The Warmest Winter✓

Twelve

We begin roaming around the Great Mall of Las Vegas around eleven in the morning. The plan is to have a ladies' night out tomorrow, and good outfits are definitely our first priority. We make sure to enjoy our time inside the shops, chatting and laughing over very mundane stuff.

Starting with clothes and shoes, which takes eternity until we finally get something worthy enough to make us smile, what follows is a place for lunch as it's already afternoon. Indeed ladies and time are not a clever combination. Liam's words click the back of my mind and I start smiling to myself.

But my smile fades when I recall something else.

"Sam, how do you feel when you use Jonathan's Debit card?" I ask casually as my friend pays for her clothes.

"Nothing. Just . . . normal," Sam replies flatly.

"Just normal? You don't feel burdened or anything?" I keep delving, recalling Liam's disappointed look when I rejected his gesture.

For me it's a very foreign situation. All of my life I've been financially independent, and it's been like a normal house chore that's difficult to ignore. I've never used anyone's money for my expenses.

"Kira, he's my boyfriend and he gave it to me willingly, so . . . it's just fine," Sam replies matter-of-factly. "Thank you." She smiles brightly at the lady who's just returned her card—which is Jonathan's. "I know. I sound like a gold digger, right?" Her face twists.

"No, not really. I was only curious," I say truthfully. "You're not a gold digger, Sam, I know that."

"Well, in a way I am. I pulled those dickheads' cards many times in the past," says Sam, laughing heartily as though she's happily recalling. "But it wasn't because I was desperate for money, no. I'm a career woman, dammit! They didn't have anything important to do with their filthy money, other than spending stupidly, so I thought why not help them? But I guess it has turned into a bad habit; I don't feel bad at all spending Jonathan's money because he can afford it all."

I burst out laughing. "How I need your free spirit, sweetie." I sigh heavily, unsure how I'm gonna cope with so many foreign things now that I have my better half.

"Guys, I think I'm done. Where are we going next?" Roshni joins us after a little escape to the ladies' room.

"Since I'm feeling better already," Sam announces as we get out of the boutique. "I'll proceed with my original plan."

"Which is?" I ask.

"Surprise, Kiki." Sam rolls her eyes.

"Sure." I do the same because I always get terrified by Sam's idea of surprises. "Before that, why don't we check some lingerie? That place seems promising." I point at the lingerie store, my sex goddess wide awake.

I need some catchy underwear now that I'm officially quitting being solo.

"Sure." Sam shrugs and once again we get into another shopping spree that's super enjoyable.

It's what I needed, too.

"Okay, this is something else. $500 for a piece of underwear? And the smaller they are, the higher the price," Roshni muses, holding a tiny G-string in the air.

I giggle at her final remark. "And look at this one," I utter while checking the price tag attached on a pair of baby pink bralette and its matching lace brief. $950? Hell no! "Could it be for the whole dozen?" I tease.

"No, sweetie. Agent Provocateu has those horrific prices enough to save the world from hunger, and yet some people buy them," Sam says as she moves over. "There's a $1100 sleeping robe over here." She grins at me, holding the silky baby into a fitting stance.