Depraved

43. Alana

I quickly get ready, wear a t-shirt and jeans, tie my hair in a bun and add mascara and dab a bit of nude lipstick on my lips. I also dab some blush onto my cheeks and when I feel like I look good, I turn to Sofia. She's been beaming since she heard we are going shopping together. I can't deny my excitement either. It feels like I'm going out after ages, it is true.After my captivity and then the wedding, I barely saw the outside world.

I say "I'm done, let's go" and walk to the bedroom door, with Sofia on my heels. As I  open the door I find Rafael standing outside, since when was he standing here? "Hi raf!" I smile at him. He reflects my smile and asks "shall we leave Mrs.korolyov?".
"Alana," I correct and say "yeah, let's go.
I say quick bye to Mila and Damien and exit the house. We enter the car and I see 2 cars following ours, isn't it too much for just two people?.

Sofia keeps talking about the latest fashion trends and then Rafael turns from his passenger seat from the front and says "we are going to Giovanni's". To which Sofia gasps, and says "you mean one of the best fashion designers in the world".
"I don't know about that, but I think he's good" Rafael adds.
"I think there's a masquerade coming up at Luca's house and we're especially shopping for the occasion, hey sof, you'll be attending too right?" I ask her. She blinks her eyes rapidly and thinks biting the inside of her lower lip.
"I usually don't go to any of the bratva parties, but ...." She says.
"As my best friend once said, I quote 'no buts, only butt'. Just come with me, it'll be fun, I don't know anybody there, it would be nice if you come" I say.
"Umm I'll think about it" she says.
I smile and nod.
I look around, at the trees, and the ocean, we drive for another half an hour, and a text pings Sofia's mobile and red creeps her cheeks as she checks the text, a smile stretches her lips that she tries holding back and fails miserably. I wonder who is the person texting her but don't probe on that.  The car comes to a halt reaching a lush boutique. and Rafael gets out first, I then see eight people getting out of the cars from behind, Rafael opens the door for us and I get down.
"Raf, are these people shopping with us too?" I ask
"No, Mrs. Korolyov, they are here for your security". He chimes.
That's actually laughable, the only person they need to protect me from is his boss. I shake my head and enter the boutique, and a tall handsome and lean guy who's dressed in a waist coat and a white shirt with sleeves folded at his elbows,  along with the same wood colored suit pants, welcomes us, "hello darlings, I'm Giovanni" he beams, he has his brown hair in a knot at the back of his head.
Sofia's eyes bulge out of her sockets as she smiles and says "oh my god, it's really you, I love your designs". To which he thanks her and smiles.
I don't know what to say so I just say "I'm Alana, and this  is my friend Sofia. Sofia waves at him and he smiles at us. "You're  gorgeous, I see Alexei did marry a beautiful lady". I blush at his compliment and whisper a "thank you."
"You look quiet like your mother" he addresses sofia,
"you know my mom?" Sofia asks as her face looks surprised, "yeah Darling, i've met her a quiet few times with your dad" he says
"Right" she acknowledges with her eyes turning glossy over the reminder of her mother.  My chest aches for my own mum, before the atmosphere turns more gloomy Giovanni claps both of his hands together in front of his chest, the gesture making his veins pop out and the silver bracelets in his left hand  clinking with each other.
He says " alright ladies, do you have any preference or will you leave it all to my suggestions?". Sofia and I glance at each other and "let's go with the way you want" I say,
sofia nods but adds "but I would like something bold" and winks
"I might want a dress if I decide on coming to the party" she whispers to me. We both giggle at that and the rest of the  days goes with us trying so many dresses, every single garment being More beautiful than the other. Giovanni is so immersed in his work, he makes us try many dresses with different fabrics and even takes note of the color that suits our tone. He takes both of our measurements and  says "I'll deliver your dresses on the day ladies"
"and what about the mask?" I ask.
"I'll take care of that too" he says and gives us a smile. And we say our goodbyes and leave the store. While we walk out of the store,  raf is already waiting for us holding the door of the car open, I suddenly feel strange, like somebody is watching me from my right side. I quickly lift my head to the side and feel like a shadow passed the lane down. "What happened?" Asks Sofia making me turn towards her. When I turn back to the lane, it's clear and
I say "nothing, i just thought .... nevermind." After we get in the car, sofia suggests we go to her favorite cafe and then to the park to take a walk. I very much like the idea and we grab  coffees, I get a caramel latte with whipped cream while Sofia gets a vanilla  latte.  We also get some doughnuts and head to the park. The rest of the evening passes with our chatters and walking around the park. And we head back as the dusk starts creeping. We drop Sofia at her home before we head to our place. I get inside the house and head to the kitchen, and hug mila from behind, she greets me with a big smile on her face, contagiously passing it to me. I take a step back and say, I got you doughnuts, I beam stretching one box of doughnuts in front of her. She takes it from me, before thanking me. "So how was your day, darling?" She asks. "It was wonderful..." I start and describe everything that happened with excitement, as I sit on the chair beside the breakfast table and she listens to me without any distractions and smiles whenever I smile. She's such a kind person and I really love her. She makes my heart warm. After I'm done telling her every detail she says, dinner is almost done. I'll shower and be back I say and get up from the chair, before exiting, I ask her
"umm, Mila? Is he back?"
She smiles and asks "who, darling?".
I roll my eyes at her and say "him....i mean is Alexei back?" .
She nods and says "yeah, he came back just before an hour".
I nod and climb the stairs with two other boxes of doughnuts. As I reach the corridor, I see damien going inside alexei's office, but before he could go I stop him calling his name. He turns towards me and I wave at him and point at him to wait for me. He stands there till I get closer enough, I stretch another box of doughnuts in front of Damien. He raises one of his eyebrows questioning, "Doughnuts, I got you some." I smile at him. He reflects my smile and takes it from my hand before uttering a thank you.
"is he inside?" I whisper ask Damien, to which he nods. Then I clear my throat and stretch another box in front of him and say "This is for your boss, can you give it to him" I say. His smile broadens, he says
"why don't you give it to him yourself".
I shake my head searching for an excuse as I utter "I need to feed coco, and I have so much to take care of and I'm busy so help me out and give this to him."
"Okay, alright" he says as he takes it from my hands and keeps his box of doughnuts on the table nearby. While taking the other box inside the office as the door closes behind Damien, I see Alexei looking down at something through his glasses, and just then he looks up and our eyes lock on for a second before the door closes shut. Then I go to my room, I open the door and coco jumps up on seeing me. I hug him and say "i missed you too, my baby" and adore him with kisses.