At The Mall

As Mitchell and Tanya strolled through the mall, the buffeting stream of shoppers carried them on towards one of the major department stores at the far end.

Tanya was curious as to what Mitchell was looking for, but he'd been unnaturally quiet on the Mitcheller.

"So what are you after, Mitchell?" Tanya asked again, trying to sound like it was an off-hand, care-free remark.

Mitchell turned to her and smiled warmly. With a wink, he pointed ahead to where the entrance of a Macy's store had hovered into view.

"Oh, just one or two things, gorgeous."

Letting go of Tanya's hand, he draped an arm over her shoulder.

"But before we get on to that, I thought - well, since you're my birthday present, that we should find the appropriate wrapping for you!"

Tanya looked up at Mitchell with a confused expression on her face. All around them, people disappeared into and out of shops, and a thousand conversations created a low constant murmur throughout the entire mall. All that Toni could focus on though was what Mitchell had just said. Or, perhaps more importantly, whatever the hell Mitchell was trying to say.

"Umm." was all Tanya could string together in response.

Mitchell gave her a playful squeeze on the shoulders, and gave her a mischievous look.

"Well, you know, it _is_ my birthday. And I was hoping to, well, 'unwrap' my present later on."

Tanya rolled her eyes at that, but nevertheless also smirked at that suggestion. So, sexy lingerie it was then. Well, it was his birthday after all, and she could hardly claim to have come up with any better ideas herself.

Allowing herself to be guided ever onwards, she did nevertheless wonder why Mitchell had chosen Macy's of all places to go. They must have passed a Victoria Secret's somewhere along the way, and there would be a number of other shops that could serve a sexier range of outfits that Macy's. Still, best not to openly question a guy on his birthday, especially when he's probably only half-buying the idea that you actually remembered it in the first place.

Mitchell was in a very good mood as the two of them sauntered into the shop, and he made an immediate bee-line for the girl's clothing section.

"Hey, Mitchell." Tanya said, adding an edge of seduction to her voice. "The lingerie is over here."

"Yes." Mitchell said, acknowledging the signage without letting it change his course. "Yes, it is. We're going somewhere slightly different."

Tanya stopped in her tracks and another look of confusion wrinkled her nose.

"What do you mean?" she said.