Shopping Trip 2
Mya entered the dressing room and saw Elaina checking herself out in the mirror.
"It's a beautiful gown, you look good in it," she complimented and Elaina nodded.
Mya walked to Elaina's back and helped her zip the dress up. When she saw that the lower back of the dress was open, "Oh, You're going to turn heads in this," she teased.
Elaina laughed awkwardly, "Hopefully not,"
"Let me see the front," she stated and Elaina turned around so her mother could judge the dress. It was perfect, without any fault. Mr. Leighton's sense of fashion was the only admirable thing about him, Mya thought in her head.
"So what's going on with you and Mr. Leighton?" Elaina asked her a burning question.
"He's just a man who doesn't know how to take a negative answer. No matter how many times I reject him, he keeps coming back. I am married for God's sake," Mya stated almost angrily.
"Relax, Mum," Elaina laughed, "So he's a good man?"
"Yes, relatively, though he is very shameless," she added. Mya's eyes moved to Elaina's face and she frowned. She removed her glasses from her face and examined her eyes. "Look at those dark circles. You barely slept overnight did you?"
"Not really," Elaina answered.
Mya shook her head. Her attention lingered a little more on her daughter's right eye.
"I'm fine. You need to try your dress too," Elaina reminded. She took her glasses from her mother's hand and wore them back.
Elaina stood at the side watching her mother in her dark red dress. She could see why Mr. Leighton couldn't believe that she was a married woman with children, she was stunning. Her dress was a straight dark red gown with one short sleeve that parted into two ways, one covered half her left shoulder and the other part covered a little part of her left arm.
"Mr. Leighton does know his stuff," stated Mya. The dress was neatly done and it fit her perfectly, there was no flaw at all. She was impressed.
"Does he make the dresses himself?" inquired Elaina.
"Most of them," her mother answered. Mr. Leighton was an extremely gifted man. He was the kind of man who could start any job and succeed at it.
They left the room after changing back into their clothes, where Mr. Leighton was walking towards them with a female attendant carrying some boxes behind him.
Elaina was expecting some kind of compliment from him to her mother because of the way he was staring but he said nothing like that.
"Mya's supposed daughter, your dress should be a little free at the sides, that's how I designed it but if it's uncomfortable, it can be adjusted," he informed.
"It's fine, thank you," Elaina answered. It was amazing how he could tell her size through her baggy clothes.
Mya rolled her eyes at his 'Mya's supposed child' She wanted to correct him but decided that it would be best not to before it would lead to an 'Our children could have great names too' situation.
"Alright. Please sit,"
They both sat on the cushion stools that were just brought by an attendant.
Mr. Leighton bent down to Elaina's feet, "I would like to check your feet," he said and Elaina removed her feet from the oversized slides she wore. She was a little embarrassed but this was her punishment for sleeping late.
He took her left foot in his hand and examined it, after he was done he did the same for her right foot.
"Can you walk in stilettos?" he asked her
"Yes," she answered, "Relatively," she changed her answer.
After hearing her answer, Mr. Leighton turned to his attendant, "Give me the one-sized forty,"
Elaina watched as the attendant brought out a pair of beautiful but extremely high stilettos, her eyes widened. She hadn't walked in anything that high in her entire life.
"Aren't they too high?" she asked nervously.
"They aren't, the stilettos will boost your height and make your legs stand out more, try them on," he unhooked the strap of the stilettos one after another and placed them in front of her feet.
"Okay," Elaina put her feet in them then Mr. Leighton helped her to fix the straps.
"Is it too tight?" he asked her and she shook her head in response. "Try walking in them," he said.
Elaina's eyes widened, walk? She wasn't even sure she could stand in them. Nevertheless, she stood up, her legs were shaky as she took her first step but Mr. Leighton followed her steps just in case she lost balance.
After about seven steps, Elaina's legs stopped shaking and she was able to walk easily. The stilettos were comfortable, surprisingly.
"Would you look at that, a natural," he said to himself but loud enough for them to hear.
"Most people say beauty is pain but I believe beauty is comfort. Do you like them? if you don't, there are other options," he turned to the unopened boxes.
"Can I try others?" she wanted to be sure about her choices because she didn't think she could last an entire ball in them.
"Yes, you can,"
"What about your customers waiting outside?" Mya asked him.
"They'll be let in as soon as you're done," he replied.
After choosing Elaina's shoes, Mr Leighton turned to Mya. "Please allow me the pleasure of checking your feet, Mya," he said and was about to touch her foot but Mya raised it and stepped on his fingers.
"No, thank you," she refused.
"Ah, getting stomped by you is a pleasure itself," Mr. Leighton stated which caused Mya to crush his fingers harder.
Meanwhile, in the male compartment, Chris, the attendant, stood at the side as he watched the young customer do his job for him. The boy had barely spoken since he entered. He had refused all his choices so he left him to choose for himself.
Alex checked the racks, looking for nothing in particular. He didn't care about the kind of suit he wore since he would look good in it anyways, he just didn't want to finish early and then have to wait for them to finish shopping.
After wasting enough time, he walked back to a rack and pulled out a piece.
Chris stared at the customer unbelievably, the young man was holding the first choice of the suit that he had previously declined.
"You like this one, Sir?" he asked him and earned a slight nod as an answer. They both stared at each other in silence. Alex sighed in his head and said,
"Shoes," since the attendant wasn't getting the message.
"Oh, you want to see the shoes already, don't you want to try the suit on?" Chris asked and he saw Alex shake his head. "But you need to-" he stopped talking when Alex went to sit on a cushion-covered stool.
"Okay, please excuse me," he said, a nerve popping on his forehead, "The customer is always right, Chris," he repeated the sentence in a low voice as he walked to the shoe compartment. "The customer is always right,"
°°°
Elaina and Mya stood at the checkout after choosing their shoes and masks. Their dresses had their customized masks so there was no trouble with them. Elaina glanced at Mr. Leighton who stood beside the counter, watching the cashier pack their things into bags.
Aside from the time with the shoes, he hadn't made any other odd compliments and had been professional when they were shopping, guess he could be serious when it was required, she thought in her head.
After a few seconds, Alex came out of the male compartment with a visibly annoyed attendant.
Elaina chuckled, "What did you do to him?" she asked when he came to stand beside her and he shrugged in response.
After their bags were packed, Mya brought out her card to pay which surprised Mr. Leighton.
"You're paying, Mya?"
"Of course I am, will you let me leave without paying?" she asked him back.
"Of course! If you asked for it, I can give you a 99 percent discount," he smiled then leaned on the counter and watched her.
"I have a capable husband thank you very much. I don't need your offer," she refused and gave her card to the cashier.
"I have never doubted your abilities as a woman, you are the perfect wife material," Mr. Leighton stated while ignoring the part about her husband.
"Exactly, for my husband," Mya replied. She collected the card from the cashier after she swiped it on the machine.
Alexander carried four bags from the counter while Elaina carried the last one.
"Thank you for letting us in, Mr. Leighton, it was highly appreciated. We will be taking our leave now," Mya thanked him.
"Leaving so soon? Won't you wait with me, Mya?" Mr. Leighton asked as they walked to the side entrance.
"I think you should have gotten your answer, Mr. Leighton," she retorted.
Mr. Leighton opened the door for them, "You still haven't told me if you have a date," he said as Mya was about to step out which made her sigh.
"Yes, I do have a date," she answered and walked out the door with her children behind her.
"Thank you, Mr. Leighton," Elaina thanked him.
"It's nothing. You're always welcome if you're a relative of Mya," he waved it off as nothing. He watched as they left, his eyes lingering on Mya for a second more before he closed the door.