Shopping
1390 Words
Caleb kept running around the store, visibly excited as he checked out all the outfits -both big and small for him.
Sophia walked closely behind us, smiling warmly at her son but never really interfering. She never chose anything for herself either but her eyes kept gliding over all the dresses we came across.
I shook my head, trying not to smile, she hadn't changed at all. The way her eyes lit up whenever she was excited, and the way she'd look eagerly, like a child waiting for their parents to notice she wanted something.
"Why don't you try on a few dresses?"
She perked up at the suggestion but shook her head. "No, it's fine. Let's just focus on Caleb, I still have-"
Just then, a staff member passed by, holding a golden dress and Sophia's jaw dropped. She kept her gaze on the lady as she walked by, still staring in her direction even after the lady was no longer in sight.
"Sophia, why don't you head to the dressing room? I have something I need to do, and then I'll join you."
"Okay."
After they walked in, I turned and headed to the front. Thankfully, the person who bought the dress was still there. "Excuse me,"
"Yes?"
She turned to face me and I froze in my steps.
"Dante? What are you doing here?"
Of all the people I could have run into, why did it have to be her?
My first instinct was to turn around and just leave, but I couldn't. I clenched my first, reminding myself that it was for Sophia. "I need that gold dress."
She looked down at her shopping bag and scoffed. "What, you wear women's dresses now?"
"How much is it? I'll pay double."
"Why do you want it?" She asked.
I sighed, she was still just as nosy as ever. "Is it not enough?"
"Do you even know how much it cost?"
"I don't care. Should I triple the price?"
Her eyes widened when I said that, even the staff at the counter exchanged surprised glances.
"I'll give it to you for free. But you have to do something for me." She had a sly smile on her face as she held out the bag to me.
I looked down at the bag, then back at her face. "If this is about you shamelessly trying to force yourself onto me, forget it." Before she could take it back, I snatched the bag from her. "I'll wire the money to your account."
Without waiting for her response, I turned and walked back in to find Sophia and Caleb.
★★★
After we concluded our shopping, Sophia suggested we get ice cream because 'Caleb hadn't had some in a while', but it was almost too obvious that she was the one craving it.
As we walked back to my car, I noticed someone watching us from behind. I immediately knew it could either be Orpheus' men, or Rinaldi's, either way, them seeing me with Sophia and Caleb was a terrible idea.
My hand instinctively reached inside my coat -where my holster should have been- but it wasn't there. I muttered a curse under my breath, remembering my decision to leave it back at the house.
"Is everything okay?" Sophia looked up at me, mirroring my worried expression on her face.
"Hmm? Yes." I reached out my hand and Caleb eagerly held on to it. "Let's just go."
★★★
Leo was already there when we got home, and Lily was with him.
"You guys are back already?" He said as we walked in, doing little to hide the lipstick stains on his neck. "I thought you'd be out for much longer."
The sight disgusted me, but not more than it annoyed me.
Sophia glanced at the half naked Lily, sprawled on the couch but quickly averted her gaze. "Come on Caleb, let's go and hang up your new tux." She held out her hand but Caleb didn't take it. "Caleb?"
His eyes were locked on his father's, his face showing off an intense anger a child should never have.
"Caleb, come on." Sophia tried to touch him but he backed out of her reach.
"I hate you mommy!" he threw the newly bought tux at her and bolted for the door.
"Caleb -"
"Go upstairs Sophia," I didn't know why, but at that moment, I seemed to share Caleb's feelings of resentment towards her.
Sophia froze, her lips parting as if she wanted to protest, but nothing came out.
Not wanting to see the expression on her face, I turned and quickly walked out the door.
He was crouched in his usual spot, frowning at the tiny ants marching across the grass.
"Go away. I don't want to talk to you." he said without looking at me.
"What makes you think I want to talk to you?" I sat on the grass, folding my legs in front of me. "I'm out here because I also hate your mom."
He sat and faced me. "Why?"
"Why do you hate her?" I asked.
"I asked you first."
I leaned back on my arms, looking ahead. "She's not the woman I knew all those years ago. Your mother is a special woman, and yet she allows someone like Leo to walk all over her.... It's frustrating."
When I looked at him, he was watching me intently, I guessed he was digesting my words.
"It's not her fault." He finally said. "She's just scared."
"Well then if you know, why do you hate her?"
He looked up at me, and for the first time, he was actually crying.
"Let's go, your mom -"
He shook his head, still crying. Watching me cautiously, he approached me and laid next to me, placing his head on my legs.
My body froze up completely. That moment brought a painful memory I had spent the last two years suppressing, and for the first time since her funeral, my sister's face popped up in my head.
She always used to rest her head on my lap exactly like that when she cried.
Luckily for me, Hugo's call came in just in time to distract me from my thoughts. "What is it?"
"Don, I have an update on your request."
"Well?"
"Mrs Sophia loved a middle class life while she was in highschool. That was also where she met Mr Moretti -though, you already knew that-"
"Yes. So tell me something I don't know."
"They never had a wedding."
"What?" I sat upright, my entire body anticipating Hugo's next words.
"Yes. It seems Mr Moretti-"
"Just call him Leo." There was no use in respecting someone who clearly had no regard for others.
"- Leo's father was against the marriage. He wanted his son to marry someone rich, so they could further build their empire. But Mrs Sophia was already pregnant so he had no choice than to accept her.
They had a brief court process, with the only witness being Mrs Sophia's and Leo's mother's. She started living with him afterwards."
So he had no intention of marrying her, he just had to. I clenched my first, my temperature rising with anger.
Almost like he could sense the tension in my body, Caleb turned and looked at me. He reached up and touched the side of my face.
"Don? Are you still there?"
I stared at Caleb, and after a while, my anger began to dissolve into something else.
He looked like he was trying to console me, and the thought made my chest tighten. He was just a child, it should be the other way around.
"Anything else?"
"Mrs Sophia lost her mother five years ago in what was supposed to be a simple traffic accident."
"Supposed to be?"
"Well it seems a bit suspicious. Do you want me to look into it?"
Was it really necessary to dig up old wounds for her? She already had more than enough on her plate. "Yes."
It was her mother, she deserved to know.
"Alright. Don?"
"What?"
"Be careful. I think Orpheus' goons might be watching us."
"I know, don't get caught."
"Of course not."
I looked down at the child leaning against me and decided one thing: no one -Leo, Orpheus, or any man alive- was going to hurt this boy again.
- Writer
