"It's busy today!" Mireille exclaimed, holding the door open for Spencer.
"Makes sense. People tend to go for hot foods when it's pouring rain like this," Spencer remarked, glancing around the bustling restaurant.
They had waited for a bit before being shown to their seats, a small table near a wall-length window. They quickly ordered their food. She ordered a chicken tikka masala- at their highest spice level. Ah, so she was someone who liked to be bold and try things, he quietly noted to himself. Or who knows, maybe she just really liked spicy food. She must have a much higher spice tolerance than him.
As they waited for their food, Mireille quietly drummed her fingers against the wooden tabletop. Shifting her glance quickly from side to side, yet her gaze consistently falling on her phone. Laying face down against the table. Every now and again, she'd pick up the yellow-cased phone. Furrowing her brow as the screen lit up before placing back down against the table with a little sigh. Quickly tapping her foot against the tile floor.
"Is something wrong, Mireille?" Her head popped up at the mention of her name, quickly letting go of her phone and placing her hands in her lap. He nodded towards her phone. "You seem anxious."
"Anxious?" she echoed, tilting her head.
"Yes. Your body language reads as waiting impatiently for something, and you've been checking your phone in two minute intervals."
She looked at him, her expression somewhere between impressed and dumbfounded. A smile tugged at the corners of her mouth, she rested her chin against the palm of her hand. Her smudged, shimmery eyeshadow seemed to emphasize the cheerful glimmer of her dark eyes.
"I'm waiting for a text from my sister," she plainly said, holding her phone so her screen faced towards him.
"Your sister?"
"Yeah. She lives in L.A." She placed her arm down back on the table, watching his expression change. A memory seemed to have just flashed to his mind. "What's with that smirk?"
"I have… notable memories of L.A." He straightened up, placing his clasped hands on the edge of the table. He was young and dumb then. She grinned, nodding seemingly in agreement.
"I do too- ah but those are stories for another day," she mused, swaying slightly back and forth. "The reason why I'm waiting for a text from my sister is 'cause her baby is in the NICU. He was born a few weeks early, so things are kinda on the fringe right now."
"I'm sorry."
"It's alright." She firmly nodded, pumping a fist up. "If he's anything like his mom he'll be stubborn enough to pull through. Right?"
"You sure have an interesting perspective, Miss Mireille."
She smiled brightly, even with the traces of smudged mascara tracing the underbags of her eyes. "I'll take that as a compliment."
Spencer couldn't help but smile back. What could he say? Such enthusiasm could be contagious. "Good."
Suddenly her eyes darted off to the side before the rest of her body followed, turning away from him. Her posture quickly straightened up, placing her hands back down on the table. She must have spotted the waitress coming their way, with the way her eyes lit up.
"Oh-! Food's here!" she cheerfully announced, quickly trying to move their glasses of water to the side to make room as the waitress carefully set two large plates on the table.
"One chicken tikka masala and one chicken vindaloo! Let me know if you need anything else, 'kay?" she said before quickly pacing away to deal with the many other customers in the restaurant.
Mireille quickly picked up her phone, positioning it directly over their plates. Looking between the food and the camera on the screen, she slightly adjusted the positioning of the plates. Spencer couldn't help but watch in fascination as she moved her own plate maybe a centimeter or two to the right. Finally satisfied with the composition of the plates, she quickly snapped a picture before placing her phone back down.
"Sorry." She sheepishly tucked her long, black hair behind her ear. Casting her glance down in what seemed to be self-conscious embarrassment. "I like taking pictures of my food."
Spencer shook his head, waving his hand. "Don't worry about it, I don't mind." He picked up the metal fork, swinging it around. "Even if I probably wouldn't do it myself. Honestly, I'm a bit of a technophobe."
Mireille raised an eyebrow- "Really now?"
"If I could, I would just hand write letters to everyone."
She let out an ugly snort with a mouthful of food. Quickly bringing her hand to her mouth so as to not seem impolite, clearly trying not to choke on her food. "That's funny."
"I'm serious-" he pressed his lips into a faux-serious pose- "I just got a new phone, and I'm having a hard time figuring it out."
Mireille held her hand out, tilting her head. "Lemme see- it can't be that bad."
Spencer handed his small, black phone over to the florist. Taking it, she slid it open. Examining the slider keyboard with some sort of childish fascination. Sliding the screen easily up and down as she clicked various buttons on the board.
"You said this was a new phone?"
"Yes."
Clearly amused, her eyes were fixated on his small screen. Clearly typing in something on his phone.
"What's so funny?"
"I think I had this phone when I was in college." She paused, pressing her lips into a small, compressed shape. Probably remembering something unpleasant. "And it's been a long while since I graduated college. Ah- I'm old aren't I?"
"It has the essentials. Call. Text. Voicemail," he explained, chewing on a spoonful of his vindaloo. "That's all I really need."
"Let's see…"
"What are you doing?" he asked, trying to peer over to what she was typing out.
"I'm adding my contact information. Sending myself a text… And- there!" She collapsed his phone, handing it back to him. "I have your number."
Spencer looked at the blue box that flashed on the screen, a message to "Mireille- Blue Violets."
"'Hello' with a colon and half a parenthesis to create a smiling face?" he slowly said, reading the text aloud.
"Yeah! Is something wrong?"
"Why would you append it to the message?"
"To make it more- friendly- y'know? Wait- you've never used emoticons before?"
"No, not particularly."
'"You're quite the strange one, aren't you, doctor?"
"So I've been told." He looked towards the window, watching as the heavy downpour rapidly hit the glass. "But I'm always up for learning something new."
"Yeah! You can just use the symbols on the keyboard to create various faces. Like a winking face or an open mouth smile." She spread her hands out into excited jazz hands. "Just use them to make your texts seem more… fun!"
"I'll try it sometime then."
Mireille focused her gaze on him, and Spencer found himself a little self conscious at her stare. Her eyes were so dark they were almost black- intensifying her gaze. Pressing her lips into a straight line, she reached her hand out towards Spencer's face, leaning over slightly to reach him.
"Ah! Spencer, you've got something over here-"
Spencer, a bit taken aback, leaned away from her. Pointing towards the right side of his chin as she reached out further towards him.
"Here?"
"No, no- here-"
Her fingertips quickly swept right under his lips, leaving a streak of warmth. Though it was strange. Even though Spencer had problems with even shaking hands, he didn't completely mind Mireille touching his face. Looking at his face and determining that she got the bit of sauce off, hurriedly wiped her hand on a napkin. Taking a second glance back, she must have read his expression. As her expression quickly fell.
"Oh! I'm sorry," she dropped her gaze down to her almost-empty plate. "I forgot some people don't like others touching them…"
"Kissing is safer than touching hands," was all that managed to tumble from his mouth.
She stared at him a bit stunned at first at what he said. Oh- maybe to her it sounded like a suggestion to kiss? That wasn't what he meant-! Was it? Before he could even begin to clarify himself, a choked laugh came from her. Before she burst out into hearty laughter, covering her wide smile with her hands.
"Bahaha- ack-!"
Her phone suddenly began loudly ringing, surprising the both of them.
"Your phone!" he exclaimed. Ah, what a dumb thing for him to say! Of course it's her phone!
"I got it- I got it-!" Trying to quickly pick up her phone, she nearly dropped it from her hands before catching it in the air. Fumbling with the small box for a bit before glancing at the screen. "Ah- it's my sister! Sorry, I'll be right back!"
Mireille quickly ran out of the restaurant, settling herself under the warmly lit awning over the front door. It was much colder outside compared to the warm interior of the restaurant, and much quieter. The lively chatter around them having been replaced by the pitter-patter of the pouring rain around her. Placing the phone by her ear, Mireille tried to hear if her sister had been speaking. But got nothing but some shuffling noises.
"Hello? Ga-jie?"
More shuffling. Then a snap sound, before a haggard, but cheery voice came to the phone. "Hey Mi!"
"Any updates?" Mireille asked, leaning against the wall.
"Yeah-" her sister sounded so tired- "Ray's out. We're all back home now."
"That's great!" She tried matching her sister's attempted enthusiasm. But she never was able to. "Have you called Lucas yet?"
"Yeah. He's already told dad too."
Mireille wasn't surprised. Of course Claire was gonna tell her twin brother first, and of course Lucas would tell their father first. She wondered how he felt, he was probably excited to have another grandchild- this time from Claire. Though he had long since given up that Mireille would ever get married. "Is he gonna go visit?"
Claire audibly sighed, She could only imagine her expression on the other end of the line. "You know he can't with his health."
"Yeah," was all Mireille could manage to say about that. "I figured."
"Why don't you fly out next week?" her sister offered, her tone immediately changing to a much brighter one. "I can pay for your ticket."
"You know I can't. Who will manage the store without me?"
"You deserve a couple days off every once in a while. And you'll get to meet your nephew!"
"Don't pull that card."
"Miss Mireille?"
Mireille turned around, seeing one very tall Spencer Reid standing beside her. Her black canvas bag hanging on his shoulder, hands in the pockets of his pinstriped pants.
"Oh, Spencer!" she exclaimed, a bit surprised by his sudden appearance. He always managed to sneak up on her, hadn't he?
"I paid."
"What?!" Ah- he beat her to it! She was going to pay! "Why?"
He only shrugged. "Think of it as repayment for showing me this place."
"You can't just pay for a whole meal after helping me out today!" she furiously whispered, hoping her sister wasn't hearing their whole conversation.
"But I just did."
"Mireille?" Claire's voice came back on the line, her tone playfully teasing. "Who is that? It sounds like a guy~"
"It's nobody," Mireille quickly replied, lowering her voice so Spencer wouldn't hear.
"Is that a date?" Her sister clearly ignored Mireille's answer. Her voice fast with what seemed to be excitement. "Do you have a boyfriend?"
"I do not!"
"That's what you said when you snuck out when you were in high school."
Mireille placed her free hand on her hip. For someone thirteen years her senior, her older sister sure did act younger than her sometimes.
"Shouldn't you be more worried about yourself than me?" the florist said, wanting to change the subject. "You gave birth last week and your kid just got out of the NICU after all."
"I'm gonna hang up now! Don't leave your date waiting."
"Ah-jie- Claire-!" Mireille pulled her phone away from her ear. The screen lit up, showing only her lockscreen of a picture of Mireille and her best friend. Sighing, she placed her phone back in her jacket pocket. "And…. she hung up."
"Was that your sister?" Spencer asked, handing her canvas bag back to her.
"Yeah. Ray- my nephew- just got out of the hospital." She slung the bag over her shoulder, cursing herself for making it so heavy with all the stuff inside. "They're at home now."
"You were right then." Grinning, he pulled out his collapsed black umbrella. "He did pull through."
"Right? I'm so happy."
Spencer pressed the umbrella open. Stepping out from under the awning, he glanced back towards her. Cheerfully, she stepped towards him, joining him under the black umbrella as the heavy rain fell around them. Pressing almost too close together to avoid getting wet, she felt her face flush slightly.
"Well then, should we get going?" she said, trying not to press against him while still staying dry.
"Should we grab dessert?" he offered as they began down the road, lit up by the light streaming through the windows of the many shops that lined the streets. Bustling with people running to get out of the rain and huddling under their umbrellas.
"I think I should head home," she sighed. Though she wouldn't have minded dessert. A nice, fresh cake sounded good right then and there. "I have work tomorrow."
"Ah. Well…" He said a bit softly. Was he disappointed? She couldn't read his tone at all, maybe she was losing her edge. Or maybe he was good at masking his emotions. "Let's go then. We live in the same direction anyhow."
As they began to make their way down the long road, she looked over to the man. Who was gently smiling. He glanced back down at her, meeting eyes. Embarrassed that she was caught staring, she quickly looked away. Fixating her eyes on the edge of the umbrella. Watching water pour down from it.
"You know you didn't have to treat me," she said, feeling heat continuing to rise in her cheeks.
"It was my pleasure, Mireille," he said. She could hear a smile in his voice. He tilted the umbrella more towards her side, she noticed. Ah, but that probably meant his shoulder was getting soaked. Gently, she guided the umbrella more towards his side.
"First the coffee, now this…"
"I really don't mind."
Crossing her arms, she twisted the fabric of her sleeves. Nodding, she looked up towards him.
"Well then, I'll treat you next time."
He looked back down at her, smiling. "I'd like that."
Spencer began to slow his pace, and Mireille alongside him. Looking off to the side, she noticed they were in front of a neat little high-rise apartment building. The light of the lobby flowing through the window, illuminating his face.
"Is this your place?" she asked, a bit disappointed that the walk wasn't a little longer.
"Yes," he replied. He placed the black umbrella in her hand, pulling away under the red overhang in front of the apartment entrance. "Take it."
"Are you sure?" she said, standing there. Was he really just going to loan it to her?
"You still have a couple more blocks to your place." He placed his hands in his pockets, tilting his head. "I don't want you walking in the rain."
"I'll make sure to return your umbrella next time, then." She began to turn, though not taking her eyes off him completely.
"Next time," he said, his ever-permanent smile widening.
"And let's grab coffee, or something."
"Well… goodnight, Miss-"
Mireille cleared her throat with a loud ahem. Pausing, Spencer quickly realized his mistake. That's right, they didn't really need to be formal anymore did they? They were friends- maybe.
"I mean, Mireille."
Pleased, the florist nodded.
"Goodnight, Spencer."
As she took her first step to leave back home, he called out.
"Oh uh-"
Pausing, she turned her head back towards him, cocking her head curiously. "Hm?"
"Thank you." He had his hand half-held out, as if he was trying to reach for her. And yet, he simply stood there. Feet planted firmly on the ground. "For today."
The sky is blue, the Sun is a star, and Mireille Li fell in love easily. And there were times she could not deny this very basic fact of her life. In fact, there were times she occasionally relished in it. Even though she knew it would lead to her downfall later on. But maybe, it was okay for once.
"It's no problem, really."