Mini Matchmaker

New Year's Eve

The day after Christmas was a rude awakening, returning to the awful world of retail clothing and the demanding general public. Everyone and their dim-witted cousin had descended upon the mall to return ill-fitting clothes, otherwise unwanted gifts, and basically to annoy you. You didn't know how many more times you could say, "Without a receipt I can only give store credit and that's with the tags still attached" because every single time, the customer was baffled and infuriated at your inability to fork over the refund money without proof of purchase. Shocking.

You had spent your (late and shorter than usual) break hiding in the bathroom just so you didn't have to see another person for 15 minutes. You repeated the mantra of "only a few more days, only a few more days..." to keep you from snapping right then and there.

Thankfully, two days later things had calmed down and you were able to have an actual lunch break. Natasha had joined you halfway through and was currently devouring your basket of fries, but lucky for her you weren't that hungry. If you never saw another mall food court again, it would be too soon. The combined smells were nauseating. Only a few more days, only a few more days...

The buzzing of your phone on the laminate table brought you out of your stupor, your heart leaping at the name displayed on the screen. Steve. Natasha's eyes followed the sound and she gripped your arm in almost-painful excitement.

"Answer it! Answer it!!" she physically shook you. She was just about as invested in this budding possible relationship as you were at this point.

"Ow! Okay, okay!!" you peeled her fingers off and swiped to answer the call. "Hello?"

An unexpected, young voice came through the phone, "Hi, Y/N! It's me, Justice!"

"Oh! Hi, sweetie!" you waved away Nat's shocked expression at your use of that term of endearment. "Um...does your daddy know you have his phone?"

"No. He's in the kitchen. Do you want to come to the party tonight? We're going to Uncle Clint's work and you should come and play with me!"

"I don't know, honey, could I talk to your..."

Just then you heard a deep, male voice in the background. "Who're you talking to, peanut?"

"Y/N."

"Oh, yeah? What did she say?" he replied, seemingly unconcerned.

"She asked about you and I told her about the party, can she come?" her small voice full of hope.

"Wait...did you really call her? Let me...oh, shit.." you heard a rustling on the line as Justice resisted giving up the phone, it would seem. "Hi, Y/N! I'm sorry..."

"You said a bad word, daddy!" Justice yelled in the background.

"Yes, I know, princess. I was just surprised, let me talk to Y/N, okay?" he cleared his throat and turned his focus on you. "Y/N, I'm so sorry about that, I thought she was kidding."

In the meantime, you were having a laughing fit regarding the exchange between this wonderful man and his adorable daughter. "That's okay," you said when you regained some of your composure.

"Jimmer likes to pretend to have conversations and usually my phone is locked but I must have left it open on the table. I guess she found your photo in the contacts and called. She's a sneaky one..."

"So it would seem," you grinned. "How are you, Steve?"

"I'm, uh...I'm good. Really good, how are you?" he asked.

"Better now," you replied with a touch of flirtiness. "So, what's this about a party?"

"Oh, it's just a get-together for Laura's birthday at the restaurant. Nothing big. I mean, you can come! I'd love it if you did and I actually wanted to call, but I thought it might be too much too soon, you know? Apparently my daughter disagrees, so..."