Chapter 116: Let’s Go Shopping

In the end, we ended up at the most upscaled mall in the city. Hayden held my hand as we walked along the strip in the mall lined with the most expensive branded boutiques. I glanced up at his face as he stared into the shop windows with interest. Considering what had happened, I was very surprised that Hayden could act like nothing really happened.

Sure, he was super aggressive and agitated the night that we came back. However, there wasn’t any trace of that today. While Hayden checked out the shop displays with interest, I couldn’t help staring at him with interest. Whatever that seemed to trouble Hayden yesterday must have been resolved some way or somehow. Either that or he had made up his mind about something.

I guess I’ve made up my mind to. By striking the deal with Hayden I had decided that I will not be returning to Ethan. I wasn’t sure if I’ve completely come to terms with what that actually meant.

"Seriously, you’re just using this as an excuse to skip work, aren’t you?" I asked as I looked at him suspiciously.

"What makes you think that?" Hayden asked, acting all innocent and good.

"You’re not even going to deny it…" I murmured.

"Anything caught you eye?" Hayden asked a while after we’ve been walking around.

I snapped out of my thoughts and started blinking rapidly. Right, I hadn’t been paying attention to anything in the shop displays.

"Umm…no…" I replied.

"Are you even paying attention?" he asked.

"I was spacing out a little…I guess…" I replied admittingly.

"If you don’t choose something for yourself, then I will," Hayden stated firmly.

"I’ll leave it to you then…" I replied without a care.

"Really?" Hayden asked and I felt his eyes on me.

I nodded in response. He was the one who seemed dissatisfied if I were to turn up to see Amelia in shirt and jeans so he might as well pick whatever he thought was appropriate.

"People tend to pick out the dress first before the jewelry, but I sort of like to do it the other way around," Hayden said before grinning mischievously at me.

"Aha…" I mumbled.

"Come in here for a second," Hayden said as he tugged on my hand.

We entered a very famous fine jewelry store. The store manager came to personally greet Hayden immediately and I figured that he must be a regular here. The middle-aged woman greeted us with a polite and very pleasant smile.

"It is a pleasure to welcome you. Thank you for trusting us to provide you with the best fine jewelry," the woman said proudly.

"Thank you," Hayden replied curtly.

"Please follow me. I have arranged some items for you based on your special request," the woman said as she led us to a private room located at the back of the showroom.

"You ordered something?" I whispered to Hayden while we followed behind the store manager.

"Of course, I did," Hayden replied before flashing me a confident smile.

When we got in the room, the store manager quickly closed the door behind us, and I could hear the sound of the lock locking automatically. The room was quite large and luxuriously decorated in dark blue color. The woman stood behind a counter where many jewelries were on displayed.

"As requested, I’ve prepared many jewelry sets featuring various sapphires and diamonds. This one is Ceylon blue sapphires with diamonds. This is Ruby with diamonds and this one is emeralds with diamonds. If you would like a mix of color in the same set then, I would like to recommend this one," the store manager explained expertly.

"Come," Hayden pulled on my hand before dragging me to the counter where I could get a closer view of the jewelry.

The woman quickly brought out the jewelry from the showcase and placed it on top of the counter where I could see them up close.

"Can you give us some time alone?" Hayden requested.

"Oh, sure. Please call on me if you need anything. Sorry but for security reasons, you’re not allowed view these pieces outside of this room," the woman explained.

"No problem," Hayden replied.

The woman bowed and quickly left the room, leaving Hayden and I alone with all the glamorous jewelry.

"I don’t think…" I started protesting.

I’m just meeting Amelia and not going to the Oscars. I didn’t think that I needed these large set of chunky gems and diamonds. Everything was very pretty and sparkling. Necklaces with matching earrings and a ring made up a very captivating set.

"Which one do you like? Maybe you should try them all on," Hayden said as he picked up a ring featuring an oversized emerald with a diamond halo.

"I don’t think you need to buy these…" I said, sounding very stubborn about it.

"Choose," Hayden replied, sounding impatient.

"It must be expensive. There’s no need for this…" I said once again.

"Don’t worry, I’ll be adding everything to your tab of debt," Hayden said.

"What?!" I exclaimed in shock.

"I’m joking…" Hayden said before pointing to the jewelry.

"Regardless, this is definitely over the top," I mumbled.

"You say this because you’ve never been to Amelia’s house," Hayden said with a small laugh.

"We’re going to her house?" I asked. That’s a little unexpected.

"That’s where she prefers to receive guests these days," he replied casually.

"I see…" I replied softly.

While we were talking, Hayden’s hands had been busy placing the various necklaces around my neck and inspecting how it looked on me through the mirror. I was too absorbed in our conversation to pay any attention on the jewelry though.

"What about this set? The emeralds suit you well. They make your eyes sparkle…" Hayden said once he’s made his decision.

"If you say so…" I replied. Honestly, I couldn’t care less…

…

Morning arrived much slower than I had hoped for. After purchasing jewelry, dresses, and shoes yesterday, it was finally the day where Hayden would take me to see Amelia. I could still recall the feeling that I felt when I first saw her photo. Her beauty was breathtaking for sure but what really caught my attention was the happiness that I could feel from her joyous smile.

I wonder what she is like…Amelia…

--To be continued…