"Uncle heya!" greeted Donna as she opened the door to the library, Aaron craning his neck to see her and smiling. "What're you up to?"
"Oh just placing the returned books to their proper place," replied Aaron as he placed a book on the shelf and squinted to see if he had arranged it in alphabetical order. When he was satisfied for the meantime he turned his attention to his niece again and said, "I'm sure Georgina will be stopping by in a few moments."
"Ohhh hooray! I miss G; she didn't finish telling me about pickpocketing this rich guy who disgusted her."
Donna was quite fond of Georgina right from the start, which surprised Aaron. He had a feeling they would warm up to each other but he had no idea they would be hitting it off so soon, on the first meeting no less. Georgina told her tht she had come from jail and instead of disgust or disdain on Donna's young face, she was awed and wanted to hear Georgina's tales of going about, slinking in the shadows, and all about her steals in general. When Aaron confronted her on her sudden interest, Donna said she didn't plan on being a stealer anytime soon. She was just really interested in his friend and her stories were all so full of suspense and fight-or-flight responses. Aaron was a bit skeptical with that but took her word for it.
His cousin would surely have his head if ever he caught wind Aaron introduced his daughter to a thief (who was slowly becoming better).
Soon enough the library wooden doors opened to reveal a feminine figure carrying dozens of books in her arms, both Aaron and Donna hurrying to open the doors wider and let Georgina in.
Georgina huffed out a laugh, placing the books on the nearest long table and dusting her hands.
"Thanks for that, guys," she said, wiping her brow with her bicep. She turned to Donna and grinned. "Heya kiddo. Now what part was I in the story-telling?"
Donna giggled and skipped over to the older woman, clinging on to her arm. "You were telling me about that guy you pickpocketed 'cause he disgusted you to bits."
Georgina's eyes took on a glint of recognition and she opened her mouth in realization.
"Oh yeah. Well then Lance would ya mind getting us some snacks while I tell little miss here what happened?" Georgina winked his way, leading Donna to the same table where she placed her borrowed books. When Donna was sitting down Georgina added, "Oh and I came to return the books I borrowed, Lance."
"Yes I can see that," Aaron said with an amused smile. He remembered something and said, "Also, stop calling me Lance; you know I don't like that."
Georgina stuck her tongue out at him and resumed her story to Donna, whose attention was on the other woman and totally enraptured. Aaron figured they would be staying like that for a long time so he went upstairs to his little kitchen, deciding on piling up a plate full of wafers and other biscuits.
Once Georgina found out his second name, she started calling him so. He wasn't really fond of his second name; he didn't hate it or anything but he didn't like being called his second name. He didn't know if Georgina was doing it to spite him or some other reason but he couldn't seem to get her to stop. And so he let it be, occasionally telling her to stop even though he knew he would get a cheeky reply in return.
Georgina was starting to change bit by bit but of course old habits die hard. He didn't know if it was a good or bad thing but she usually confessed to him when she stole a watch from an unsuspecting person or nicked a highlighter from the local store. Usually Aaron would either pay for the stolen item or bring it to the police station under the guise of finding it on the ground or some other random place. Lying didn't sit well in his tongue and he often blanched at having to do so. Although Georgina insisted he didn't have to lie, he didn't want Georgina to serve a longer sentence in jail.
And it may just be his imagination but her wardrobe started to expand. Usually she would be seen wearing clothes of drab colors like gray and black but nowadays she was trying new things such as the occasional yellow dress with floral pattern or vibrant pink leggings . Even right now, if he remembered correctly, Georgina wore a green blouse with jean shorts, familiar sneakers on her feet. A short gray coat reaching mid-thigh completed the look.
Done with his mini-task, Aaron went down to the library and saw Donna complaining about something to Georgina, who was listening attentively with chin on hand. When she heard his footsteps—a result of years of being on guard—she slightly turned her head to him, lips quirking up in a smile of greeting.
He returned the gesture with a wave of his own, walking closer.
Donna was still rambling away, only stopping to thank her uncle as he set down the plate of snacks.
"And then, can you believe it he actually had the gall to say basketball was only for boys? Man oh man I wanted to punch his dumb face then."
Georgina laughed, picking a cookie from the platter and gobbling it whole. Aaron's eyes widened in surprise but knew better than to tell her off. He had seen first-hand many times how her mouth became a vacuum when around food.
Aaron stood close by, appraising Georgina's attire. Come to think of it, this wasn't her usual attire. She didn't really dress up often so today must be a special occasion.
"What occasion is it today you're all dolled up like so?"
"Eh?"
Georgina turned to him, Aaron noticing the eyeliner, eyeshadow, and lipstick as the seconds passed by.
"I mean, why are you more dressed up today than usual?"
Her eyebrow raised and she looked down on herself as if realizing just now. She shot Aaron an amused look.
"You can tell?"
"Why? What did Uncle guess?" Donna asked, gaze switching between them both.
Georgina laughed and said, "Nica set me up on a blind date again so I gotta get going soon."
"Aw what?" Donna exclaimed. She threw Aaron a sharp look, Aaron flinching at the ferocity of her gaze. "Uncle, why didn't you make a move? You and G should've been the ones on a date, not G and some random stranger."
Almost simultaneously, Aaron and Georgina found each other's gazes. After that split second they laughed loud and hard, Donna pouting in confusion and mock anger as she turned her gaze from Aaron to Georgina and back again a few times.
Both Georgina and Aaron were amused at people's assumptions of them dating. Initially both of them were highly embarrassed but now it was a sort of inside joke between them, laughing the only response they had to such a question. What could they say anyway?
They obviously didn't feel that way towards one another.
"Donna you're so funny," Georgina said, wiping off a tear and letting out a giggle. "We ain't dating, me and Lance. You ever see us act lovey-dovey like my bestie and her fiancé?"
Donna pouted and said meekly, "Yeah but I don't know… I think you and Uncle would really be able to hit it off. You'd make such a cute couple!" she whined.
"No we won't," answered Aaron swiftly. "Now shouldn't you be heading off home? Your father will most likely call if you aren't home at a specific time."
"Oh crap you're right Uncle!" Donna hastily got off her seat, checked her watch and phone, and winced. She grabbed a handful of snacks and bid as she got out, "Gotta go! Don't have too much fun without me!"
"Get home safe, D!" Georgina called out as Donna's hair flipped about her. In mere seconds she was gone and Aaron was left alone with Georgina. There was a beat of silence when she turned to him and laughed nervously. "Kids, huh? Always making assumptions."
In spite of himself, Aaron laughed. He crossed the first floor and took Donna's previous spot, taking a cookie for himself and biting into it. Chocolate flooded his mouth almost immediately, which he approved of.
"I know she wants me to settle down but honestly, I like where I am right now."
"So do I, you know," said Georgina almost instantly. She then added hastily, "Well I did take your advice and am trying to make myself better. What do you think?"
"I haven't seen you smoke since three weeks ago," he remarked lightly.
Georgina raised a brow. "Eh? And how would you know? Been keeping tabs on me?" She laughed and said, "Oh careful there, Miller."
"Don't get me wrong; I'm not a creep. But I am observant and sometimes I can't help but take note of small things," he said, taking a wafer and examining it. He turned to Georgina, whose attention was on him. "But maybe you've been smoking, I don't know. After all, like we agreed upon, I don't dictate your life."
Georgina nodded emphatically and raised a cookie in the air. "Hear, hear that's right." She chomped down on the cookie and said, "And yeah I smoked like, a week ago I think."
Aaron's eyebrows raised in surprise. Georgina nodded with a smirk. He sighed.
"Well I suppose it can't be helped. But what else did you do?"
"I dunno… you tell me. I nicked someone's earring like… three days ago. What does that mean?"
He gave her a nonplussed expression. "I thought that was one of the aspects we had to get in order?"
"Yeah yeah but sometimes I can't help it." He opened his mouth to speak but she cut in, "And yes I'll do better starting today, promise. I'll go meet up with my blind date, see if we click, and go straight home. Connor's also been bugging me about how I should get my own phone since I donated most of the stolen items to charity—"
"You did what?" Aaron cut in, wanting to be sure he heard correctly. Georgina stared at him in bewilderment so he repeated, "Did I hear right you donated your stolen items to charity?"
Georgina blinked, eyebrows furrowing.
"Yeah that's what I just said, buster. You deaf or something? Don't make me repeat myself, Lance; it gets tiring. And yeah well, I didn't donate all of 'em but the ones I stole just for the heck of it, yeah I gave 'em away; figured someone else would be able to put the things to good use."
Aaron couldn't help but grin in pride, reaching forward to pat Georgina's hand. He wasn't sure going for her shoulder would be a good thing. Besides, he wasn't really a touchy person. He had an inkling Georgina wasn't either.
She didn't flinch when he made contact with her; only stared at his hand for a moment and looked back at him. He smiled, Georgina smiling back.
"That's a good thing, George. I'm proud."
She gave a soft smile of her own. "Thanks, Lance. Means a lot to me."
And he knew those words to be true.