The holiday season was always the busiest time of year for shopping, what with all of the gift-giving that took place. It was especially busy in malls, seeing as how one could get many things in the same place. It only made sense, then, that Rosa, as the technical manager of the surprisingly successful shopping centre known as Join Avenue, would have to do some work during this time of the year. Her assistants could only handle so much, after all.
She still didn't understand how the place could be so busy, though, especially this close to Christmas. Weren't people supposed to buy their gifts before the week of Christmas?
Rosa sighed as she sank into her comfy manager chair, one of the surprising perks of being randomly picked by a complete stranger to run a business. The whole experience was still a bit surreal, and it had happened over a year ago.
Oh well, she thought. I apparently haven't messed up. All's well that ends well, I guess.
She did make some decent money.
Rosa leaned back into the chair as far as she could. Frankly, dealing with all of the holiday shoppers was exhausting. She didn't know how Jacci and the others dealt with it. Perhaps she should give them a bonus...
Her musings were interrupted by a knock on the door to her inner office that the owner had insisted on adding after the Avenue became popular. She let out a small groan before getting up and opening the door ever so slightly, flinching a bit at the sudden bombardment of sound. She made a mental note to get the main office a bit more sound-insulated.
"What is it, Gardner?"she said, slumping against the doorframe.
"There's a visitor for you, Miss Echo," said the bespectacled man.
Rosa blew a little air out of her mouth. "Can they come back later? I'm so tired..." She was acting a bit childish, she knew, but she didn't really care.
At least, until she heard her visitor.
"Aw, come on Rosa," said the surprise visitor, off to her right. Her gaze snapped to the speaker, a grinning, blonde-haired boy in green and black. "I've called you later than this."
Rosa straightened up, her eyes brightening and her energy miraculously returning.
"Curtis!"
She stepped up to him and gave him a hug, oblivious to the stares and smiles of her assistants and the slight blush on Curtis's face. As she stepped back, she gave him a curious look.
"What brings you here?"
Curtis gave a nervous chuckle and adjusted his cap. "Ahaha... Well... I just came to see you."
Rosa smiled and opened her mouth to speak, but was interrupted by Gardener.
"Why don't you two go talk," he said, motioning towards Rosa's office, "and I'll bring you some refreshments in a moment."
Though Curtis attempted to deny the offer, Rosa cut in, saying it would fine, and dragged him into the room. She happened to have another chair, for meetings and such, and she dragged it next to hers. Curtis took off his coat, hanging it on the back of the chair.
As they sat down, she asked, "How did you know I was here, anyway? This was pretty sudden."
"Aha... Someone told me... Yancy told me..." he said, trailing off to a mumble at the end.
Rosa thought for a few seconds. Yancy... Hadn't she talked to a girl named that?
"Pink hair?"
"Yeah, that's her. I work with her. She had her break earlier today, and she said she did some shopping here." Gardner came in with the promised refreshments, and the conversation briefly halted as they both thanked him and took long drinks of the hot chocolate he had brought.
Curtis was the first to speak again. "So, what are you doing for Christmas, Rosa?"
Rosa smiled. "I'm just going to stay home, be with my mom, ya know? It's been a while since I just spent the day with her, and I should really do it more often."
"I totally get what you mean. My job keeps me from spending a lot of time with my mom, too. And my siblings! I mean, they annoy me sometimes, but..."
"But they're your family. Hugh says that a lot." Curtis frowned slightly at the mention of the red-eyed boy - he'd never been on very good terms with him - but quickly erased it from his face. It wouldn't be right to say anything. He was one of her oldest and closest friends, regardless of anything that had happened between them.
Besides, how could he stay unhappy around Rosa?
"Well, speaking of Christmas..." began Curtis, reaching into the pocket of his black jeans. He pulled out a small, flat box, about three inches square, wrapped in aqua blue paper and topped with a somewhat squished green bow. "I, uh, I got you something, and since this is the last day I get a long break before Christmas... I thought I'd give it to you now..." Curtis trailed off nervously, once again wondering where his charisma decided to wander off to whenever he talked to Rosa. The fact that he could feel his cheeks heating up did not help.
Rosa clapped her hands, eyes lighting up. "You got me something! Thank you so much!"
"Ahaha, you haven't even seen the gift yet..." said Curtis, who was most definitely blushing now, partially because he was nervous and partially because Rosa was just so adorable.
"But you got me something! That's what counts, right?"
She opened the present in a surprisingly gentle manner, then lifted the lid of the silver box to reveal a bracelet with several charms hanging off if it, including a Snivy and, Rosa noted with a smile, a Luxray - his favorite.
"I- I was out shopping and I saw the Snivy and I just... thought of you," said Curtis, playing with the brim of his hat, a nervous habit of his.
"Thank you, Curtis. I love it!" Rosa said, suddenly giving Curtis another hug, causing him to blush even further. He grinned and returned the hug, overjoyed that she had liked it.
Much to his disappointment, she broke the hug as suddenly as she had started it.
"Oh, mine's not in here! I'll be back in a minute!" she said, heading to the door. She had gotten him a gift? He wondered what it was. Perhaps a Pokémon, that seemed likely, or maybe-
His thoughts were cut off as he noticed her simply standing by the door.
"Um... Is something wrong, Rosa?"
"...It won't open."
"...What?"
"It won't open. It's... locked?"
"Doors aren't supposed to lock people in!"
"I know." She jiggled the handle, which stayed very much in the same position. "I think it broke."
They stared at each other for a moment. Then Rosa sighed, moving towards her bag.
"I guess I'll just have to call one of the assistants. Who would help with this...?"
Curtis checked the time on his Xtranciever. 4:40.
"Wait." She paused.
"Um... If... If I'm not back by five, then they'll... I won't have to... I'll get the rest of the day off..." He looked away, pulling his cap over his eyes.
"Are you suggesting we play hooky?"
Putting it like that... Curtis panicked.
"I-I'm sorry that was really selfish of me! You should just call them and forget I eve-"
He was cut off by Rosa giggling. "That sounds like fun!"
Curtis stared at her. "Really?"
"Yeah! As long as we go do something with your sudden free time!" She laughed again.
"Maybe... we could go see a musical?"
"That sounds good to me!" Curtis relaxed, and he found himself smiling along with her.
"So..." he checked his Xtranciever, "we've got... eighteen minutes to kill. Any suggestions?"
Rosa tilted her head for a moment before seeming to come up with something.
"Well, we can just hang out, right? But first, how about you help me put on this bracelet?" She held out the object in question to Curtis.
He nodded and gave her a mock bow. "Yes, milady." As she giggled and he clasped the bracelet onto her wrist, he had a crazy thought-
He would get locked in a room every day for this.
Hello, Night here with something else that is not Like You. ^^"
I recently ran a prompt on my tumblr account (link on my profile, if you wish to check it out) along the lines of: "I can't believe you got us stuck in..." IllusionsOfInsanity requested Livecaster and a department store. While I'm not quite sure this exactly fits that prompt, it's much longer than the other one.
TITLES ARE REALLY HARD
As always, reviews, comments, favs, and follows are appreciated!