MLM March, Day 3: First Meeting
“I want to be Spider-Man! No, the Hulk! Wait, no, Iron Man!” Chris pulled on Nino’s hand. “Come on, Nino! We need to get in line before we miss it!”
Nino let his brother pull him to the back of the face painting line in exasperated fondness. “You’re going to miss the rides if we wait in this line. Is that what you want to do?”
Chris frowned, going up on the tips of his toes to see the face painting booth. “There is a guy and a girl up there. Maybe that means it’ll be fast since there are two people.”
“I think we’ll still be here a while.”
Chris pulled on his arm. “Please, Nino, please! This is all I’ll ask for the rest of the day, I promise!”
“I don’t believe that for a minute but okay, Super Chris.” Nino messed up his hair and Chris laughed.
Nino kept his younger brother entertained while they waited until they finally reached the front of the line. Both painters were suddenly open at the same time and Chris looked between them. Nino was about to steer him to the left when he caught the eyes of the man sitting in the right booth. “This way,” Nino decided, turning Chris to the right.
“Hi, I’m Nathaniel. What can I do for you today?” Nathaniel’s eyes darted to Nino quickly before going to Chris again.
“I wanna be a superhero!”
“Awesome! I can definitely do that,” he smiled. “Do you have anyone you want to be or do you want to be your own superhero?”
Chris’s eyes lit up. “I want to be the superhero.” He turned to tug on Nino’s sleeve. “Tell him I am one. Tell him I’m Super Chris.”
Nino looked at Nathaniel, trying not to smile. “It’s true. He’s already Super Chris,” he shrugged.
Nathaniel grinned. “Very cool. Let’s get you all painted up, Super Chris.”
Nathaniel asked questions as he painted and Chris answered enthusiastically. The painter’s eyes kept drifting up to meet Nino’s, a pretty blush spreading across his cheeks every time he was caught. Nino kept his hand in his pocket, fingers tapping anxiously against the small stack of business cards he carried with him as he bided his time.
Chris beamed into Nathaniel’s mirror, babbling happily about how awesome he looked while Nino paid, sliding his business card in with the money. Nathaniel separated it. “For all my DJ needs?” he asked with a smile.
“Or whatever,” Nino grinned, watching him tuck the card into his shirt pocket.
