His Obsession

26- Out Shopping

After arriving at a very small, quaint dress shop tucked away in a back corner, I gave him a small glare. "What? We are not heading to the mall?" I asked, wanting to slap myself in the face for uttering that out loud. I knew that I sounded like a snooty young teenager.

"No mall today, there were too many people," he growled down at me.

"Okay, fine. You're probably wrong if you think we can find me a proper dress there. These quaint shops rarely have what a rich and powerful man wants." I replied a little annoyed and snobby, folding my arms across my chest in a huff.

He let out a chuckle, "My dear, let me prove you wrong as this shop only deals with the rich and powerful." he said before grabbing my wrist and pulling me along with him inside the cozy shop. My jaw almost hit the floor. There were so many choices inside and in all sorts of colors. A pleasant plump middle-aged woman approached us, introducing herself as the owner of the shop.

"Hello, my name is Henrietta Cole. I am the owner of this adorable clothing boutique. You can both call me Henry." She plastered a fake smile on her face and held out her hand for a friendly shake.

I took her hand in mine and shook it, as Lorenzo introduced himself.

"Oh, I know all of you... so tell me what we are looking for today?" she says with a fake smile plastered across her face.

"We are here to buy a dress for tonight's event," he replied in a low, deep voice. I could tell he was getting irritated by this woman's lack of respect for who he was.

"Date? Oh my, I thought she was your daughter." she lost the smile as he shot her a deadly glance. Seriously if looks could kill, then she would surely be dead right now.

He growls irritatedly, "She's my date for the event.".

"Okay well then, first things first... we need to decide on a color for the dress," she says glancing back at me with another smile on her face. I just stare blankly at her as I glance around at all the possibilities.

"Royal Blue." I suddenly said out loud.

He smiled at me, and I could feel him bend down next to my ear. "You remember that first night? Do you remember the color you first appeared in? You were absolutely stunning that night." His hot breath sent shivers down my spine with each word. I wanted to pull him down and kiss him. Being close to him makes my body ache. How could he do this? Drive me crazy like this?

"Okay, well my color selection in that color is in the back room, shall we?" she asks holding out her hand and taking mine in a firm grip before leading the way.

I stepped into the room, and my eyes immediately landed on the dress I wanted. It was definitely royal blue in color. It was off the shoulder, a full skirt and silk roses ran down the front of the dress. It was absolutely beautiful, simple but timeless. I wanted it so badly, I walked slowly up to it marveling at it on the mannequin. He stepped up behind me, bending down and whispering, "I like that one too."

I turned and looked up at him and smiled. "We want this one!" I say to the woman as she waddles over to the mannequin and begins to remove the dress. She hands the dress over to him and opens the dressing room.

"I suggest you try it on first," Henry says as she steps to the side and hangs the gown on the rack connected to the dressing room wall. I step into the small room and strip off my clothes before slipping the dress on. I was having difficulty with the zipper and called out to Henry for assistance. But Lorenzo poked his head into the room instead.

"I can't get the zipper up!" I replied. "Can you help me, please?"

He stepped up behind me and very slowly moved the zipper up. Then he pulled on my wrist and I followed him to the floor-length mirror that was in the corner of the room. My jaw hit the floor as I stared at my reflection. The dress was stunning. It was so pretty, and I looked like a princess in it.

"We will take this one," Lorenzo says, pulling me from my thoughts.

"Okay, I'll grab a box. She disappeared into the back room to get the box for the dress and I walked back to the dressing room to take the dress off. As I stepped out, I noticed Lorenzo standing at the jewelry cabinet she had set up in the center of the room. I noticed a small tiara in the case and knew I wanted it, but that wasn't something I was about to admit to Lorenzo. I marveled at some of the dresses while he paid for the dress. Once he had paid for the dress, he carted the box out of the store placing it neatly in the trunk of the car that was waiting for us.

"Now, we drive to the jewelry store. I know an excellent one, then we shall get you some stylish shoes to match your dress," he says as he opens the back door of the car and waits for me to slide inside. I follow his instructions and slide in. The ride to the jewelry store was pretty quiet. When the car pulled to the curb in front of a prestigious jewelry store called Rogue Oak, I was shocked. Only the rich could afford something from this store. He climbed out of the car holding the door open for me again. The beautiful store greeted me as I stepped out of the car. The interior was done up in Beige and dark oak wood, and dark oak jewelry cabinets sat everywhere full of stunning jewelry pieces. The lights dazzled off the diamonds and stones all over the store. My eyes caught sight of a beautiful necklace of blue sapphires and diamonds. On the card next to the piece was written 10k white gold 9ct Blue Sapphire 5ct diamond ball statement necklace. The price tag had me double guessing it. It was $3,845.00 and I wanted it to be mine so badly.

I saw him glance at what I was looking at. I stood there quietly next to him as he cleared his throat to get the clerk's attention. He pointed at the necklace that had me salivating and watched as the clerk pulled it out of the cabinet allowing him to take a closer look at it. He then placed it in a velvet box. I watched as Lorenzo paid for the stunning piece of jewelry with a smile on his face as if he was happy to be doing this for me.

Before closing the trunk again, he added the box to the dress box. The shoe store was just across the road and we both turned to walk inside when suddenly I caught sight of Julian Greene standing inside shopping for shoes himself. I knew that I couldn't walk in there, not with what I said to him last night. I wasn't that strong of a girl, even if I had Lorenzo with me. "I'm sorry Mr. Albertini, but I can't go in," I inform him before he can step into the store.

He spun around and I could clearly see anger in his eyes. Why was there anger in his eyes? "And tell me why that is?" he asks.

"Because he is in there..." I reply pointing into the store at Julian.

His eyes followed where I was pointing and there it was. Suddenly he knew why I was frozen to the spot. I could see his temper rising as he puffed out his chest. I swear I could see steam coming out of his ears as he turned around to walk into the store without responding to me. I throw myself in front of him, pleading with him to just leave. But he grabs my wrist hard and tosses me to the side as if there wasn't anything to me. "Get in the car, lock the doors Azlynn. I will handle this!" he says before turning and stepping inside the store.

I obeyed what he said and climbed into the car, locking the doors as I watched from where I was sitting. I watched the man that I knew I was falling for approach the man I loathed so much.