Between Two Fires

^.^ Chapter 10 ^.^

Lea had been busy with work so we had only managed to meet once on her lunch break. We ate lunch at the diner and she had suggested I give surfing a try if I was going to stick to the beach this week. We agreed on arranging a shopping trip sometime before Friday and went our separate ways. After lunch I had gone up to the shack to arrange for the surfing lessons and Luca was there. As soon as he saw me approach he excused himself and went towards the room behind the diner. My heart had sunk a little at the obvious avoidance but I hadn't let it get me down for too long. My surfing lessons would begin on Monday so that cheered me up a little.

I had also visited Jack on Monday since he had called me over to talk about payment. He had actually given me a very decent sum, which had surprised me as I'd only sang a couple of songs. I tried to refuse but he insisted. When he tried to convince me to sing again, I had turned him down telling him I wasn't looking to do that right now. With a disappointed smile, he waved me goodbye and told me that if I changed my mind the stage would be available for me.

Now Thursday had come and Lea had taken the afternoon off to go shopping. We were arriving at the huge shopping center which had taken us about fifteen minutes to drive to. The parking lot is a lot emptier than I expected even if it was a weekday. Making our way in I am amazed by how big the place is. It would easily take us two days to explore the shops properly.

"Woah, this place  is massive." I look up and around really taking in my surroundings. The building is circular instead of rectangular and its a very light blue color. There are mostly surf shops lining the front but when we get inside there are four floors towering above us. From a first glance the first floor is packed with electronic shops and only has a few clothes shops here and there. Lea leads me to the lift and we take it up to the fourth floor.

"The fourth and third floor have most of the clothes shops. The second floor is mainly accessories, make-up and other shops here and there along with all the restaurants and food joints. Then the first floor is dedicated to sports and electronics." She explains. I nod, still amazed by the sheer size of the building. I hadn't been to many shopping centers and this was by far the biggest I had ever visited.

Three hours later, we have our arms packed with bags and our stomachs are begging to be fed.  I wasn't a huge fan of shopping but it had been fun with Lea. We had tried on all sorts of nice and ridiculous outfits and made fun of some of the things which were on sale. I had bought seven bikinis, more than I had ever owned in my life. I had also gotten a few dresses, most of them were beach dresses but I had gotten a couple of nice ones too because Lea had mentioned wanting to go out to some of the clubs this summer. The rest of my shopping consisted of necessities and different shorts, tops and jackets. The money I had earned singing had come in rather handy - almost making me want to reconsider doing it a couple more times.

We had barely covered the fourth floor, but we decided that after lunch we would only look at a couple more shops before calling it a day. After ordering, we end up plopping ourselves down at a pizza place on the second floor. With a huge sigh of relief I place the bags beside our table and Lea does the same.

"I am sooo hungry!!" Lea says just as my stomach grumbles, making us both giggle.

"I can't wait to eat my pizza. I feel like I haven't had one in forever." 

"Well pizzas here are good but if you like pizza, we have to go to my favorite place in town. Ethan, Luca and I have been going to that place since forever ago. We never take anyone else there because its sort of our little secret but I think I can make you an exception." She jokes.

"I am honored Princess Lea," I mock, bowing my head. She flips me off which just makes me laugh harder. I had been making jokes about her name throughout the shopping trip and she was not amused.