Personal assistant

Grateful

I could never get bored in a place this extensive, somehow Prada was even more gorgeous than Armani, if that was possible. There were these crystal lights embedded in the ceiling everywhere, the glass wall at the front of the store let in enough light as it was, but these made everything practically glitter. Whoever built this clearly knew what they were doing when it came to selling points.

This time, I was the one sat in the chair waiting for Sofia, but unlike her, I didn't need my phone to keep me occupied. I was quite happy absorbing every ounce of beauty that the room had to offer, including Miss Bardot herself, who was busy at the till buying a few items. The way she passed her card over like it was nothing was admirable, I wanted to be able to do that one day, not care about price tags or budgets. I wished to have a look round, but knew if Sofia caught me showing even the slightest amount of interest in an item, she'd buy it for me, no questions asked. As lovely as it was, I couldn't help feeling guilty that I couldn't buy her things too, so I stayed patiently in my chair, pretended to be incredibly disinterested with the appealing fashion displays around me.

Her phone rung, and she lifted it to her ear, examining her nails on her other hand as she did so. The man at the checkout had just finished bagging up her things, and she mouthed a thank you to him as she carried the bags outside, me in tow.

"Ok, no worries, I'll be there in 20," she hung up, and flashed me a regretful smile.

"Something's come up at the Beaumont, I wanted to take you to dinner tonight but I'm not sure how long I'm needed for."

"Dinner?" I enquired eagerly, holding my hand up to block out the sun again.

"Of course, but we can always reschedule," she replied, rifling in one of the Prada bags for something.

"I'll help with whatever it is at the Beaumont, if that will free up your time quicker," I suggested, wondering what she was doing with that poor neatly packaged Prada shopping.

"That would be nice," she answered gratefully, holding out a sunglasses case to me and beaming.

"Fia..."

"Don't start, you were walking around earlier like you couldn't see two feet in front of you."

I gave her a wry look, and she tried not to laugh.

"Think of it as... a practical purchase, nothing more," she winked, and I rolled my eyes.

They were jet black, shiny and cat-eye style, everything I wanted in a pair of sunglasses really, she'd nailed it. I put them on and looked at my reflection in one of the shop windows. They looked effortlessly cool, these were definitely going to be a new staple in my wardrobe.

"How do I look?" I cooed, flicking my hair back over-dramatically.

"So damn good," she purred, easily matching my energy and giving me a swift smack on the behind. I jumped, not expecting it and she swanned off, looking rather pleased with herself. I sighed and followed, I'd get her back later at some point.

Every time she'd brake on the ride to the Beaumont, her hand would land on my thigh protectively, it was such a simple gesture with so much meaning behind it. How had a woman so cold, closed off and unfeeling unraveled like this before my very eyes. I couldn't believe I was the one to make it happen either, and barely stopped staring at her in disbelief the whole way back.

"Got something on my face?" She enquired, glancing in the rear view mirror and checking the different angles.

"No, just.... why me?"

She stared, puzzled by my question and I tried to elaborate.

"I'm just a girl, not a threat, why are you different to me?"

She tittered, looking back in the mirror briefly and answering.

"I suppose I realised that when you were gone, I couldn't possibly remember what my life was like without you in it."

This was a surprisingly honest response, even for her, and I was incredibly grateful she felt comfortable enough to share so much with me.

"All the memories where I was laughing... smiling... or happy had you in them," she trailed, unstrapping her seatbelt and taking her keys out the ignition.

Her words held weight, and I suddenly felt hugely indebted to this woman, she was pouring her heart out to me, spending time with me and buying me things. It was only yesterday that I was screaming at her and telling her I never wanted to see her again. 

The emotions she provoked from me were like a never ending rollercoaster, I hadn't a clue how to respond with something that expressed how thankful I was for her.

"You treat me like a princess, I --"

She scoffed, interrupting and looked at me in shock.

"Only today have I actually treated you like you deserve to be treated. Before that I was dismissive to you, I used you, shouted at you, kept things from you and worst of all, lied to you."

There was a wobble to her usually smooth voice, and I swallowed my own emotions back as the pain that she'd caused me which I'd originally pushed to the depths of my mind resurfaced. She brushed my cheek with her hand tenderly, and we sat in silence for a while.

"I'm not the same person I once was," she murmured quietly, bowing her head.

"I know," I replied, kissing her tenderly. This was a raw, emotional kind of contact that we hadn't shared before. It was passionate and gentle, the kind that you assume only exists in fictional romance novels. There was no hunger, no lust or appetite accompanying this time. 

It was just...

Love.