Chapter 31 #2
“It would be my pleasure!” The assistants flutter around Ariana holding measuring tapes, waving her towards the dressing rooms. I follow at a distance, settling onto one of the chairs. Declining their offer of champagne, I accept water in case Ariana wants it.
The first outfit she steps out in is a light blue dress that flows as she walks. Immediately, the assistants start voicing their approval. The manager turns to me.
“What do you think, Mr. Coates?”
Ariana looks at me right along with them. Her posture’s perfect and her hands are folded together patiently. This doesn’t seem new to her.
“Do you like it, Ariana?” The question startles the omega.
“It’s beautiful.” Her response makes the manager beam.
There’s a robotic air to the way the omega says it, though. And her eyes didn’t widen the way they did when she saw the cake or the foods she enjoyed at our little picnic. “But do you like it?” I insist. “Would you want to wear it?”
Her mouth opens, then closes. She looks as confused as she did earlier. “It’s beautiful,” she says again.
“It’s okay to say you don’t like something,” I remind her.
“Why don’t you try on the next outfit? Pants, this time.
” I say the last part to the manager, making an assistant drop the dress she’s holding.
Maybe it’s the fact that it’s a dress that’s the issue.
I’m hoping trousers might be more up her alley.
Unfortunately, they elicit the same reaction from her. As the fashion show continues, Ariana repeats variations of her mechanical response. No matter the garment, it’s lovely, beautiful or stunning. She never voices a preference.
I smile at her despite the frustration in my chest. Not at her, but at the way she’s saying the same thing repeatedly. It comes out rehearsed, like she’s saying what she thinks I want to hear.
I don’t even like some of these outfits. Asking my mom for advice was a mistake. She’s got the twenty eight year old omega dressed like a woman twice her age. One that’s about to slam her arms on the table and announce she owns fifty-one percent of this company.
After a maroon jumpsuit fails to get a reaction out of the blonde, I rise to my feet. “We’ll take everything she tried on.”
The manager nods with barely concealed excitement. “Excellent choices, Mr. Coates. I’ll have them tailored and delivered to you shortly.”
I thank her and pay quickly while Ariana changes. Once she comes out of the dressing room, I unlock the car and open the door for her again.
“Thank you,” she says as I buckle her seatbelt once more.
I crouch on the ground in front of the open door. “You don’t have to thank me for clothes you didn’t like.”
Her fingers twist in her lap. “I do like them, I really do. They’re just more expensive than I deserve. It feels wrong for you to spend your hard earned money on me.”
A chuckle comes out of me at that. “What do I look like to you? Some sort of dragon sitting on top of a chest of gold coins? A pirate hoarding loot?”
“No!” She vehemently denies it, waving her hands cutely. “Not at all. I think I’m just sensitive when it comes to money.”
Because of the Hale pack. They did this to her. I bury my anger away, saving it for later. Instead, I focus on the omega in front of me.
“Ariana, I buy you things because I care about you. We said our pack would help you, and this is my way of doing that. I like watching you spend my money.” I look up at her, remembering what I said in the apartment.
“If I say we should go to another mall and let you pick out what you want, would you be okay with that? Oh, and a phone case.”
The omega thinks it over. Finally, she nods. I close the passenger car door and settle into the driver’s seat again, insisting she chooses the music this time.
This time, our destination isn’t composed of rows of boutiques. It’s a normal mall, with a food court and stores that don’t offer you champagne when you go in. I park near the entrance and open the door for Ariana, lacing my arm with hers.
Inside, I steer us towards the first clothing store I see. We walk past the racks and tables of folded clothes. The blond omega turns to me.
“What should I get?”
“Whatever you want, Ariana. That’s the whole point.” When she blinks at me in response, I prompt her further. “What do you prefer to wear when it’s up to you?”
Her face flushes and I drink up the sight. “Pajamas.”
“Then let’s start there.”
It goes by slowly. Ariana picks things up, looks at me for approval, then puts them down even though I nod. Even when she clearly likes it.
I wait for her to look away and pull them into my arms again. Trailing behind her, I become her mule, carrying both her accepted and rejected clothes. A pack horse, if you will.
Gradually, my arms fill with more than just nightwear. She slowly branches out, grabbing sweaters, a pair of fuzzy socks, leggings, and whatever else catches her eye. It feels like we’re nest shopping. I let myself imagine it, us being out shopping for blankets instead of necessities.
But she’s staying with us for safety’s sake at the moment. As much as I would love for her to nest with us, now’s not the time to discuss it. Now’s not the time to be drifting off into daydream either, because Ariana is trying to get my attention.
“I think I’m good.” She bites her bottom lip, looking up at me anxiously. “Is it too much?”
It’s not enough. After paying, I drag her into the next store and repeat, until my arms are heavy under the weight of her bags.
At one point, the omega fixes her attention on something, so concentrated she sways as she walks. Placing my arm around her, I pull her into my side. She narrowly avoids smacking into someone.
“See something you like?” I follow her gaze. It’s a company that doubles as a book plus arts and crafts store.
“Just looking,” she mutters, looking at her feet.
I steer her into the entrance, nudging her at things that catch her eye. “What do you normally like to do? Besides walking? We should get you a way to pass the time.” I hold up a puzzle for approval.
“I don’t know. Watch TV?”
“Anything else?”
“Like what?”
Shrugging my shoulders, I gesture towards the store, trying to think of what omegas like to do. Embarrassingly, the only frame of reference I’m somewhat close to is, again, my mom. “Yoga?”
Ariana smiles at me softly, tilting her head. “Sebastian. It took seven years for me to convince those men to let me go on those walks. That was with them watching my location the entire time. You think they would let me go to yoga?”
“So what did you do before the walks?”
“Wait for them to come home.”
During my MBA, I had done a case study on a fallen from grace marine park. The amusement park had captured sea creatures and trained them to do tricks. It was a popular attraction for a time, until the park got itself into a financial mess.
By the time I was researching it, this was a matter of the past. The park was long shut down.
Hauntingly, there was an aerial image of its last animal.
The killer whale had been captured years ago and couldn’t return to the ocean.
It swam in circles around an enclosure far too small endlessly until it passed.
I picture Ariana like the whale, pacing, trained to perform. Breathing deeply, I hold the left side of my aching chest.
“Well, let’s find you something simple for now. We can work our way up to bigger things.” Baby steps.
She brightens. “Oh, I did play basketball with Evan earlier. I wasn’t great at it though,” her cheeks turn pink.
“So I heard. That’s a start. We can try more than basketball. Some exercise might be good.” I grab the puzzle again, nodding towards the shelves. “Did anything catch your eye here?”
When we walk out, I’m armed with a puzzle, board games, an electronic reading device, a deck of cards, coloring books, various art supplies, and more.
“Thank you.” Ariana’s gratitude comes out more joyfully than it did at the boutique, making me soften.
“Of course. Phone case next?” I suggest.