~ 33: Fluterring - Part 1 ~

I was woken up by the sound of my phone. I grunted at having an alarm ring in my head. I switched it off and went back to sleep. But it rang again and again and I repeatedly switched it off.

On realising that someone had pranked about with my phone, I opened it to find that there were no active alarms and I hadn't snoozed any. I scowled at the phone at having disturbed my sleep. The sun was just starting to rise and it being a Saturday, I wanted to sleep in.

Then the upside-down phone rang again and I turned it around. Seeing Aidan appear on it made me wish for a curse to befall him.

"What?!" was the first thing that came out of my mouth as I put the phone in speaker mode.

"Whoa," he said in a half-laughing voice. "What's up?"

"You just broke my sleep. Do you have any idea what you have asked in return?"

"A death wish, I suppose?"

"A torturous life before death came about. What was so important that you were calling me for centuries?"

"Mel's discharge. We promised to bring her gifts. Aren't you going to go shopping with me for them? It'll be fun, I swear."

I felt my head finally open up, remember the words. I hopped out of my bed and ran into the washroom, not bothering to cut the call. My phone was on the bed and I could hear him saying a bundle of stuff. But the running water and the bathroom door muffled them.

I was out on the ground floor in twenty, sprinting towards the canteen. I greeted their surprised faces and ran about taking dry foods and a bottle of juice. Then I went to sit on the steps of the building's porch, eating my croissant and tart while tying my shoelaces and rebraiding my hair.

I drank them down with the juice a minute before Aidan arrived. Then we set off in his cab to the nearest shopping complex.

I was surely in awe of the place because I couldn't stop wowing at everything. We never had such big malls at our place, and mostly the wealthy could afford to buy things from there. All the shops were well-kept and beautifully designed to attract people.

We entered one such store which had clothing and accessories for all. There were the polo shirts with emblems, dresses in florals and plains, and pretty shoes of many types and designs that I couldn't stop noting down the ideas that popped into my head on my phone. Aidan had to tag me away every time.

The baby shoes were so cute that I couldn't stop saying 'Aww'.

"You'll get one of those when you are a little older," he said, grinning from ear to ear.

I smacked and pinched his arm at making such a clause, and pushed him forward to hide away my flushed face. He continued to laugh as I cursed a few words behind him.

The women's section was so big that we had to part ways to look for clothes, deciding to meet back in half an hour. We picked them off the racks and dumped them in the bags or trolleys, whichever we got our hands on first, as fast as we could. We ensured that none of the dresses had tears either due to mishandling by others or because we were stuffing them away carelessly.

We were panting when we got to the seat we had claimed for ourselves.

"Couldn't finish half the section," he said as he took in deep breaths.

"Me neither," I returned. "It's too big. Do women's feet not hurt, going from one aisle to the next."

"That's what I would like to know," he said as he huffed out a laugh. "Especially in those heels. That reminds me that we need to get shoes as well as clothes for all of us."

"What for?" I inquired, giving him a quizzical look. "We have well enough clothes and shoes."

"Didn't you know there is a ball that is held here every four years in the honour of the respected founder? It's supposed to be a small celebration but it ended up becoming a ball."

"How wonderful," I said sarcastically in a dull tone. "And now we have to worry about something that's months away?"

"It's a grand occasion, although it's about two months away. You really won't get the clothes you want then. They are always out of stock during the pre-Christmas season. Since it's festival time now, you'll find some great ones."

First, we verified what dresses we wanted to give Mel. I picked out a long white dress with synthetic pearls for buttons at the back, lined with pretty patterned laces for the skirt and petite flowers near the bodice. It would bring out her angelic features.

Aidan decided to choose a glittery, slick royal blue gown, that exposed the skin near the waist and had a net covering the shoulders and the arms. He thought it would be "perfect for the ball". I was amazed by his great taste but worried about Mel's point of view.

"What will you wear?" he asked as we packed the other dresses aside and gave them up to the saleswoman, who seemed horrified by the number of clothes. We had to give her our best apology for causing an inconvenience.

"Nothing special," I answered, picking up the ones we had picked. "I'll be altering mine myself so a modest one will do the trick."

"Do you not have any dress on your mind, be it the material or colour?"

He had stood up to walk in no particular direction, glancing hither and thither for something. I followed him, keeping up with his giant strides, without a word on where we were headed.

"No, none at all. I wouldn't want to be disappointed when I see a pretty dress, just the right one for me."

"Then how about this one?" he said and passed me a green ball gown from the nearest shelves.

The dark green gown was made of satin-like material and thick, colourful laces for the top and had a plain fluffy skirt. The sleeves were of net and loose, unlike the blue one for Mel. I made a mental note to add a slightly shiny net on top of the skirt with laces lined at the bottom to make it stand out.

"That'll be tricky," I answered as touched the silky soft dress. "I'll need the materials for it and with my money, it seems difficult. Also, this is going to be expensive."

"Better since you'll be facing such challenges. Plus, it's cheaper than you think. They have brought all the prices down, and with my special card, it'll be even lower. So you'll only have to pay that much back. Now let's see how it will look on you."

After stowing away the dresses on my arm in the trolley, he pulled me by the hind arm to the mirror nearby and put the dress in front of me. Then he asked me to hold the shoulder of the sleeves as his hands went around my waist to see how the bodice and the skirt fitted. His cheek was near my ear as he examined the gown.

"It looks pretty on you," he commented with a radiant smile.

His closeness made my heart flutter. My face got heated up as he eventually hugged me with the excuse of trying the cloth on me. I stood still in shock for a minute before pushing his arms away. I folded the dress and tucked it in the trolley, then heading straight for the men's section for Aidan's suit.

"We need to finish up here quickly to get to Mel," I stated at his perplexed face. "I don't want to be late when she is discharged."

"There's still an hour—" he started.

I cut him off by saying, "And don't you ever try that trick again."