Moana
I was still utterly shocked that Edrick wanted to take me out shopping so soon after the tabloid incident, but the next morning, he was waiting for me in the living room when I came out of my room. He was dressed well, although much more casually than normal in a white Polo shirt and trousers. He had a mask and a pair of sunglasses in his hand, and I realized that he would be mostly unrecognizable dressed like this in public with his face covered.
As I walked up to him, however, I noticed that he had a second mask in his hand. He held it out to me. "You'll have to wear this," he said. "Now that people have seen your face, you'll have to be more cautious in public."
Admittedly, I felt a little bit hurt that we still had to be so secretive, but I finally understood where he was coming from and took the mask without fuss. As we walked over to the foyer, I also made sure to grab my sunhat along with my purse; the hat would cover my easily recognizable hair, at least a little bit.
Edrick seemed pleased with this decision, and we put our disguises on before we even stepped out of the elevator in the lobby. With his mask and sunglasses on and dressed so casually, he really did look like a completely different person.
Edrick drove us to a shopping mall that I had never been to - a different one from before. This one wasn't an outdoors strip mall like the one that he took me to for baby supplies, but was rather a large indoor mall. As we stepped through the big glass doors, I felt awed by the massive fountains, lush greenery, and big glass ceilings. All of the other people walking around seemed to be wealthy; even the groups of teenagers strutting around were dressed impeccably well in designer clothing, and I felt rather out of place in my simple dress and sandals.
Edrick and I walked around for a bit before stopping at a children's clothing store first. The prices were expensive, so I only picked out a few things: a simple cotton dress, a light sweater since summer would be coming to an end soon, and a few little onesies for the baby. Edrick was mostly quiet the entire time, occasionally wandering off to look at some things on his own before returning to me. When I was finished, I approached the counter and dug into my purse for my wallet.
"I'll pay," Edrick said, pulling his wallet out of his pocket and extracting his black credit card from one of the slots.
I shook my head vehemently and put my hand up to stop him, ignoring the cashier's confused glances as she rang up my things and folded them neatly.
"It's alright," I insisted. "I want to pay myself."
Edrick frowned, but didn't say anything else until we walked out of the store.
"Why wouldn't you let me pay?" he asked.
I shrugged. "I want to purchase some things for our baby as well," I replied. "It doesn't feel right letting you pay for everything."
"It's all the same, isn't it?" he asked. "I do pay your salary, after all."
At Edrick's words, I felt my face get a little hot. Every so often, I was reminded that he did indeed pay my salary. It was a little embarrassing, being paid by the father of my child, but I didn't say anything. Edrick didn't bring it up again, either.
Next, we went into a high-end women's clothing store. The prices here were even more exorbitant than the first store, and as I looked at the price tags, I immediately felt out of place. Even the sales associates gave me some odd looks; I didn't even want to touch the clothes for fear of getting them dirty or damaging them and having to pay for them.
"Good afternoon," one of the sales associates said with a warm smile. "Can I help you find anything today?"
I opened my mouth to respond, but before I could, Edrick chimed in. "Yes," he said. "She needs a nice dress for an event. Something a bit loose and fit for a pregnant woman, but nice nonetheless."
The saleswoman's smile widened. "Oh, congratulations!" she said, glancing at my belly. "I think I know of a few styles that will look lovely on you. If you'd like to go and wait by the fitting rooms and take a seat, I'll bring them to you. Let me just take some measurements first..." She grabbed the measuring tape from around her neck and took measurements around my bust, my belly, and the length from my shoulder to my ankles before directing us over to the fitting rooms.
I felt even more out of place now; I had never been to any store that took measurements for clothes.
Edrick and I waited quietly by the fitting rooms while the saleswoman ran around and gathered several dresses. As she approached, I could already tell that they were all of the highest quality, and I knew I wouldn't be able to afford any of them.
Before I could protest, however, the saleswoman showed me to a fitting room.
"Let me know if you need any assistance," she said with a smile.
I nodded, then glanced over at Edrick, who was standing nearby with his arms folded across his chest. "I'd like to see them all as you try them on," he said, momentarily moving to run a hand through his hair. Even through his mask, he seemed a little uncomfortable at the prospect of watching me try on clothes, but I agreed to his request nonetheless.
The first dress I tried on was already beautiful. I stepped out of the fitting room to show Edrick, who silently nodded and asked me to show him the next one. This went on for awhile as I continued to try the increasingly luxurious - and expensive - dresses on, until I eventually came to the last dress.
It was similar to the simple black dress I wore at the bar on the night we met. The material was a high quality silk, smooth and heavy, and cool to the touch. It hugged my curves in all of the right places, but the silhouette was just right around my waist so it didn't emphasize my pregnant belly too much.
I felt a gasp catch in my throat as I looked in the mirror and noticed how the skirt flowed when I moved and how the sage green color of the dress enhanced the glow of my pregnancy, but then I saw the price tag and felt my stomach drop. It was over one thousand dollars!
"Everything alright in there?" Edrick called through the door.
"Um... Yeah," I said, clearing my throat. I sheepishly opened the door and stepped out.
I couldn't see Edrick's facial expression beneath his mask, but I swore that his eyes widened for a split second when he saw me. Without a word, he raised his finger and gestured with it in a circle to indicate for me to spin. As I did, I felt my face getting hot and was glad that I had a mask on to hide it.
When I was finished, he nodded quietly.
"You like that one?" he asked.
I nodded, but knew I couldn't afford it. "Yes, but... It's very expensive," I muttered. "I can't afford it. I think we should try another store."
Edrick shook his head suddenly. "Absolutely not. Consider these dresses as workwear provided by your employer."
My eyes widened. "No," I insisted, "you don't have to do that. Really."
The Alpha billionaire merely shrugged. "Nonsense." Before I could protest, he waved the saleswoman over, who scurried over with an even wider smile on her face. "We'll take all of the dresses she just tried on," Edrick said nonchalantly.
My face went pale with shock. He was going to buy me not just this dress, but all of them?