The Fates

Part XXXII: Tacky

I hopped and looped my arm in his and dragged him to the racks with loud colours.
"Very much so."

He looked at Demetri.
"Don't you dare involve Demetri."

He frowned and gave me his characteristically long face.

"Very well, let us be done with this."
"Come out!" I shouted.

"I see my knees," Marcus said softly from the changing room.

"You're supposed to; they're shorts," I replied patiently. Demetri and I were sitting on the bench waiting for him to reveal his transformation.

"Must one of my employees be here for this."

"It's just Demetri and if you can impress him with your dress sense you could easily impress other people our age. Just come out."

"Demetri pay for these garbs and we shall depart now; we have wasted enough time and Makayla must be tired."

Marcus tried the I will deduct your wages if you don't do as I say tone. Demetri and I faced one another and shook our heads.

"Makayla is not tired but hungry. If she gets any hungrier you won't like her." I said.

Demetri snickered like a middle-schooler. Marcus gave in and the door slammed against the wall and we saw his brown brogues, but that was the only thing from before he had on.

He wore a pale-yellow tee with a pineapple on it and had a denim hoody draped over his shoulders. Military green shorts completed the look. Demetri groaned.

"Those shoes are ruining it."

I nodded and I gestured for Marcus to remove his shoes and socks. His eyes shone like hot rocks.

"Is this needed, really?" he said quietly, which was a mismatch with the smoky look he gave us on our little bench.

"Yes, Master."

He looked at the ceiling and did as I wished. I smiled. It was so good.
"I don't think the shoes here are nice; they are too formal. Can you take him to OVS?"

"OVS is too tacky." Demetri replied.
"It's affordable, not tacky."
Demetri gave me a disbelieving look.

"How about H & M and Tommy Hilfiger?"
"That is more like it; I know we need something more affordable but it needs to be quality as well."

I shrugged. Well, he had the money so why not?
"Are we through?" Marcus said.

I gave him a devilish smirk.
"Not even close," I said. He blew out a breath and wrinkled his forehead.

"Let me get some clothes he may like much more." Demetri zipped off.

Marcus looked dumbfounded.
"What have you done to my worker? What shall he gain from torturing me like this?"

I placed black denim, two white designer tees and three different chequered shirts in his arms.

"I bet ten euros that you would prefer my style to his."

I smiled. He frowned.

"Do I not pay him enough that that was a viable motivator?"

Demetri came back and dumped three hoodies into Marcus' arms on top of the clothing he already cradled.

"I'm afraid so," he teased Marcus.

"I could pay you even less after this," threatened Marcus in his quiet voice.

Embers sparked. Demetri smiled knowing with me there the threat to his wallet was minimal. He gently urged his young employer into the closet sized room.

Marcus was a stylist's dream with his ectomorphic body. He could rock any style, as long as it wasn't neon or something weird like that.

Even though at first Demetri was sceptical, he admitted Marcus looked hot in chequered t-shirts.

"He looks hot in all of 'em," I insisted.
Demetri sighed.

"But he can't have three of the same shirts in his drawers."

I squinted at Demetri as he pointed at the long-sleeved blue shirt with white, green and yellow horizontal and vertical lines.

Then he looked accusatorily at the white and black short sleeved chequered top then he wiggled the red, grey and black chequered shirt above my head.

"But he can have three of the same hoodies?" I said vexed.

Why didn't he get a sweater instead and a vest? He fricking got the same design in rose-pink, grey and black.

I snatched the black hoody and chucked it at a poor store clerk accidentally.

"I don't want to see another item that's black unless it's shoes, pants or men's jewellery. If you opened the guy's drawer, you'd know how much black he has."

Marcus held his angular face and stared at a woman across the aisle...well he looked through her. When he was thinking his eyes fixated on an object, but never actually saw it.

The woman flicked her eyes self-consciously at him. I would have walked over to her to reassure her that he wasn't staring but Demetri and I were too busy deciding if two designer white shirts were better to two red shirts.

"Red is ok, but only one. Marcus loves red... he has so much of it."

"It reminds him of his girlfriend."

That was a random titbit I didn't need. It made me want to burn all the red clothing articles in his home. Not 'cos I was jealie but he had to express his grief a little less violently.

I ignored Demetri's last statement and put one red top away.

"But two white tees?" he asked.

"White can be worn with anything and he needs it for some outfits."

I wiggled the camouflage green pants and Tommy Hilfiger purple shorts Demetri collected.
"Fair point."

But one was plain and the other had a tribal insignia. Then Demetri dumped all the clothes in a trolley, don't ask me where he found one. I paid for the clothes using the credit card Marcus had.

So, we had after three hours a blush hoody and a grey one, a mustard tee-shirt, a rose-pink oversized sweater, black sweats and khaki pants added to the other items.

I was glad Marcus forced me to order a meal before our shopping trip. I ate and immediately afterwards I slept in Marcus' room. He had paperwork to do so he'd sleep in, until the afternoon, the next day.

Demetri drove me home and Marcus before that gave me a small smile, normal for him.

"May the Fates keep you, even though you made my day hellish yesterday."

"Your welcome," I said, hoping he loved the clothes I chose so that at the very least I could rub it in Demetri's face.