Chapter 3 Shopping

*Aisling *

She was didn't mean to lash out at Zechariah but he went too far. Was he one of those misogynists? If he was one then she was doomed. It felt so good to yell at him. She wasn't always that confident, Sarah is never going to believe that she yelled at someone she just met, talk less of a very rich person.

She was having doubts that they weren't going to give her the contract again but she was surprised when he also signed the contract. She had a copy with her. she still couldn't believe she was doing this. Ten years ago she would have never thought that she would be having a contract marriage. She daydreamed of a fairy tale wedding but what just happened was the complete opposite.

"Let's do this for dad" she said to herself as she texted her account number to Claire.

Three minutes later she got an alert.

"Five! Five million.... " She couldn't believe her eyes. She rubbed her eyes and pinched herself.

"Okay, I'm awake. This is not a dream" she shouted, gaining the attention of the people at the bus stop. She flagged down a taxi instead, she was rich. She was going to treat herself to a taxi ride.

She decided to call the doctor

"Hello, it's Aisling. where can I send the money?"

"Hi, miss Parker. I'll text the hospital's account number to you. I'm happy for you miss. I'm sure your father would be too"

"Thank you sir" she said before she ended the call.

She got to the shop and she was so excited to tell Sarah about the good news. She literally ran into the shop.

"Sarah guess what" she said, unable to contain her excitement.

"Relax girl, you'll scare our customers away" Sarah replied while she led her to the kitchen.

"We're rich, I've paid for dad surgery. His surgery is scheduled for Wednesday..... I'm so happy"

"For real?" Sarah said

They both hugged each other and squealed.

"Can you keep it down please? " A voice said inside the shop

"We're sorry, we're so sorry" Sarah apologized.

While they were talking, Aisling received a text from Claire

*_I'll pick you up by 2, my boss said to take you shopping*_

It was 1: 34. They're customers were just leaving as lunchtime was over.

"I'll have to take the day off" Aisling said while clearing the tables.

"Ofcourse, anything you say. Your royal highness" Sarah replied with a fake accent.

"Stop that, you sound horrible" Aisling laughed.

"What do you mean my lady?"

They both started laughing. After Aisling was done with the tables, she still had 20 mins so she decided to stop at the hospital.

She saw a nurse in her dad's ward. She was changing his drip.

"Hi, are you his daughter?" The nurse asked her

"Yes, you can call me Aisling"

"Well, I was just changing his drip. His surgery is in two days time. You must be scared " she said as she cleared the table.

"Honestly, I'm very scared. I've heard stories " Aisling replied. Sarah didn't know this but she was very scared, what if the surgery didn't go well? What If she loses her dad during the surgery, there were so many This going through her mind.

"Don't worry, doctor James is in charge of his case. He is one of the best we have here" the nurse reassured her.

"Thank you so much, I really needed that"

"You're welcome, I'll be back to check him" the nurse said as she walked out.

She received a call from Claire

"Hey, I'm outside the shop"

"Oh, I'm not there, I'm at the hospital. I came to see my dad"

"Which hospital is he in?" Claire asked.

"Grace hospital"

"I'll be there in a few minutes, can you wait outside"

"Sure" she replied before she ended the call.

She kissed her father goodbye and she walked out of the hospital.

When she got outside she saw Claire waiting by her car, so she waved at her and walked towards her.

"Ready to spend my boss's money?" Claire asked as she held the door open for her.

"Spend and money in the same sentence? I love it" . Aisling joked.

"I'm sorry about the way Mr Payne talked to you this morning. That was so rude and uncalled for" Claire as she drove.

"It's fine, I should apologize too. I shouldn't have talk him like that. I was also rude". She replied

They spent the rest of the drive in silence. Aisling was thinking about her father's surgery, even though the nurse said not to worry. She couldn't help but worry. Her dad was fighting for his life and she was here going for shopping. It was crazy.

They finally got to the boutique and Aisling was stunned. She had been to a boutique twice but not one like this. They had different sections and different rooms. So many things to choose from.

"Let's go to the evening gowns section" Claire said to her as she led her to a very huge room.

"Okay let's see, you have green eyes. Let's choose jeweleries that would compliment that, but first let choose a gown". She said as she browsed through some gowns.

"How about this one?" She asked Aisling. She was holding an orange gown. "It's perfect, try it on" she said while pushing her into the dressing room.

"Don't look at the price tag, don't look at the price tag" Aisling said to herself. She repeated it over and over again but she couldn't stop herself. She gasped when she saw the price. She ran out from the dressing room.

"Um.. I think I should choose another one. I don't really like this colour" she said as she hanged back the dress.

"How about this one?" She said checking out a short flare dress, she dropped it when she caught a glimpse of the price. She knows designer clothing are expensive but she didn't expect them to cost a arm and a leg, literally. A store assistant walked in.

"Hi, I'm Lucy. I'm here to help you with shopping. What exactly do you have in mind". She said to them

"A dinner gown, something to make her look extra ordinary. My boss is hard to please" Claire replied

"Well then I have the perfect dress for you. Follow me please " she led them towards the end of the room.

"Here we have unique dressed that will fit your taste" she pointed to the row of dresses.

Aisling never really understood the use of spending such amount of money on a piece of clothing. She was a jean and t shirt kind of person. So all of this was very strange to her.

"Let me see, you have beautiful green eyes. Let's go for something red..... Purple, yes purple" Lucy said as she brought out a purple dress.

"I think you should try this on" she said while she handed it to Aisling

The dress was absolutely beautiful. It was a knee length dress, that hugged her in the right places. It was a strapless gown so it showed her collar bones. She had been so insecure about them but something about this dress made it sexy.

She walked out of the dressing room to show Claire but she saw the price tag.

"Um Claire I think... " She started

"Aisling, you look gorgeous. This is it, this the perfect dress. Now we just have to find the perfect jewelry and shoes". She said interrupting her

"Well, that's no problem. I have a solution to that" Lucy said as she pulled out a box from the shelf.

"They were custom made for Bella Angel" she said referring to an emerald necklace piece and a black heel.

"The Bella Angel?" Aisling asked while admiring the necklace. "Is it real emerald?" She whispered to Claire but Lucy heard

"Yes ma'am, it's the real deal" Lucy answer with a professional smile on her face.

They tried it on and it was a perfect match with the dress. Claire paid for the items and they left.

They didn't realize that they spent so much time shopping that it was already few minutes past four.

Aisling decided to go home and prepare for the dinner.

When she got home she decided to take a nap because she was so tired.

Thirty minutes later she woke up to get ready but she heard a knock on her door. She opened the door to see three people, two women and a man and he was holding a big box.

"Hi, how can I help you?" She asked

"Are you miss Aisling?" The first woman asked

"Yes and you are?"

"I'm Sandra. We were sent by Mr Payne to help you get ready for tonight"

"That's so thoughtful of him but I can do my own make up" Aisling said as she let them into the house

"Yes, of course you can but Mr Payne said and I quote 'i will need to guys to turn her from the ugly duckling she is into something presentable'. I'm very sorry" Sandra said.

"Well fuck him, if I'm an ugly duckling then he is an ogre" she replied. How could he say that to strangers.

"I'll just take my bath, have a seat please. There is coffee in the kitchen, you can help yourself. Please make yourselves comfortable. I spend an awfully long time in the bathroom" she said trying to lighten the room. She eventually left when no one laughed.

"They probably didn't have a funny bone" she thought and laughed at this.

When she finally came out of the shower, they had already set up their equipments.

They were different shades of lipstick and foundation that Aisling wondered if she was getting a plastic surgery and not a make over.

The man started on her hair and he put it into curlers. She had a blonde straight hair that was very stubborn, no matter how hard she tried to curl it, it wouldn't budge. She got it from her mom.

Sarah started her makeup and after seemed like a million years, they were finally done with her and she looked in the mirror. She almost didn't recognize who she saw. Her hair was shiny and curly, she didn't believe it. Her eyes seemed to glow, she looked different, like one of those princesses in fairy tales. Only that this wasn't a fairy tale, it was a nightmare.

"I look ...... Amazing, you guys are very talented" she said to them

"Thank you, but we didn't do much. You are a natural beauty. You should need to choose your colours have have a little skin care time" Sandra said

"I have a skin care routine" Aisling countered, she wasn't going to allow random strangers judge her.

"I'm sure you do, we'll be taking our leave now" Sandra said while they walk out.

Aisling wore the dress and the shoes, trying not to ruin the makeup or her hair. She took a selfie and she sent it to Sarah. She was about to type when she heard her doorbell ring. Who was it this time? A dentist. She looked at the clock and she saw that it was already seven. She walked out of her house after taking a final glance at herself in the mirror. The driver held open the door for her and she entered. He put on a calming song as if he had known that she'd be nervous. She was shaking internally, what if she embarrassed herself? That would be horrible. She brushed aside the negative thought and decided to enjoy the ride. The song was helping her and the fact that she was staring outside the window. The moon was shining brightly. It was full moon tonight, that was a good sign.

"Let's do this for dad, don't be nervous. Focus on the moon". She whispered to herself.