The next morning, Connor was off to the agency before I even woke up and when I got to the kitchen to make breakfast, his credit card was laid neatly beside the Nespresso machine and I pulled a small handwritten note from underneath the card.
Morning, grumpy.
(I'll be off till noon today. Make use of the card to get yourself some dresses and go have fun.PS: This is me also reminding you to spend wisely. Lol. Cheerios.
Connor.)
My face could not contain the small smile the letter sent to my heart. In a way, I found it cute. The idea that he thought of me, well enough to worry about how I would spend my day and have fun. Also, I had begun to miss seeing him since the past two days that he had gotten busy at the agency. It made me feel lonely in a weird way even though we were not the most compatible.
Later in the day, I dressed in my Bermuda shorts and a pair of woollen sweaters, picking my tote bag and Connor's credit card with me to the Boutique. When I got there and checked for an appropriate dress to get, I felt a little overwhelmed and could not make a decision on which to buy amongst the rows of exquisite dresses that caught my eye. I finally decided Connor had a better fashion sense than I did. Not like I didn't have great taste too but Connor was....remarkable. He was one to take in every littlest detail of a piece. He was a perfectionist.
I finally decided on two dresses, a white and another purple gown which was made of lace, chiffon and pure silk.
"That would be twenty-five and a hundred thousand dollars, miss." The salesgirl said, punching digits into her large calculator. My eyes instantly widened and I almost choked on my breath.
Twenty-five what the fuck?
I stood on my spot, frozen and unable to utter another word. I remained dazed and lost in my thought until the sales girls repeated her words, bringing me back to reality again.
"That would be twenty-five and a hundred thousand dollars, ma'am. You have a ten per cent discount and that brings your bill down to twenty-two, five ninety dollars, ma'am."
I gulped again and reached into my handbag to pull out Connor's credit card which I handed over to her. The girl collected it and swiped it through her machine, returning it to me less than a minute later, her smile never leaving her face.
Well, easy for you to smile because you were not the one paying twenty-something thousand dollars for just a two-piece of clothing.
Well, not like I was the one paying too. Literally. I felt heartache for Connor's wallet though. Plus, what if it was too much a price to pay and he made me pay with my own money?
I wouldn't even want to think of that now.
I smiled back at the lady and collected my packaged shopping bag before leaving through the door. I got outside the building and stood outside by the roadside, looking for a taxi. I waved one of the taxis down but it did not stop and I sighed in frustration. The weather was becoming darker and the sky was gloomy. I could already imagine myself wet and drenched in the foreboding rain, my fancy shopping bag soaked and almost ruining the pretty expensive dresses inside. I noticed another approaching cab again and frantically waved my hand in the air in a bid to stop him but the cab wheezed past me and I muttered and cursed under my breath as the sky grumbled, a forewarning that the rain was about to start.
I continued to busy my eyes on the road for a lucky cab, so engrossed in finding a means to escape the rain, that I almost missed the black jeep parking in front of me. The window rolled down and a woman's voice came from inside the car.
"Hello there, Ari."
I looked closer to see the long wavy dark hairs, the arrogant setting of sharp jaws and the familiar hazel grey eyes of a woman. Mrs Meyers.
I instantly felt the embarrassment that she had seen me in my most awkward situation and fought the urge to cast a glance at my overly simple outfit that made me look less than what I had portrayed myself to be in front of people like her.
"Care for a ride?" She added with a smile on her face that did not quite reach her eyes. I opened my mouth to turn her down but as if on cue, the heavens opened, unleashing their content on me. Cursing inwardly, I returned her smile with a closed mouth and immediately got in the car and the door readily opened itself for me. The car started in motion again and I felt tense at the closeness of both of us in the car, save for her chauffeur. What if she was kidnapping me and taking me somewhere far, where I would never be found or return?
"Where are you dropping, Ari?" She asked me and I answered, refusing to look in her direction.
"Connor's."
"You live with my son, now?"
I put on my bad girl façade and looked her in the face for the first time since our ride together.
"I didn't think you indulged in gossip, Mrs Meyers," I mentioned, owning a sweet smile that was sure to burn her heart.
Mrs Meyers looked taken aback by my bluntness but her smile did not slip.
"When it involves my son. Yes."
I scoffed at her response. "Give the boy some breathing space. He is not a child anymore." I turned my head and looked away again, watching the rain patter on the now empty streets, hoping this was the end of our conversation. But Mrs Meyers did not think the same,
"I am his mother. He owes me a lot. He owes me his life."
"And you owe him his freedom too, Mrs Meyers." I snapped my head to look at her again. "Stop getting involved in his business."
A flash of anger crossed her eyes as we locked hard gazes at each other. I knew perfectly well how to deal with people like her. It's fire on fire and deep down, I hoped Connor would not get burnt in our little eruption.
A sudden smile crossed her eyes again and I raised a brow questioningly.
"You know, you remind me so much of my younger self." She looked intently at me as if analysing the very existence of my entire being. "Tough. Hard headed. Smart."
"Maybe you are right," I replied to her. "Maybe I do remind you of your younger self, Mrs Meyers. But then again, I can never be like you because the one thing that differentiates the two of us is that one of us understands family and the need to protect and make sacrifices for the ones we love. While the other..." I shook my head disapprovingly at her. "Is ever ready to use even her son to get what she wants."
A sneer hung from the woman's lips and her smile faded.
"You know, I think I have played your little games fair enough." She leaned closer, her eyes hard and determined. "Let me warn you that you do not know who you are messing with, little girl. I will crush you if you try to get in my way again."
"Is this what you did to Tory? Did you offer a private talk with her and then threatened her this way?" I asked, unflinching by her threat. I knew women like her. Empty vessels who made the loudest noises. "Did you?"
"You are playing with fire, Ari."
"No." I shook my head and smiled, enjoying the look of rage in her eyes. "I am the fire."
