Clio Stormhell ( Completed ) ( BL )

Chapter 24

Clio

We arrived at the mall and immediately the two of them dragged me to the toy store, my daughter was so excited to be here like she had never experienced the mall before.

“ Woah, look at that sweet pie. They have so many toys. Go and grab your favorite one's! ” Zilas urged my daughter to get whatever she likes in the store, Calliope immediately bit into it and started walking around. The two of us followed her, she was so excited looking at boxes of cooking sets, barbies, dolls, dollhouses, fake make-up sets, and many more.

“ You're going to get bankrupt, ” I said to him when I spotted the prices of the toys they sell in here. Napaka mahal parang ginawa ang mga laruan na 'to for the royal family.

“ Don't be silly, I can buy this entire mall if I want to. ” He smiled at me feeling confident in what he said, this guy doesn't even have a single penny with him nor a card. I don't know how he'll pay, kaya nga I brought my money with me just in case.

“ Excuse me, bibili po ba kayo? ” A saleslady approached us, kanina pa kasi kami lakad ng lakad at pabalik balik kaka sunod kay Calliope. She can't decide on what to buy, lahat ng tinitingnan niyang box e nilalagay niya ulit sa shelf.

“ Obviously, why do you think we're here? ” Zilas answered sarcastically. The lady was taken aback and bowed before leaving us.

“ I hate people who ask obvious questions, do they lack in common sense?” He rolled his eyes like he was really annoyed by the question. While, I was standing there holding Calliope by the shoulder because she was intimidated by the saleslady.

“ Sweet pie, ” Zilas softly called out to my daughter. He kneels down in one knee to match her height. “ What's wrong, baby? You don't want anything in here? Tell me. ”

Napansin niya siguro kung paano binabalik ni Calliope ang mga boxes na tinitingnan niya, all of the toys on the shelves are well made and it doesn't look like those cheap knockoffs. Why doesn't she like any of it?

“ Expensive, ” my daughter mumbled. And then I realized how I always tell her to look for the cheapest one whenever we're buying toys back then, akala niya siguro hindi bibilhin ang ipapakita niyang laruan kasi mahal.

“ No, nothing is expensive here. This..” Zilas fetched the box Calliope held a moment ago and showed it to her, it was a mermaid doll with a flexible tail. “ You like this, right? We'll buy this, what else do you like? Don't mind the price. Zilas can buy anything.” He assured Calliope that whatever she wants will be bought.

“ Papa? ” Tiningnan ako ng anak ko, nagdadalawang isip siguro if totoo ba ang narinig niya o naghihintay ng permission sa akin to get whatever she wants.

“ Go ahead nak, pero be mindful sa bibilhin 'yung gusto mo lang para hindi tayo mag mukhang toy store sa bahay. ” I reminded her, Calliope smiled at me at agad tumakbo sa kung saan.

“ Don't run or you'll trip! ” Zilas warned Calliope as we followed her, nakita ko siyang kumuha ng cart at nagtungo agad sa aisle kung asaan ang mga dollhouses. We are right behind her, sumusunod lang palagi.

“ Papa, this po. I want this. ” She pointed a huge white rectangular box on the top shelf, it has a picture of a dollhouse that I assume is what's inside of this. Not to mention it literally said ' Majestic Mansion Dollhouse '. I was the tallest between the three of us so I grabbed the box down to our cart. It was heavy, I'd say that. Calliope clapped her hand in joy when she saw the box in front of her. She was so excited.

Zilas was now pushing the cart and Calliope was still on the hunt for more toys. I glimpsed at the price of this dollhouse she wanted. Goodness, I feel like it's overpriced. 20,000 for a dollhouse?!

“ I think we should put it back, ” bulong ko kay Zilas. I want to spare him from the bankruptcy that will befall him. Napatingin sa akin si Zilas na may pagtataka sa mga sinabi ko.

“ Why? Calliope definitely like this, why would we put it back? ” Tanong niya as if clueless kung magkano ang presyo ng nasa cart. Alam kung alam niya ang presyo kasi siya ang unang tumingin nito, I know he knows how expensive this is.

“ Mahal,” bulong ko kaniya para hindi kami marinig na Calliope. Malayo ng kaunti ang anak ko sa amin but still I think she can hear me if I say it out loud.

“ Hmm? What is it mahal? ” Napatingin ako sa kaniya, Zilas was grinning as if he was teasing me. Oh, for goodness sakes. Bahala siya, it's his money.

“ Kuya Zilas, this po. ” Calliope pointed at something in the drawer, yes, the glass drawer where they displayed the most expensive toys in the entire store. It was there and she pointed one of them. Tiningnan naming mabuti ang tinuro niya, it was a pink barbie. I look at it closely, it says Pink Jubilee Barbie which I don't know what it means. Ewan. Hindi ba pare-pareho ang mga Barbies?

“ Ay, huwag nalang pala. ” Pagbawi ni Calliope sa sinabi, she proceeded to go in another aisle for more toys.

“ I thought you liked it? ” Tanong ni Zilas when she saw how Calliope abandoned the barbie.

“ It's not for sale daw. I respect the owner, baka sa daughter niya 'yun at especial sa kaniya. ” She explained without batting an eye on us, my daughter was busy picking out toys she wanted to put in the cart.

“ She's the sweetest,” bulong ni Zilas sa akin. Naantig ata puso niya. What an easy man.

We proceeded on walking until Calliope gave up and decided she only wanted the dollhouse, Zilas urged her to buy the doll we walked past through kanina but she refused to take it. Kaya, we head to the cashier in order to pay. Kinuha ko na ang wallet ko, Zilas didn't bring anything with him. I'm sure nakalimutan niya lang siguro, I don't mind paying. We waited in line until it's finally our turn to pay.

“ 20,000 pesos po lahat, would you like to pay in cash or card? ” The cashier asked with a smile on her face, they need that smile in order to be approachable to all the customers. Must be difficult to be that smiley all throughout the day. I was going to hand her the money but Zilas was quicker than me, he whipped out his phone and showed some kind of QR code.

The cashier scanned it and said 'thank you' before entertaining another customer. The baggage man handed us the item we bought from their store, it was in a huge paper bar that I'm supposed to carry around. I grab it by the handle and thank him for packing it well.

But, did you see how Zilas paid for this?! It was through some sort of QR code thing. What even is that supposed to be?