Mia’s POV
“This is too short, where do you think we are going to? A club?”
“No this is tight, you’ll probably suffocate in this before the night is over…”
“… This one is supposed to be a joke, right?”
When we finally arrived at the mall and headed towards a boutique that was literally screaming luxury and expensive even before we stepped in, it was as if the conversation that we were having was allowing me to make some choices about which clothes to pick.
I went to the changing room and Lorenzo followed me instantly. Everywhere surprisingly looked scanty.
A few people whom I had noticed as I walked by, had all been wearing the same shirts. I figured that it was a uniform and that they were probably working here at the boutique, since it had the logo of the boutique plastered against their backs.
It was surprising that customers were not flowing in and out of here like water. Perhaps, they were all scared away by the absurd prices of each clothes.
As I was thinking about it, I chuckled a little bit, and the moment that sound penetrated Lorenzo’s ears, he instantly asked me why I was laughing.
I was hesitant about sharing it with him but knowing that I had little choice in the matter, I spoke and said.
“Well, I was just thinking about how this place is just so scanty right now. There is nobody other than the workers here and us, so I assumed that people are staying away because of the absurd prices of every damn piece of clothing here…”
I hadn’t really expected him to laugh at that statement. I had expected him to roll his eyes and tell me that I was having a ridiculous thought.
“Well, actually that’s because I reserved the entire place…”
I blinked my eyes for a few seconds straight, looking at him with my mouth parted in shock. The few price tags that I had seen on some of the dresses had been totally mind-blowing, and those were even for their simple dresses I hadn’t dared to look at, and Lorenzo was currently talking about reserving the entire place was another ball game altogether and this was just to get me a couple of dresses to be going out with him.
“Isn’t that a little too much? it must be very expensive…”
This was when he finally scoffed.
“Are you joking with me right now? I normally go to places that are far more luxurious than this one, but I decided that since there is an urgent occasion that I wanted to attend and bring you along, this place would be easier to book and less stressful… plus, they have a few nice rooms here…”
He paused, sweeping his eyes across the dress I was wearing.
“Is that why you keep wearing cheap dresses? Because you are afraid of the price?”
“Yes,” I couldn’t help but admit the truth.
He brushed his hair back from his face with a drawn out sigh, while regarding me with a pointed look.
“You need to understand that in my world, image and reputation are everything, if you are going to be my ‘significant other’, then you’re going to have to look the part. You can’t be lacking in any aspect, do you understand?”
I nodded, even though I wasn’t sure I understood what he meant.
“But, why didn’t you tell me that we were going to a party earlier?” I asked him and he simply said. “Well, I’ve told you now so don’t nag me about it and pick a suitable dress so that we can go ahead and finish the rest of your preparation…”
“… the rest?” I echoed after him.
He didn’t respond to this and just kept his eyes focused on his phone.
After that, I pointedly ignored each dress prices as I picked them and tried them on.
Lorenzo had already scheduled a spa appointment for me as well, and it was so intense and relaxing, that left me feeling more pampered than I had ever been in my entire life.
And by the time I came out of the spa my hair had been trimmed and styled, and my skin felt like it was glowing. I have not felt this refreshed ever since I had been kidnapped, and even when I had been living with my parents, I never got to feel this. pampered.
For the first time ever, I’ve begun to look at my kidnapping with a different light, because of Lorenzo, I had managed to escape a marriage of abuse and pain because only what I have seen from my first night with that man had shown that he wasn’t going to treat me any better than a punching bag.
But, heaven forbid I tell him that.
And, even though they were mostly small and could be glossed over if one did not pay much attention, he was making little changes to his character towards me, and I couldn’t help but notice.
When the night came and I was wearing a dress after my makeup had been touched up by a professional, I found myself staring at my reflection in the mirror. I was struggling to believe that the person that was standing right in front of me was actually Mia.
I had never really paid this much attention to my own looks because even though my sister was identical to me, she was always shown in a different way and I had sometimes felt like I could never really match up to her, which was exactly why I never bothered and instead, chose to stay in her shadows.
For some reason, as I was looking at the mirror, I began to anticipate how Lorenzo would react when he saw me and then immediately, I slapped myself out of that thought.
Why was I thinking about him and his reaction? It’s not as if he was my real boyfriend or anything. What we had was nothing more than a farce that I hope that people will be able to buy to some extent because even though I was all dolled up like this, I was still feeling like I would look inferior standing next to him.
When everything concerning my appearance had been dealt with, I made my way downstairs to find him waiting at the car with a chauffeur. Apparently this time, there were some other cars that were also lined up with his own in the middle.
I walked up to him and chirped.
“I’m here…are we leaving now?”