Chapter 11 – The Date

“See, that wasn’t so bad, was it?” Charlotte asked as she parked in the underground parking lot of the shopping mall.

“Yeah…” Other than the person she cut off back there.

“First, breakfast.” They got out of the car and Eric offered his arm. “How gentlemanly,” she smiled and looped her arm through his.

They sat down in the Pancake House and made their orders as the sweet scent of vanilla filled the establishment.

I can feel eyes on me. Eric glanced at the other tables, and they looked away from him, continuing their whispers. “Maybe we’re overdressed for this place.”

Charlotte rested her hand on his on the table. “Don’t worry so much about that. It’s nice to dress up sometimes, and it shouldn’t matter to anyone else what we’re wearing. Now, let’s relax and enjoy our meal.”

As if on cue, their plates of pancakes were placed down in front of them, piled high with whipped cream and doused in chocolate syrup.

Can we eat this much?

“Let’s dig in!” Charlotte hummed as she took her first bite. “Mmm… So good.”

I guess this’ll be a cheat day food wise.

Her eyes practically sparkled as she watched him take his first bite. “How is it?”

“Delicious and sweet. It’s like having dessert for breakfast.” He smiled as she dug into her pancakes again. “So, do you come here often?”

“Mm… No; I rarely have time off, and when I do, I end up sleeping in most of the time… for most of the day. Pretty much use the one sleep day to help boost me for the rest of the week. I’ve seen this place and always wanted to go in… but never had the chance.”

“I figured you’d know all the restaurants in the area or something.”

“I know a lot of high-class ones, but this isn’t exactly the place to bring clients and business partners.”

“Ah, yeah, I guess it wouldn’t be. I like it, though. Cozy atmosphere and good food. Is there anywhere else you wanted to try? We can go somewhere else next time.”

“Next time?”

“Yeah, though we can come back here and try different things off the menu, too.”

“That’ll be great.”

They finished up their meal and headed out of the Pancake House.

Eric offered his arm again. “Where to now?”

She wrapped her arm around his. “Would you mind if we spend some time shopping?” She loved to shop, but rarely had the chance to.

I’ve never actually gone shopping with a girl like this before. “Sure; I don’t mind.”

They walked into a luxury clothing store.

“Miss Burne?” They recognized her right away. “Welcome to our establishment,” the manager walked over to them immediately. “Would you like me to close the store for you?”

“No, no, we’ll be fine,” Charlotte laughed awkwardly and tugged Eric’s arm. It wasn’t the first time she had that offer, far from it actually; when people recognize her, they'd try their best to get her to spend there.

“Let me know if you need anything, anything at all.”

“We will.”

“Is it always like that?” Eric whispered.

“At the places around here, it seems that way… You didn’t have much clothes before, so I figured we could plump up your wardrobe a bit.”

“Wait, we’re here to buy me clothes? I thought you wanted to buy something for yourself.”

“Why don’t we do both? Better yet, you can pick some clothes for me.”

“Me? Pick?”

“Yes,” she smiled up at him and tugged at his arm. “First though, let’s try these…” she pulled a bunch of suits and shirts off the rack. “I’ll have anything you like altered, so they fit perfectly.”

Rich people sure do things differently. He tried on a shirt and left the dressing room.

She was immediately in front of him, holding up a few ties. “Yes, these go well with your skin tone. How does the shirt fit?”

“Fine, I guess,” he moved his arms around.

“Texture good?”

“Sure.” It’s not scratchy or anything.

“She smoothed his shirt out and held a jacket for him to put on. “I like it. What do you think?”

“Clothes are just clothes to me, sorry.” He usually bought whatever was cheapest, as long as it fit.

She forced him to look in the mirror. “Are you trying to say you don’t look super handsome in these clothes?”

Eric shrugged. “I liked what I had on, too.”

“Sure, but you need more than one or two outfits in your wardrobe and yours is quite empty, even with what I added already.”

“Ah ha… That’s true.”

“With this tie and some new pants, it’ll be perfect. Once everything is fitted, we can just get a few colours, plus a tux, and some more lounging clothes. I noticed yours were a bit… worn.” Her generous way of avoiding saying it was full of holes.

“Ah, yeah, they've seen better days."

Charlotte giggled. From what she saw, one more little snag, and they’d be in shreds. “Perfect time to get new ones.”

As she continued to pick stuff out for him – and have things fitted – his eyes trailed over to the women’s department. What kind of dress would she look good in? His mind wandered, imagining her. I think she’d look good in anything.

“Eric?” she tugged on his arm. “Everything okay? Are you getting bored?”

“Oh, no, everything’s fine.” He looked at the pile of clothes she was ready to buy for him. “How about we shop for you now?”

“Do you think we have enough to fill your closet?”

“More than enough, thank you.”

“Okay then, I’ll have this brought to the car since it’s quite the haul, and I’ll be right back. You can start looking around on your own,” she touched his arm and headed over to the manager to settle things.

Eric made his way over to the dresses. They all look beautiful to me. How do I choose?

An attendant rolled over a hanging rack. “You can hang the things you want her to try on here,” she smiled at him and walked away, having been watching the whole time. She leant on her desk, phone in hand.

I’m not sure she should trust my sense of style… He pulled out a summer dress with roses on it. “It’ll be summer before we know it.” Knowing she wouldn’t back down, he filled the rack with dresses, blouses, and skirts. A long, elegant black dress, with a slit up the leg, caught his eye. Until then, he had filled the rack with things he thought were cute but, but this, it was sexy. He held it up to the rack, debating on if he should put it up, or stick with the other clothes.

“Can’t decide if you like it?” Charlotte appeared beside him and trailed her eyes along the dress. “I think it’s beautiful.”

“I… wasn’t sure if I should pick ones like this.”

“Oh, why not?”

“Umm…” he blushed.

“It’s okay, you know? This is classy and not too low cut, so it’s not like you picked something bad.”

“It’s okay then?”

“Yup, perfectly fine. In fact, I’ll try this one on first,” Charlotte disappeared into the dressing room.

Feeling more free to choose things, he added a few evening gowns to the rack.

“Eric,” she called out to him.

“Yeah?” he walked up to the dressing room.

“Can you help me zip up?”

“You want me to come in?”

“Yes, please.”

Eric swallowed. “Maybe I should get an attendant to help…”

“Eric, come in and help me,” she commanded.

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Don’t call me ma’am.” She heard that enough at work, and she didn’t want to hear that from him; he was different.

Eric took a deep breath and entered the dressing room.

She glanced at him in the mirror and smiled as she moved her hair out of the way, exposing her back.

“E-excuse me…” Eric grabbed the zipper and slowly pulled it up, his finger grazing across her back.

“So, what do you think?” She smoothened out the dress, trailing her hands across the fabric.

Eric’s eyes trailed down her, and he turned away, blushing. “You look striking.”

She turned, smiling at him. “Maybe I should wear this today to our dinner tonight. Umm… I have a business dinner in a few days. Can you pick something out for it?”

“Uh, well, I may have already,” he opened the curtain, and she saw the rack filled with clothes. “Sorry,” he scratched the back of his head. “I might have gone overboard, but I think all of those suit you.”

“That so?” Charlotte thought for a moment as she looked through the dresses. “Seeing as you got the right sizes, I’ll take them all.”

“What? That’s too many.”

“It’s fine; don’t worry. I have an enormous closet… It’s a room of its own, big enough to be a bedroom, really.” Charlotte walked up to the front desk. “I’ll wear this out and pick up all on the rack.”

“Yes, ma’am; we’ll ring it up and have it taken to your car.”

“Thank you,” Charlotte turned to him. “I’m going to let them drop them in the car. I’ll be right back,” she kissed him on the cheek and walked away.

Eric touched his cheek, the reminisce of her touch lingering. He heard chatter beside him and glanced over to see one of the staff with their phone pointed at him as she giggled.

That can’t be good. He turned away, trying to hide his face.

“Hey, is something wrong?” Charlotte wrapped an arm around him and stared up at him.

“Uh… Nope, nothing’s wrong. Where to next?”