Living With the Choices We Make (Domestic Violence / Abuse) ✔️

10 - Shopping

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10 - Shopping  

We continued our honeymoon phase for a few more days though the tension was slowly building. My high school had uniforms but that had never prevented my dad and me to go clothes shopping at the end of the summer. Brent wanted to treat me to something nice and do the same.

My father and I had had this little routine. He would give me $200 to get what I had wanted and he would disappear to the food court for some coffee. I had browsed through the shops, earmarking my favorite items until I had been ready to strike. The $200 would always get me about half of what I had selected and afterwards, I had dragged my father along and had played fashion show. That had guaranteed me a few extra pieces. It had always been a lot of fun.

Yet, Brent insisted to tag along as soon as we got to the mall and it was a losing battle right from the start. He picked out the clothes to try on and decided what I should get. When he realized I wasn't happy about it, he came up with this ridiculous explanation.

"You know, honey, except for when you see yourself in the mirror, you don't actually notice what you wear. I, on the other hand, have the benefit of looking at you all the time and it is only fair if you dress in the clothes I like, especially since I am paying for them."

What a logic. "That means I can pick out your outfits, too?" I asked.

"Of course," he grinned. "If you want to, we can buy a shirt for me."

He took me to his favorite shop and his idea of a choice was to decide on the color of one of the polo shirts he liked. There were only six different options, none of them funky enough to prove a point.

"Take the navy one," I yielded. "It brings out the blue in your eyes."

He was more than happy to oblige.

Next was the hairdressers. Since I started a new life, I had planned on getting a new cut, something totally different, maybe even a bob which would have meant parting from half my hair. This time, Brent didn't even ask for my opinion.

"She wants soft curls and highlights," he informed the beautician. "Maybe a light perm will be best."

"You can't perm and color in one day," the woman pushed back.

"Well, then let's get the color today and we will perm next weekend."

Two hours later, my new appearance met his approval. Next, he also butted in at the manicurist. I had never been able to afford such a luxury and was looking forward to some long artificial stick ons but Brent wanted my nails natural.

"Is color OK?" the girl actually dared to ask him without even looking at me.

"Yeah." He started to massage my shoulders when he noticed the tension in my face. "How about pink, sweetie?"

"I don't like pink. It's too girlish."

"What color do you like?"

"Black." I actually didn't think that was at all appealing but I wanted to make just one decision I knew he would disapprove of. I guess it was my futile attempt of a rebellion.

He laughed. "Don't be silly. You would look like a Goth person." He beamed at the manicurist. "Make it pink. I am sure she will love it once she realizes how pretty it looks on her."

That was the end of my shopping spree. I was dying of thirst and nagged him to get me a Coke, so we strolled towards the food court. Caroline was sitting there with some other girls from my year and waived excitedly when she saw us.