From the very beginning of your relationship with Jackson, second time around, you made it clear that he shouldn't spend his money on you. You had a steady job, a prestigious one even, so you didn't need him to spend money on you. Especially on luxurious items. You've warned him not to buy you luxurious items. You didn't need tons of bags, you didn't need lots of clothes as you were in scrubs mostly, and definitely not shoes. He knew you couldn't wear jewelries daily, you couldn't even wear your wedding ring! So aside from his cookies that he forced you to have, he got no other way to spoil you. And he made it very clear that he didn't like it at all. AT ALL. He did bring you to places while he was on tour and you decided to tag along, but that was the only chance that he got to spoil you. At this point, you were suspicious that he would purposedly cut your clothes or throw your shoes so he could buy you a new one.
On a very rare days like this, you found yourself at home early in the afternoon. You decided to take a long relaxing bath while you got the time. You were still in the tub when Jackson's head appeared from behind the door and smiled when he saw you relaxing.
"Oh, you came home early!" he was excited as well.
"Yeah, it's rare, that's why I decided to soak in the bath."
"Yes, I can see that. But it'll be a waste if you just spent your rare day in the bath all day," he looked at you and you could see that he had a plan in his head. Turned out it was to drag you to a shopping mall. He made some excuse about him had to find a new suit for attending an award show. You knew well it was just a made-up excuse as he had brands lining up to send him suits for him to wear. He just needed to pick one of them. He didn't need to find it himself. He tried to get you a new dress, saying that you might have to accompany him to the award, but you refused as you never accompanied him to an award show. But you let him pick some dress for you to try on, but you didn't pick any. You never had the chance to wear it anyway, so why wasted money on something that you would never wear? You two ate dinner as Jackson was run out of excuses to force you to buy something.
"What's with shoes anyway?" he started. "I even have more shoes than you," he pointed and you chuckled, remembering the first day you moved in with him again. During your fellow days in Singapore and the days you lived together in Beijing, he didn't pay attention much to your belongings. But when you moved in the second time, his stuff were already there and he made some space for you. He was surprised to find that you only had 4 pairs. One low-heeled black pumps for formal occasion, one pair of sneakers for your daily wear, one pair of sandals and one pair of high heels sandal for special occasion. He recognized the last one as the one he gave you on your fake engagement day, back in Beijing.
"What do you mean?"
"Usually girls love shoes, but you only have 4 pairs. What's the story with shoes?" he repeated.
"Well, back then I only had 2 pairs, sneakers for daily in the morning, and sandals when I'm off work," you told him and he rolled his eyes. You were unbelievable for him.
"I think if you're in my shoes, you won't buy shoes as well. It's a waste to wear pretty shoes as it will be ruined." You started to tell him that during medical school, you had to deal with cadaver. Sometimes since your friend would tease each other, fat tissue or other human tissue might drop and it might fall on your shoes. Or you would step on it. The tissue might be easy to wash off, but the formaldehyde scent would stick. Then as you went further in your studies, you had to do other experiments, including the one that involved drawing blood from each other. If you made a mistake, a drop of blood would fall on your shoes, or stepped on when it fell on the floor. Blood was another story. It was hard to wash off if you didn't wipe it immediately. Then you had to work in the hospital as an intern. Patients would puke and piss at you, accidentally mostly, and of course, it would drop on your shoes. Since you'd be at the hospital the entire day, you had no choice but to just wipe if off and waited until you got home before you could wash your shoes. It would be worse if you got traffic accident patient. It would be blood bath in the ER. You could see blood everywhere. All over the patient, dripping all over the bed and even spilled to the floor, obviously some would drop on your shoes, staining it. Later when you started working in the ER, one of the nurse told you that you could get rid of the blood drop stain by using hydrogen peroxide. It worked like magic, but you wasn't sure that it would be good to use it frequently on your shoes. Would the material stil hold as long as it used to be if you put too much hydrogen peroxide on it? That's why you decided not to spend money on shoes. You just needed your shoes to be comfortable as you stood and walked in it the whole day. And it should be durable so you didn't have to buy shoes frquently. At least once a year would be enough. Jackson stayed quiet for the whole talk. You then realized you talked about blood and piss while you were eating.
"I'm so sorry.. I ruined your appetite, didn't I?" you immediately apologized but Jackson shrugged it off.
"It's okay. I'm used to it now. Just finish your dinner," he calmly ordered.
You two walked out of the restaurant slowly as you were full. He intertwined your hands with his and you were glad no one noticed both of you. You loved peaceful time like this. You strolled in front of several stores again, but then something caught your eyes. There was this beautiful shoes, sitting at the front display of the store. It was a beige pointy slingback shoes with low heels. With fake diamonds as decorative. You shifted your gaze quickly but not quick enough as Jackson already saw you looking at the shoes.
"Come on," he pulled you into the store, turning deaf at your refusal. He firmly asked the shop asisstant to get you a pair with your size for you to try on. He led you to a bench so you could sit down while waiting for the shop assistant. Several minutes later, you reluctantly slipped out of your current sandals and slipped one of your feet into the shoes. You gasped a bit when you saw it looked beautiful on your feet but you tried to cover it. However, Jackson was an expert at reading your expression now. He told you to put on them both and told you to try walking on it. Without even waiting for your answer, he told the shop assistant to pack it for you.
"We'll take it," he firmly said, ignoring your whining. "Come on, it's just shoes," he begged.
"Precisely! It's just shoes. Why should I buy it? I'd probably won't ever wear it," you retorted.
"Well, I have ideas when you can wear it if you like, but later," he winked and you knew it was nothing decent to hear in public place. You decided to shut your mouth and let him pay for it. You could see that you've lost the battle anyway. Later that night in the house, he pulled the shoes out of the box and told you to wear it again. He turned on some music and asked for you hand.
"Excuse me miss, may I have this dance?" he acted playfully and you laughed as you played along.
You danced for awhile, following his lead.
"Jackson, I'd let you get away this once, but you heard me, I don't need these stuff," you repeated.
"I know. I get it. I just want you to learn to enjoy life more. And it's shoes anyway," he answered.
"What about shoes?" you asked.
"Good shoes will bring you to good places. So, I'll buy you shoes this time, and I'll bring you to good places later," he then sealed his promise with a kiss.
