An Expert Patch Job

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Ayla was uninjured, except for her pride, which she could probably never recover at this point. "Am okay..." she mumbled, sitting down in her work chair for safety, a bit reluctant to let him go as well. She smiled for his benefit, even though she wanted to cry out of pure mortification. "I, eh, start soon, then..." Ayla nodded at her decision, but decided to stay where she was until he'd gone. She didn't trust her feet anymore with him around.
 
Joshua smiled and finally let her go. "I'll let you get to it. I'll see you Thursday morning." He smiled and stood straight. "Take care of yourself, Ayla." he said, then gave the other seamstress a smile and a wave before heading on out the door.

He thought about her for the next two days while doing his work and normal daily routine. He even thought about getting himself an apartment, the topic of which his crew had been hounding him on for the past year or so. When the time came to go back to the shop, he came dressed in one of his spare uniforms and arrived right at noon. He walked in and up to the counter, smiling happily, tail wagging. "Hello!" he called happily as he moved up to the counter.
 
Ayla scurried up to the counter, smiling. She had dressed carefully today, knowing he was coming. "Hello!" she greeted him excitedly, purring a bit at seeing him in his uniform. "I, eh, am think you are come early in morning! I am almost ready for close for lunch," she explained, pleased with herself that she'd waited for him. "Am have all uniform ready, but are try on trouser? Make sure is fit?" she requested, pulling down one of the altered uniforms and handing it to him.
 
"I'm sorry, Miss Ayla." he said, tail wagging as he saw her hurry to the counter. "Some of my boys had trouble knowing what '7:30 muster' meant and I had to go find them. Took me all morning to track them down." He laughed and shook his head. "Yeah, good idea." he responded to her wish for him to try on the pants. He took the uniform with a cheerful 'thank you' and walked back to try them on.

He walked out of the dressing room with a smile. "Much better, Miss Ayla. Thank you." he said, looking at himself in the mirror. He turned around to look at her, tail still wagging happily. "What do I owe you? And did I hear you say you were about to close for lunch?"
 
She handed him the bill for the rest of the alterations, and nodded. "Yah, is, eh, I have one hour for take break to eat lunch," she explained. She was still blushing a bit at him. She couldn't deny that she really loved seeing him in his uniform. She tried not to think about not being able to see him again until who knew when. He said he'd bring her back something when he returned, so two weeks at least, but what then? Would she only get to see him when he needed something patched or altered or cleaned? She pushed the thoughts away. The fact that it made her want to cry was just a bit too disconcerting.
 
He looked the bill over, his floppy ears as turned to her and perked as they could be. He was listening and trying to do quick math at the same time. He pulled some money out of his wallet and handed it over. "Well, I've got an hour for lunch as well." he said brightly, tail wagging. "I was thinking about heading to a small restaurant near here....would you care to join me, miss Ayla?"
 
"Oh, eh, I am usually bring lunch...I can no afford, eh do not have money for restaurant..." she admitted, a bit shamefaced and embarrassed to have to admit that to him. She twisted her paws in her apron and didn't look up at him, but he'd see that the tips of her ears were quite pink, so her face had to be even darker.
 
"A gentleman doesn't let a lady pay." he said. "And even though I don't think I've been accused of being a gentleman in a while, I was offering to take you out and pay for the both of us." he said with a chuckle. "Unless you'd rather stay here, of course. But the cafe down the street has some really good food."
 
"O-oh..." she said lamely, feeling a bit silly now. She looked around the shop and finally back at him, nodding. She took the money box and put it back into the office safe, then returned to the front with her hat and shawl. She looked around again, then up at him before heading to the door.
 
He opened the door for her and let her out first, then followed along behind. She wasn't the only one that felt a little silly. SHe was so much younger than he was, but she was so...so...there was just something about her that he couldn't get out of his head! He smiled and offered her his arm once they were out on the sidewalk. "So, um...how do you like Saint Louis?"
 
Ayla locked the shop up before shyly accepting his arm. "Is, eh, very different from Turkey. But am get used to it. Slow at a time..." She chanced a look up at him and returned his smile, her heart skipping a beat or two. He had such a nice smile! "You are live always here?" she wondered.
 
He shook his head enough to flop his large ears around some. "No. I was born in New York, on Statten Island. I've only lived here for a couple years. I like it, though. It's a lot quieter than New York City, that's for sure. Cheaper apartments, too." he laughed a little. "Nicer in some ways, but my ex-wife hates it. We divorced before I was moved out here though."
 
Ayla smiled when he shook his head and clasped her paws tightly, wanting to rub one of his floppy ears so much! She frowned thoughtfully when he spoke of his ex-wife. She knew that word. "Divorce? So, no more married?" she asked, making sure. She wanted to make sure she wasn't flirting with someone who was attached to someone else. Odd that the thought had not occurred to her before. He was a bit older, so of course he could possibly have someone, but then he wouldn't be going out of his way to flirt with her, would he?
 
"Right." He looked down at her and smiled. "I'm not married anymore. I ah....I have three kids, but they live with their mother." he said, a little embarrassed that he hadn't brought it up before. She probably didn't want to be around a guy with kids and a crazy ex-wife...Well, his wife wasn't that crazy really...but Ayla had said she lost a child...maybe that was just...shoving everything in her face or something...
 
Ayala just smiled. <They are how many year? You are see them?> she wondered. She didn't mind, she was just relieved he wasn't still married. She gently and shyly took his arm as they walked along, unable to stop the blush that creeped up her cheeks as she felt the muscles under his uniform shirt.
 
"Twelve, ten, and eight. Junior, Terry, and Isabelle. I don't get to see 'em as much as I'd like, but I get them for about a month every summer." He glanced up at the sky as if it were going to tell him how many days left until he got to see his kids again. "Usually she finds some way to get them home early. Don't really know why she's so mad at me all of the time." He shrugged and looked forward again just in time to not pass the cafe. He stopped and opened the door for Ayla. "I've got some pictures in my wallet of them though. Of the kids. If you'd like to see..." he blushed. "I mean, it's fine if you don't, just thought I'd offer..."
 
She smiled at him, purring as she passed him to go inside. "Ya, I am like to see. They are look like you?" She looked around the cafe with a smile. It was cute, and she wasn't lying when she'd told him she hardly ever went to cafes and restaurants, so this was definitely a treat for her.
 
"Junior does." he said with a smile. "Isabelle, thankfully, doesn't. She looks like her mother." He laughed a little. "And I don't know about Terry. He looks a little like my grandfather I guess, but not entirely." He shrugged and sat down at a table with her. He glanced around a little, then turned to smile at her.
 
Ayla's smile turned sad and thoughtful for a few moments. Her son had had his father's colouring, but being so premature there wasn't much else she could tell about his features. She liked to think he would've looked like Selim. It was a bittersweet thought now, no longer a purely sad one. But for now, she decided not to dwell on it. She looked back at Joshua expectantly for the pictures in his wallet, even as they waited for a server.
 
Joshua smiled and pulled out his wallet. He opened it up and took out three, crisp, new school photographs and handed them over. "They're in order, Junior on top." he said with a smile. He looked down into his wallet for other pictures, digging around through some cash and business cards and the like, before giving up and smiling at her and watching her reaction. His kids were cute. Junior looked like he was trying to follow in his father's footsteps, sitting up nice and tall and looking stone-faced into the camera. Terry hadn't grown into his ears yet and sat there with a broad grin on his face. Isabelle looked like she was trying to be cuter than she already was. So young and already watching her mother to figure out the ways of the world...
 
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