Eldora

Chapter Five (B)

It was more of a mall than an actual store but everyone called it a store because of it's quite erratic title, Catchy Mega Store, a Eldora sensation ever since the first day it opened with multiple business opening around and inside of it. It quickly became a good business to get in line with because it gave you an easy living from it's daily burst of crowds every hour of the day, from opening at five in the morning to closing at nine at night.

Diamond had walked straight to Ethan and immediately grabbed his hand as she started at the buzzing entrance with people exiting with multiple bags and people entering to enjoy their own sensation of shopping.

"I got you, don't worry." Ethan said, causing Diamond to glance over at him with a soft look of thankfulness.

He tightened his grip on her hand as she squeezed his back before allowing him to lead her toward the entrance of the large building, momentarily the two blended in as Diamond inched slowly toward Ethan while appearing to be very uncomfortable. He released her hand and watched as Diamond eyes widened in panic as she went to grab it back until his arm circled around her waist and pulled her tight against his body as he moved with the buzzing crowd.

He pulled them to a safe spot by a board that displayed the layout of the retro-styled mall, and she took the chance to look at the poster. The top two levels were littered with so many stores and Diamond couldn't believe that all these stores were at her own advantage with Ethan most likely just tagging along. Many people stared at them with annoyance or even curiosity of the black collar on Diamond's neck, which Ethan also refused to remove after finding the key that had fallen when he caught sight of Diamond for the first time.

"Where do you wanna start?" She asked him, wanting him to partake in her new adventure. "I think we should go grocery shopping last." She reasoned, to which Ethan agreed.

"Start at the top and work downward?" Ethan shrugged, smiling lightly at Diamond as she slowly nodded.

"Okay, come on." Ethan said, leading her to the packed escalator as he ignored the stares he was receiving from people that recognized him upon first glance.

He spotted a customer by the name Ronny Parker as he stood with his wife and two children, all of them stared at him as Ethan glanced back at them before continuing to lead his own wife up the second escalator that led to the top floor, which was also packed with people. Diamond was so clueless of the looks, or maybe she didn't care as she stared at all the things around her in awe.

She immediately spotted the candy store as they reached the third floor because it was placed so perfectly in front of the uprising escalator, only she had to do was point before eagerly smiling and pulling Ethan in that direction by the hand. He followed while simply laughing at her reaction, she was so excited to see the store and he was definitely gonna make sure he kept her that way the entire trip from store to store.

*Approximately Two Hours Later*

Ethan parked his vehicle and turned it off before resting back into his seat and looking over at Diamond, who was chirpily drinking on his soda pop through the straw he was once using also, and to see she didn't mind sneaking sips with his saliva entwined made him feel good. She had warmed up to him with a very big difference, big enough that even Ethan had noticed that she wasn't appearing so distant and even was wearing the small diamond necklace he had picked out just for her.

Of course Ethan was going to spoil her intentionally, and that was exactly what he was going to do so he got Diamond some beautiful diamonds to wear around her neck night and day, if she so pleased. Diamond was reluctant and denied Ethan's attempts to put the diamonds on her neck but she eventually gave in after giving him an entire speech on how money will never buy her love and she wasn't materialistic.