’t mind, and Tumnus sure didn’t either.
“Oh, erm... Tea would be lovely, actually. Or coffee if you have some.” Samuel told her. He stepped back a little, and the world seemed to come back into focus a little. This wasn’t Narnia. They were in Paris in a store called Spare Oom, and technically they were still complete strangers. He didn’t even know her last name. Tumnus scoffed at that- of course they knew her! She was still Lucy. The rest were just details. But Samuel was determined to know those details. “And a tour would also be nice, in a little bit. So... Tell me about yourself!” He waved at the store around them, his arm flailing and fingers wiggling in a wild gesture. “What made you decide to go into the fashion business?” Not a very original question, he thought at he looked at Maribeth with a curious and open expression on his face. But it was a start.
---
In a fit of immaturity, she stuck her tongue out at him when he pulled on her hair. It was almost like they were just reenacting some of their reincarnates enemies. With Samuel here, she felt more like Lucy than she thought she ever had before. Not that it was a problem. She was still functioning as an adult, after all, and she could probably use a break from being tightly wound. For the past week, she’d been on edge, not sure how this meeting was going to go. It seemed silly that she had been worried about it now, when he was so great. She would have been limp with relief, if she hadn’t been equally wound up with excitement.
“Coffee it is!” Maribeth waved for him to follow her as she started back toward the little office where she kept all her food and paperwork. “Oh, well. Um. I’ve always like clothes, and I’ve got an eye for pretty things. So when I decided to run my own business, I figured why not sell something I enjoyed?” She was going to start rambling. She knew it, but she couldn’t stop herself. If she didn’t clam up, she would keep talking about nothing until the other person wandered off. “And I’d been traveling and I loved Paris, so I opened it up here. I thought it would be more fun to live here instead of in Seattle. That’s where I’m from. Which explains, you know, the accent.”
Even though the last thing she needed was caffeine, she poured them both a cup, handing his over with a smile. “What about you? Why the museum business?”
----
Samuel followed after her, nodding as she spoke. “Well, it looks great,” he told her as he glanced back over his shoulder at the shop in question. He never would have guessed it as a job for her, but it fit Maribeth and her personality like a glove. “Do you run it by yourself? And I actually had been wondering about it. The accent, I mean.”
He mouthed a thank you as the cup of coffee was pressed into his hands. He smelled it first, shutting his eyes as he did so. Oh, coffee. He’d gone far too long since his last cup, and he couldn’t run on his excitement on meeting Maribeth for forever before running out of energy. He opened his eyes again when he realized she was talking again, and then blushed a little when he realized how silly he must have looked just standing there and smelling a cup of coffee. He held it a little closer to himself as though it might shield him from any negative opinions. They were getting along very well, for which he was so glad he could have either jumped in the air or broken into tears of relief, but there was still the off chance that she might realize how very weird he was and change her mind about being friends with him.
“Oh, erm, well,” he began very intelligently as he tried to get his bearings back. “Most of my elective classes were things like history or art, and uh... I didn’t really do the whole socializing thing much so I spent a lot of my time in the library or in local museums. I actually got a job at a museum while I was still at school. And then I thought, well, I like this. So I made it my major and here I am.” And it had certainly helped that Tumnus himself had a fascination with human history in general. It was one of those instances where he wasn’t sure if it was actually he, Samuel, who had started to enjoy it or if it was Tumnus’ influence that started it. He didn’t care though, because they really were the same person in the end. He took a long drink of coffee, ignoring the slight burning sensation on his tongue. “So you said you traveled? Where?”
--
“I do. I’ve thought about hiring some part time help, but there’s a load of paperwork involved.” She sighed, dumping extra sugar in to her coffee. Lots of extra sugar. That was the only way she could drink it, super sweet and dark. Cream was for pansies. “I’m American. Technically. I’ve been living here for years, but I’m still from America.” She was doing the rambling thing again. Turning to gauge his reaction, she had to smile at the way he seemed totally zoned out over his coffee. Since she could understand the feeling, she didn’t comment. Sometimes, a cup of joe was the very best thing in the whole wide world.
Maribeth nodded along with his story. It was so easy to picture him happily surrounded by old stuff. Then again, he was pretty happily surrounded by old stuff here, which may have been why. It was funny, the way their jobs lined up like that. Just one more thing that they had in common. “That must be nice, having it all just sort of...” She waved her hand straight out in front of her. “You know, go together like that. You knew what you wanted to do and it all kind of connected.” Well, she knew what she was saying, even if he couldn’t figure it out.
Either way, she was thankful for the topic change. “I did. My grandparents died and left me everything, so I thought I’d see some of the world. I actually spent a few months living in London, and here. Oh, and in Japan, which is the biggest culture shock I have ever had to endure.” She wouldn’t have lasted two weeks without having met Scott while she was there. Not before she was either killed by overexposure to neon lights or ran away crying. “But I decided that here is the place to settle. I really liked Paris. Not that London wasn’t great. I had this terribly scarring experience on one of the buses and thought that I couldn’t live there without someone yelling at me every day.”
---
“I hate paperwork,” Samuel told her cheerfully. “If I could I’d burn all the paperwork I’ve ever had to fill out. Make a nice bonfire or something.”
He blinked at her, taking a moment to muddle out what she meant. “Well, I guess I’m just sort of lucky, I suppose.” He shrugged, pausing to sip at his coffee again, looking thoughtful. “I actually considered being a librarian for a while, you know. But then I decided that I liked museums better so... Yeah.” He nodded a little as he remembered his college days, most of them spent either in the local library or some museum or another, trying to absorb as much information as he possibly could. Libraries, unlike museums, usually spanned over everything, and that general mishmash was what had turned him away from the idea of working as a librarian. Samuel needed a specific focus in his work, which was what a museum could give him. It was probably why he liked Spare Oom so much. It’s vintage style made him feel right at home.
His eyebrows started to slowly climb up his forehead so that by the time she was done mentioning her travels they were straining to reach his hairline. “Well, I can understand not wanting to live in London,” he said, his eyes a little wide. “A lot of the people there are very rude. Did you just say you’ve been to Japan? I’ve never actually left the southern half of England before, let alone travelled so far. It must have been fantastic!” Fantastic, and far, far more interesting then a gangly looking museum curator. Why on Earth was she talking to him when she could be talking to someone far more cultured then himself? Someone who hadn’t been too scared to leave the familiar rainy cities of home or got terrified at the thought of talking to a pretty woman outside of a business environment. He was pleased and grateful, but also completely baffled.
---
She gave him a mournful look. “So do I. Bookkeeping and filing are the bane of my existence.” As was obvious in her office. There were piles of papers everywhere, part of her intricate and haphazard filing system that involved putting things things in the same general area and hoping they merged together in to something resembling order. So far that hadn’t worked for her, but she was hoping it would one day, in some kind of office miracle.
“I could never be a librarian. Or anything that required that kind of, you know, organizing.” Clothes were easy. You could toss them together in interesting ways and let people have at it. There was no alphabetization, no number system, nothing like that. It suited her perfectly. “Honestly I’m amazed I’ve stayed in business this long, as bad as I at keeping up with things...” She smiled at him sheepishly. She knew what her strengths were, and the details were not one of them.
The look on his face made her laugh. “No, I wouldn’t have been able to function. When people yell at me I just kind of seize up and stare. Not exactly the best way to spend the day.” Lucy was better at handling confrontation than she was. She was definitely not Maribeth the Valiant. She was Maribeth the Go-Cry-In-To-A-Cup-Of-Tea. “Japan was even worse. Completely terrifying. People were polite, but everyone always seemed like they were in a hurry, and they were just...everywhere. It never seemed to slow down. After three weeks I gave up and left.” Scott had laughed at her, but she’d known she wouldn’t last another day without having a panic attack. He’d even flown back with her, just in case. She was lucky to have so many nice men in her life. “I’d like to see more of England some day. The quiet little villages more than the cities. Those seem a lot nicer.”
---
Samuel glanced around the cluttered office they were standing in and gave her a quirky grin. “Yeah, I could see that.” He liked her office, actually. It reminded him of the large mess in his living room turned semi-study back in his apartment. The office he occupied at the museum was a bit better though, if only because he was such a stickler for having everything at the museum looking and being absolutely perfect, which included being organized in his office. Well, at least organized enough that finding what he needed wasn’t too difficult. “If you wanted, I could help out. Straighten things up a bit, get stuff sorted. I hate it, but I’m also irritatingly good at it, apparently.”
“Honestly, I don’t think that there are many people who like being yelled at. Oh!” He pointed at her with his free hand as a thought occurred to him. “The day before you come to the museum, remind me to give Myrtle a cake or something. She’s got a uh, a bit of a temper-” If by a bit you mean she’s a walking explosion just waiting to happen. Tumnus interjected. “Okay, well she is that,” Samuel said in response to his headmate, forgetting that Maribeth couldn’t hear that part of the conversation. “Anyways, I should probably appease her before you visit. Especially as she’s already been in a bit of a bad mood because of me.” A small shudder went down his spine as he thought of her last shouting session. He still had a bruise on his arm from a punch she’d given him shortly after it.
“But yeah, I get what you mean. On the one hand I do enjoy the bustle of people and the city, but on the other it’s rather difficult to escape whenever I need some peace and quiet. Not nearly as much open space either.” Reaching out he patted her arm in a friendly fashion and had to resist the urge to tweak her nose. Somehow it seemed a little out of place to do so now. “And I’d also be more then happy to show you around the countryside. I visit the villages sometimes- they’ve got some great antiques, and I rather enjoy that sort of shopping, both for myself and the museum.” Oh, wait, should have said that? Guy weren’t supposed to enjoy shopping, were they? Drat. Hopefully that wouldn’t lose him any points or whatever.
---
“Um, no, that’s okay!” She kind of flailed awkwardly in front of him, like she might be able to shield the rest of the office from his view. “It’s not worth it, trust me. I think the guy who came in to help with my taxes last year said something about setting the lot of it on fire.” Hey, she knew where everything was. Anyone else coming in wouldn’t have her magical paper telepathy, and probably would end up busting out a pack of matches. Her insurance wouldn’t cover any rage fires.
Maribeth looked confused at that, but nodded along anyway. “Right. Myrtle needs a cake to appease her temper.” That didn’t seem particularly comforting to her, like she was going to walk in to the museum just to be roared at by some kind of dragon lady demanding a cake sacrifice. That was terrifying. “Do I want to know what you did to make her so angry?”
The coffee wasn’t doing anything to settle her nerves. If anything, the combination of caffeine and sugar was making her more jittery. She leaned against the desk, her her foot had started tapping. “I know what you mean. I grew up in the city, so I don’t think I could function at all living somewhere quiet. But it’s nice to get away every once in awhile.” A wide grin stretched across her lips at his offer to show her around the countryside. He really was entirely too nice of a man. It made her want to give him another squeeze. And he liked antique shopping. Yeah, she was definitely keeping him. “That sounds like fun! Though I’ll warn you, if you put me in a room full of old stuff I can buy, I can happily stay there all day.”
---
Samuel wasn’t sure if he was supposed to laugh at that sentence or not. “Did he really? Wow. That’s um...” He scratched the side of his neck, trying to think of a good phrase to use. “That’s rather... Violent?” He finally ventured, completely lacking any other word to use. “I’m a bit more patient then that, but if you insist...”
The smile on his face grew a little awkward, and he shuffled on the spot a bit. “Ah, yes, well, funny you should ask that. See, it really wasn’t my fault. We were supposed to be getting part of Mr. Coor’s- he’s a local collector- book and painting collection to have some work done on it and then be displayed at the museum. He neglected to mention the fact that he was also sending furniture. Myrtle- our conservation technician, she does all the restoring work- wasn’t ah... Very happy with me when it arrived and she thought I hadn’t told her. Took it a bit personal, I think.” He shook his head and took another large gulp of coffee. “Like I said, it wasn’t my fault! But she’s been sort of angry with me ever since. She’ll yell at me though, not you. No worries there.” A weak chuckle escaped his lips as he tried to lighten the mood. “It’s really more to keep her from yelling at me in front of you then anything else.” Well that, and by that time she might actually accept his apology cake without smashing some into his face. Again.
To be perfectly honest, Samuel was getting a bit jittery himself. The coffee plus his excitement from the whole day was just making him feel very energized, so he felt a little weird standing still now. Not to mention the relief that she clearly didn’t think any less of him for enjoying antique shopping- that was a bit of a boost as well. “In that, I believe we are very well matched,” Samuel informed her with an equally broad grin, his eyes crinkling at the corners from it. “And actually, I was wondering... I’ve never been in Paris before. Do you think you could show me around, a little? Maybe we could stop by some antique stores and talk?” He couldn’t keep the eagerness out of his voice, but he was beginning to not care as much as he did before.
---
“Oh.” The people he worked with sounded absolutely terrifying. If she had to put up with that every day, she would have run away to somewhere sunny, with lots of fruity drinks with umbrellas in them. There were a lot of benefits to working for yourself, obviously. “Well, if she tries to yell at you in front of me, I can always get between you and wave my arms around until she runs away from the crazy?” She was kidding. If someone started yelling, she would be the one watching all wide-eyed, not stepping in the middle. It was a nice thought, though.
He had a very cute smile, the kind that you couldn’t help but return. “Very!” She hadn’t had too many doubts about that. They were Tumnus and Lucy, after all. They were bound to have a few things in common. It was nice that Lucy was getting her best friend back in the form of a man that Maribeth got along with so well. Not to mention the sudden arrival of her brothers, even if they were women now. All in all, it had been a very good week, and she couldn’t see how it would get anything but better from here on. They just needed to find Susan and Narnia, and it would be just about perfect.
His suggestion had her nodding rapidly and setting her coffee cup to the side. “Of course! There’s actually a few shops right around here, so we can walk.” The mad hunt for her keys began. She had a little hook for them, but usually ended up just tossing them on the desk. Aha, there they were. Scooping them up, she did what felt natural and slid her hand in to his. What time was it, anyway? Close enough to closing, she decided, and flipped the sign on her way out the door. Tugging her new friend down the street, she changed her mind about something. It was already just about perfect.