tonight!

After purchasing her first very own apartment (instead of renting) KK made a promise to herself to always have flowers whenever she was home. Thankfully NY wasn’t a long ways from DC this allowed her more time to prep for courses at NYU and look over some legislature. Clad in only a pair of boot cut jeans, Doc Martins and a vintage Brown University hoodie Kyle looked vastly different from her Congresswoman persona. It still allowed her a bit of anonymity, though that was proving to be more and more complicated with her features on MSNBC, CNN, and various social media. “Hm?” Kyle’s brows raised as she was transported from her thoughts. One settled on a sweet memory of her mother with tulips. It was too cold for tulips. Raising her hands in defense, “Don’t look at me about marriage or advice in any relationship,” a string of bad luck on the dating scene had made the congresswoman slightly celibate at the moment. “Oh…no..” shaking her head, “You are woefully unpracticed in the art of curating a bouquet,” KK laughed. “Are you going to an 80′s prom with those colors?” Glancing around the perfectly manicured flower shoppe she nibbled her bottom lip brows furrowed in intense creativity. “Okay…here it is,” holding out the creation to him as a present Kyle explained, “Dahlia…some roses…a few woodland grasses, wildflowers, and eucalyptus, why not only look great but smell great too,” she smiled - as she locked eyes with him a brow raised. Of course he was a news anchor, shit.

.

-

She hadn’t been married but it was someone’s birthday party at the office and after hearing people mention getting flowers, here she was trying to decipher this whole thing. “You’re lucky, the person you’re buying flowers for will love you even if you get the wrong type. I’m trying to buy something for a coworker who doesn’t seem to be the biggest fan of me right now, and if I screw these flowers up, I probably won’t be getting any closer to being on her good side.”

—

Lee stares down at the bouquet in utter British shock — hand to heart, and all. “Oh, I absolutely loathe hydrangeas.” And to the unassuming florist, “He obviously doesn’t know that.” 

“Now that depends, darling — is your valentine a teenage lass?” A hand unceremoniously meets a hip. Edna Mode gives her blessings, upon the way he regards the presented flowers. They might as well be capes. “Pink? Like bloody Peppa Pig?” 

.

what a-- he sighs. no, he shouldn’t say it, not even internally, but if it talks like a duck and walks like a duck ... -- bitch. he looks between the tall man and the florist. all he needs to do is smile, be polite and this moment could be over before it even started. 

Working in customer service for years, yet the little naive and approval-seeking kid inside her still preens every time a customer nod in approval and beam. When the man looks at the flowers, and turns to her with a playful smile, Xuan can only helplessly mirrors, to her great embarrassment. She has to tamp down the childish glee and gestures at the cash register.

"Shall I wrap this up for you now, then? Or we can pot them, if you prefer." Xuan says. "We also have scented candles on sale, would you like to check them out? You'd love them." She wants to scurry along and cut off her own rambling before the bubbling excitement gets the better of her.

When she blurts out a question fishing for the man's identity confirmation, she's already half-expecting him to play coy like most B- or C-listers. Indeed, he does exactly that -- denying and laughing at himself as if that would cover up the smugness in his voice. She laughs, too, eyes curve into thin half-moons. Her hands clasp together in front of her chest.

"You're right. How could I've mistaken you for Milan Arora. You've better beard, better face, and a significantly better head of hair compared to him."

“ please, ” he says gratefully. at her next comment, his smile widens into something a little more knowing, like: of course! you’re not a fan, you just want to sell more things. the things that should humble him, however, usually don’t.

“ where’s your manager? ” he starts off as if he’s having a karen moment, until his gaze lands on her again and chuckles lightly, “ i want to tell them they should give you a fat bonus, or even a promotion! ” he makes a hand gesture, accepting her offer to see whatever products he will probably end up gifting his cleaner.

Xuan Duan slides her gaze away from scrutinizing the man’s face to the flowers in his hands, her mouth automatically draws up into a friendly grin.

“You’ve a good eye, good Sir. The light blue of the hydrangeas contrast well with both the coral and pink roses,” she says, anyway, putting her scissors into the front pocket of her apron. Turning, she pulls out a branch of pink astilbes, coral bells and sweetspire each, and holds them up to the flowers in the customer’s hand. “We can wrap them with these for you, too. They compliment the hydrangeas and will make an interesting bouquet.”

She knows what she’s supposed to say. Asking for the occasion, the recipient, the meanings behind the gifts, some random comments on the colour combinations, yadi yada yada. She has been working as a florist for a few weeks – she knows the drills. But, frankly, she could care less about that.

She shifts on her heels and narrows her eyes a bit. “Are you Milan Arora from the ABC News?”

“ that’s exactly what i thought, ” he says. why should he pick one or the other, when he could just have both? when she turns around, for a brief moment he thinks that’s the end of the conversation. eyes blink rapidly -- that’s it? it’s as if he was disappointed, since people are usually more interested in him, because when he sees her grabbing other flowers, the look on his face reads: of course.

“ let’s have a look ... ” he takes a step to stand by her side so he could position the hydrangeas and roses in an arrangement he’d like to see. “ i like it, ” he says, looking at the flowers. then, he turns to the florist, a boyish smile on his lips, “ i like it a lot. ”

.

     Watching men struggle had always been entertaining. Milan didn’t seem to be an exception, either. Her order was being prepared and wrapped in the back, so she’d taken a comfortable spot by a column, leaning against her side. “Five years into a marriage and you don’t know what flowers they like?” She looked him up and down and assumed: straight. With a hum, she pushed herself off the wall and approached him, peering at the options from over his shoulder. “Coral.” Pause. “What’s the occasion?”

.

— BASICS

Name: Milan Arora  Age / D.O.B.: 37 / 1st August 1984 Gender, Pronouns & Sexuality: Cismale, he/him, heterosexual Hometown: New York City, New York Affiliation: Media Job position: News Anchor @ ABC Education: Harvard, BA (PoliSci) Relationship status: Engaged Children: None Positive traits: Outgoing, Fun-loving, Generous, Confident, Personable Negative traits: Vain, Immature, Irresponsible, Self-absorbed, Dramatic

— BIOGRAPHY

The Arora dynasty -- their bloodline can be traced back to Indian nobility where their wealth primarily came from land, property and gold.

The decision to settle in America came from Milan’s grandfather. Him and his two brothers decided to branch out and America was the perfect playground for them to build on.

It didn’t come without struggles, finding their place in rich white America wasn’t easy, but they were able to establish their standing through hard work and the help from connections, and now the family are able to enjoy their prominence.

Now they share the blueprint of the typical, American old money family, with a finger in every pie: business, politics, law, entertainment and the media.

Milan’s dad took over the family business, one of the biggest privately owned conglomerates in the world, whilst his mom is a retired actress. They are known for their political and investing activities, creating a network of donors with like-minded individuals.

As a child, it was obvious Milan was never academically driven. He loved to have fun, spend time with his friends, and got distracted too easily. His grades were above average, but he lacked the ambition to excel, to be the best of the best. And that’s where he fell short of expectations.

Harvard was the obvious choice for him, though it has never occurred to him that he was only accepted because of his family name. 

A classic nepotism baby who thinks his hard work is the same as everyone else’s hard work. He did everything the ‘right’ way, started from the bottom and worked his way up to the top, though essentially he has had his foot in the door since birth.

As time went on, it became clear Milan would not follow the path his parents had planned for him. That wasn’t for a lack of trying, however. He wanted to be taken seriously, to be the star of the family and impress everyone with his accolades. Unfortunately, he just loved people too much. Attention, validation. Fame. And so, he went into media. More specifically, the news.

Once he finally reached the screen, the reviews were great. He was loved! He boosted ratings. He started off as a substitute, then became a news anchor, from overnight shows to morning shows, and then finally getting his own morning news slot at ABC as a co-anchor.

His engagement was informally arranged. Milan has always known he would marry Simran. Their families were close, it was talked about openly, as though it was expected of them but it was their choice, and Milan had no desire to let anyone down. Besides, Simran has always been so pretty!

Their relationship began after graduating from Harvard. It started off like a dream, he fell for her fast. But when the time came to announce their engagement, Milan had his reservations but he was determined to make it work. It was clear neither of their hearts were truly in it, but it was convenient.

Simran decided to make it work for them, making their relationship very public, crafting this picture perfect image for themselves. With both of their jobs placing them in the limelight, it was one thing to be good but another to be likeable. People became invested in them, in their relationship and it helped attract viewers and increase ratings.

Milan has always liked this side to her. It makes him feel like they are on the same page. Their families are always about image, intensely so. Rarely does a scandal ever reach the light, and it’s nice to know that this doesn’t scare her off. She has always been by his side, despite all of his fuck ups, and he couldn’t be more grateful. Every now and again, he’s sure he’s still in love with her, but then they’ll fight, or he’ll have a conversation with a total stranger, and he’s back to square one.

For now, however, it works for him but he has bigger goals. Doing the news on ABC is only a stepping stone. He wants the prime time slot at CNN, by himself, where he would be taken a little more seriously. Reporting real news to real people. 

A lot of his critics complain he is only there through nepotism, that he is more of a celebrity than a news anchor (they’re not wrong, he loves a good hashtag), his family have high expectations of him (to achieve more than what he would’ve achieved had he become a politician), so he has a lot to prove and he is starting to feel the pressure.

However, he has made many mistakes along the way, things that could come out and ruin his reputation: drugs, strip club, cheating, friends with gang members. Every day he wakes up and fears it will leak and this has made him incredibly restless. He wants to bury all leads before progressing in his career and with that he’ll need to enlist the help of some friends.

Personality wise, Milan channels the Kardashian spirit. Loves social media. He is Cringe but he is free. He loves attention, obsessed with validation, and loves to be liked. Honestly portrays himself as someone who is super down-to-earth, relatable, one of the ‘people’. In some ways, he is naïve, genuinely tends to see the good in others and has a fairly big heart. He’ll talk to anyone he bumps into on the street, and if they thought of him poorly beforehand then it’s likely they would’ve changed their minds. But he is inherently selfish. If he wants something, he’ll go for it, and if it hurts someone along the way, he’ll simply regret it after.

— WANTED CONNECTIONS / PLOTS

SIMRAN - His wife. Most of the details are in the bio but happy to flesh them out a bit more. The general vibe is they have a strained relationship but it’s too late to back out now and it is convenient. To the public, they have a perfect relationship, the kind that people always post like ‘if they break up then true love isn’t real’. At home, they’re hot or cold with each other. They fight and the love is barely there. This has lead to Milan seeking it elsewhere and Simran doesn’t know about it, or if she does then Milan doesn’t know that she knows, and honestly she could be cheating on him too. But it is vital that it doesn’t come out. 

GHOST WRITER - Milan isn’t stupid but he definitely wouldn’t be where he is now without the influence from his family. He isn’t underqualified per se but he has the help of interns, assistants, journalists who write his questions for him beforehand and he rarely goes off script. This could be someone who either enjoys their job or feels very undervalued and feels like they should be in Milan’s spot.

CHILDHOOD FRIENDS - People from high society, influential families, etc. He’s social butterfly, likes to befriend everyone and is good at maintaining all those friendships. A true and loyal friend, someone who will always have your back, and will always show up at your door if you need a shoulder to cry on. That’s why it’s hard when he does eventually fuck up over a stupid mistake. 

Specifically Laurie x Jo or Laurie x Amy vibes. Anything Laurie x March family basically. 

ALMOST - Probably a childhood friend, someone he has known for a long time. Milan has always had feelings for her, and it was probably obvious to a lot of people, including her. I think it’d be spicy if it was unrequited but ofc the decision is UTP. Either way, both of them knew it could never become anything serious because of his arranged marriage, so maybe she thought he was just joking, or never took him seriously, but they managed to stay friends despite it all. He probably will always have feelings for this person. 

EXES/EX FLINGS - Self-explanatory. It could be at any stage of his life up until his marriage around 5 years ago. Could’ve ended on a good note, terrible note, maybe they haven’t managed to end it clearly so keep circling back to each other.

FIRE EMOJI - They’ve been talking in the dms and it could be passed off as friendly, but also not really. Maybe milan is reading too into it. For whatever reason, either on milan’s part or your characters, they haven’t had a chance to meet up yet. But now they’ve finally set a date...

LET LOOSE - Maybe a gang member who owns a club or a bar and Milan trusts them enough to be able to let loose in private, away from the public eye. Maybe they were friends beforehand, or maybe Milan pays them a hefty sum of money, or has even invested.

POLITICIANS - Someone whose campaign he worked on during college, or maybe they didn’t like the way he covered one of their elections, or maybe they want to befriend him to serve him well for an upcoming election.

RIVAL - Someone from a rival network who has a show at the same time as him. They are at each other’s throats. Anyone behind the scenes are aware of this but in front of the cameras they’ll smile and give each other a hug.

YOU DID WHAT - Milan likes to think he is dedicated to finding the right story but honestly he has other priorities. He likes debriefs, scripts, morning meetings whilst he’s getting his hair done. But maybe he stumbled across a story, involving a gang member or someone corrupt in a high position, and your character knows who he is and is trying to scare him into not doing anything with it.

GANG GANG - several ideas for characters involved in a gang:

Someone he met randomly, literally anywhere, and they got on and became friends. The gang member could’ve lied about what they really do for whatever reason and Milan believes it. Maybe it’s some sob story, and Milan gives them like a wad of cash thinking he’s helping them out. Has potential to be very, very funny if the truth ever comes out because he’ll just be like this.

Alternatively, someone who he was friends with but found out about their nature of work and Milan decided to cut ties with them. 

Dealers who will keep quiet but honestly Milan will also want to talk about his day