His Collateral

Chapter 9

I had my breakfast and went upstairs. Then I loosened my hair and combed it out before checking the night stand and like Alessandro said, I found a credit card in it. I slid it into my pocket since I didn't have a purse and made my way downstairs. At the front door, a driver was standing beside a black car, waiting. He opened the door for me and I got in looking around.

It was the car Aunt and I had driven in on my wedding day.

Being in it made me remember them. I hadn't heard a word from them since the wedding. I wasn't surprised though. The drive to the mall was quite long as there was traffic and I found myself tapping my foot impatiently in the car. Maybe it was the excitement that I was coming to the mall for the first time or the fear of doing it alone. Either way, I was nervous.

The moment we arrived, I swore I lost my balance staring at the place. It was huge. I looked at the driver and told him I wouldn't be long before following people through an entrance.

I got in and looked around the place. It looked even bigger on the inside. The were so many shops and restaurants, I didn't even know where to go first. There were people talking, couples walking hand in hand, friends giggling...and I felt out of place. I stood there awkwardly. I didn't know where to go or whom to ask for directions, I just stood there.

I turned on my heels, deciding against the idea of coming here when I suddenly bumped into someone causing a few bags to fall on the floor.

"I..I'm so sorry." I stuttered bending over to pick up the bags.

What was I thinking?

I finished picking up the bags and stood up to give it to the person. It was a lady. She looked at me with a huge smile on her face and I couldn't help but notice how pretty she was. She stood straight, emanating a lot of confidence. Her long blonde hair, flawless skin and perfectly manicured nails didn't fail to enhance it either.

"I'm really sorry." I apologized again becoming self conscious.

"It's fine but what are you doing, standing like that in the middle of the mall?"

I looked at her for a minute. I half expected her to be mad at me or something but she wasn't.

I stuttered. "I-I don't know my way around."

She looked at me and burst into laughter, sending her head back with her hand over her mouth. She laughed for a good minute before recovering from her reverie and looking back at me.

"Wait, you're serious." She said. It was less of a question and more to herself.

"You've never been to the mall?" She asked and I nodded in reply.

"This isn't something you hear everyday." She smiled subtly

"Well come on.. I'll show you around."

"No.., its fine. I don't mean to be a bother."I said my eyes glancing over to the bags in her hand.

"Because of this?" She asked raising the bags in her hand

"I haven't even started."

I looked at her in disbelief. She was carrying so many bags it looked like she bought half the place.

"Well what do you want to buy?" She asked. I stared at her again. I didn't know how to tell her what I was looking for.

"U..underwear ." I replied nervously

Her face suddenly lit up even more. "I think I know the perfect place."

She turned to a lady I didn't notice standing behind her. She handed the bags over to the lady before returning her focus to me.

"Let's go." She smiled taking my hand in hers as she pulled me away.

"By the way, I'm Christy." She added walking towards an escalator.

I smiled. "I'm Bella."

"Nice to meet you Bella." She replied and continued walking.

"The pleasure is mine." I said. She just nodded and kept walking. We got to the escalator and went all the way to the first floor and walked into the first shop on the left of the mall. VICTORIA'S SECRET, was the name. If I hadn't seen enough pink before, I did now! The sweet jasmine scent of the store hit me like wind. The elegant decor and layout of the place added to the suiting ambiance. A few white mannequins stood tall at different corners of the store, each with its own piece of clothing. My eyes scanned the place, glancing at every item in the store. Christy lead me to the very first line of underwear before looking at me.

"What's your size?" She asked.

"I.. I don't know." I replied and the look on her face told me she was surprised.

"I will just look at it and I would be able to tell if it's my size or not." I added.

She laughed. "Well, that's about to change." She called one of the girls standing in the corner and requested that she measure me and tell her my size. The girl wasted no time and returned with a tape. She measured my bust, waist, hips and even my shoulders.

Soon she wrapped up the tape and wrote a few things down on a paper before turning back to us.

"She's a small ma'am. A size 4 to be exact. Would that be all?" She asked

"Yes, thank you." She said, dismissing her.

"That's a nice body you got there." She added.

If only she knew.

Christy got to work and picked quite a number of matching bra's and pants. "These should fit." She smiled

I looked at the items in her hands. The were so many and they were all very pretty.

"They look nice." I smiled back.

"Is that all?" She asked

I was just about to say yes when I remembered the nightwear's I had at the house. I couldn't wear that black one forever.

"Nightie's." I said almost immediately.

"Well we're still at the right place." She said walking over to another section of the store where a few sleep wears hung.

She eyed me for a minute before her eyes settled on the ring on my finger. A small smile played at the corner of her lips as she began picking the nighties. My mouth fell open the moment I caught sight of what she was picking.

"Are these okay? Are they too much? Not revealing enough?" She asked frantically.

"Too revealing." I stated the obvious, my eyes going to one in particular. It was a short red gown and it was fully transparent at the bust area.

"Too what? There's no such thing as too revealing when you're married!" She exclaimed.

She was right, but not in a marriage like mine. Not when Alessandro didn't even want me on his bed talk less of putting on this for him. It's not like I was looking forward to doing any of that with him anyways. I focused my attention back on her.

"I know but... I have a lot of those back home already." I said trying to convince her. It's not like I was lying anyways. I did have quite a number of them in my closet.

She laughed and hung them back before moving over to where they had less revealing nighties. She pulled out a few cotton tops and trousers as well as some satin shirts and shorts in different colors. She held them up for me and I nodded in approval. When we finished we moved over to the counter and I pulled out the black card Alessandro had given to me and paid for them.

While at the mall, I also decided to get a few clothes and personal items since some of the clothes back at the house weren't really my style and I also didn't want to make use of Alessandro's things in the bathroom forever. When we were done, Christy walked me back to the car. She helped me with the bags, although they weren't much. The driver opened the trunk of the car and we placed the bags in it and he closed it back. He told me it was already four on the dot and we had to leave. I turned to face Christy and she had a pout on her face.

"Thank you for today." I said playing with the hem of my sweater and she nodded with a smile.

"I mean it. I probably wouldn't have been able to get all these without your help."

"Stop it. What are friends for?" She paused. "I mean we are friends now, right?" She added holding out her hand.

"Yes." I smiled holding hers back.

"Okay, do one thing. Give me your number and I'll call and we could fix an outing at a café or something." She asked making the smile on my face vanish as quickly as it came.

"I.. I don't have a phone." I replied and she stared at me in disbelief.

"You're joking, right?" She asked

"I mean... I believe the mall story because you actually seemed lost but no phone?"

"It's a long story."

"Okay here's mine. You give me a call with a landline or something and we could fix a coffee date. I'd really like to hear the story behind this." She laughed and pulled out a piece of paper and a pen from her purse. Then she wrote down her number and handed it over to me.

"Make sure to give me a call, okay?"

"I will." I replied and we hugged before parting ways. I got into the car and the driver started the car and drove out of the mall.

The ride back home took even longer than the ride to the mall. The traffic was worse and I was becoming nervous. I asked the driver for the time and he said it was 4:35pm. Alessandro asked me to be back home before 5pm and there was no way I was going to make it before then. I slumped into the seat as my mind played out the different scenarios that would take place when I got home until I eventually gave into sleep.

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Honk! Honk!

The sound of the car startled me. I woke up to the driver pulling into the main entrance of the house.

"What's the time again sir?" I asked

"It's Six O'clock ma'am." He answered before stepping and making his way inside with the bags. I came out of the car and slowly made my way into the house. On his way out, the driver told me he had given the bags to Mary. I thanked him and headed for my room. On my way up, I bumped into Mary.

"I have placed the bags in your room." She smiled at me.

"Thank you Mary."

"You bought quite the number." She laughed

"I'll tell you about it later. Maybe you could help me fold them in tomorrow?" I asked and she nodded before heading back downstairs. I stopped her before she could go any further.

"Mary!" I called out to her

"Yes." She answered looking back at me.

"Where is Alessandro?" I asked

"I haven't seen him since you left. He's probably in his office." She replied and made her way down.

I folded my hands and mentally thanked the Heavens. If he has been locked up in his office all day that means he won't when I came back.

I made my way to the room and walked over to the couch where the bags were placed. I was just about to carry them into the closet when I heard a door open and close behind me and it definitely wasn't the door to the room.

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