(Chapter 26) Another Shopping Incident

"Did you have a good day?" Astrid came home to a familiar scene, her mother's smiling face, and behind her was Andrea.

"Yeah, Francesca invited us to go shopping. So we will be leaving in a bit." Astrid replied as she took a drink from the table.

Mrs. Tuhs nodded, she had heard about Francesca enough from Winoa. She was confident in the people her daughter and Winoa got to know. "Alright, I'll prepare the driver." She replied as she quickly went on her phone.

Winoa sat down and also took a drink, although she was allowed to be freer with the family. She always remembered her position, she was grateful for what she had.

Within 20 minutes Astrid and Winoa were ready to be dropped off in the city. They only took so long because Mrs. Tuhs decided to subtly change Astrid's outfit, just to make sure she didn't get cold.

.......

"Ah, you're here! Come, come. We will shop till we drop!" Francesca was excited about their shopping trip, her dad allowed her some freedom to shop as long as she was with her friends. And she also wanted to buy Astrid and Winoa some things since they weren't as well off as her...

As they went around and had their fun, more and more onlookers had their attention taken away by the three girls.

Keeping in mind that school had just finished. Many students were also walking around the city. Some richer than others, some older or younger. Florence was quite free of crime in this world. As many rich investors were concentrated in the area, the police were busy and well maintained.

But in particular, many male students had their attention grabbed by the three girls. They stood out, as they all were pretty, and were good friends. But their personalities made them stand out.

Francesca was very pretty and tall for her age, she was clearly wearing some expensive clothing, showing off her good sides. While Winoa was cheery and seemed to make the public feel happy just by seeing her wide smile.

Then there was Astrid, she contrasted the two so severely it looked like a sitcom. Her face was a layer of ice, she had little to no expression, apart from when she spoke to the others girls. Then she might crack a smile.

That smile was attractive to the teenage males walking around, especially considering that Astrid was still slightly paler than most, and she was the prettiest of the three by quite a margin...

"Hey, hey. Should we go get a drink?" Francesca asked, she didn't know if her friends were thirsty or not.

Astrid nodded. As the three walked into a nearby coffee shop.

.......

Astrid sipped her coffee slowly. While Francesca quickly drank hers in fear it would go cold. As they walked, Francesca pulled them into a few stores.

Winoa and Francesca often were the two trying on clothes, while Astrid would sit and 'judge' them. She would either nod or shake her head to show her opinion.

As Astrid sat down, she had a look around the shop from her seat. She remembered this was a shop her mother had taken her when she had first gone outside in this world. There was a couple of members of staff from that time on duty today, they seemed to be paying closer attention to her than the others...

That was understandable, especially when the manager of the shop had previously come out to meet her mother before. So seeing the same girl from before in their shop, they had a thought that she must be the daughter of that woman who the manager deemed to be important...

"Hey Astrid, does this look good?" Francesca came out of the changing rooms with a new dress.

Astrid took a glance and immediately nodded. "Mm, very." Just 'good' had immediately told Francesca that this was something she should buy.

Francesca went back into the changing rooms and took all of the dresses she was buying for her and Winoa to the counter. As she did that however, a shrill voice was heard.

"Hey! Those are the dresses I want!" A girl that seemed to be the same age as them, walked up to Francesca and pointed at the dresses in her hand.

Francesca frowned, but then froze as she remembered the voice and face of the girl...

"B-But I've already decided to buy them." Francesca seemed to have cowered, making Astrid narrow her eyes.

'Who is this girl? Why is Francesca afraid of her?' Astrid quietly eyed the situation.

"Buy them? But I've already bought them, isn't that right?" The girl looked over to the woman Francesca had already paid.

The woman had her gaze falter, as she smiled apologetically to Francesca. "I'm sorry Miss, It's my mistake, I'll refund you immediately." The woman knew the young girl was someone who frequented the shop. Seeing her attitude to her customer, she made a choice.

Winoa walked over to Astrid and whispered something in her ear. Upon hearing the words Winoa spoke, Astrid smiled. "That makes sense." She mumbled, if this was a girl who had bullied Francesca in the past, the attitude would be understandable.

Francesca still had an innate fear to this girl who had bullied her before. Despite being taller, and most likely stronger. She didn't have the backing to do anything to this girl, not now, and not in the past...

Francesca's face went red. She was embarrassed, angry, distraught. She just wanted to buy some clothes, why did this girl have to pressurize her every time she saw her.

It wasn't the first time something like this had happened when Francesca had gone shopping, this girl showed up many times in the past and she was forced to surrender. She never did anything in school, but outside of school. Anything was fair game.

It was also the reason she wished to go shopping with Winoa and Astrid, she felt more comfortable in not being attacked when there were more people. But she then remembered that if her family background couldn't live up to this girl. How could theirs?

The girl in question was an heiress to a clothing brand. Since she had so much say in any store she walked into, she could disrupt any ladies' decision to buy clothes from her family's store. Today was no different.

"Francesca, it's time to go." Astrid spoke softly as she walked up to Francesca.

Francesca was confused, she went to put down the dresses. But was stopped by Astrid. "What are you doing? Are you not taking those?"

The girl who had watched Astrid walk up now was fuming. "Who are you? Those are my dresses and they won't be leaving here not in my hands today." The girl was domineering, she was the boss around here. So people normally listened to her.

Francesca gave a sad smile to Astrid. "See? These clothes aren't mine." Francesca once again surrendered to the girl. Afraid of what she would do to her and her friends.

The staff member watched on embarrassed. She didn't want to get involved in a fight between teenagers, but she didn't want to be blamed for offending someone she can't.

"I'm sorry customers, if you don't hand over those dresses now. Then we won't allow you into the shop again." The woman spoke to Astrid and Francesca.

The girl had a smug look on her face as she watched Francesca go into despair.

Astrid didn't say anything and looked at the woman talking to her. "Yes, yes. Come on Francesca, hand them over." The girl's taunting words. Made Astrid's eyes chill.

The woman shivered, as she looked back at Astrid. Just seeing an empty expression on her face, the staff member decided she just was cold...

"You don't have the right to call her name." Astrid muttered under her breath. As she then smiled at the incoming man.

"Is there a problem here?" The man spoke with an amiable smile, as he looked at Astrid.

'This little Miss seems to have grown. But these eyes know who not to offend. Especially when her mother...' The staff member shook those thoughts out of his head.

"Ah, senior leader, this Miss had purchased those dresses in that girl's hands. But she won't hand them over." The woman spoke up for the girl. Making her gloating face glow.

Francesca looked down. 'Again. Will it happen again? Because she has more money than us? Because her father can crush mine? I must not make troubled for dad.' Francesca decided to keep her temper. As she decided to put the dresses on the counter.

The man gulped as he looked at the girl. He knew who she was, she was a little tyrant when it came to any stores with female clothing, but no one could offend her without most of Italy's clothing brands ostracizing the store...

But... "I'm sorry Miss, since these dresses have already been purchased, then there is nothing we can do without the customer's decision to refund." The man took the side of Astrid without much thought, as he spoke to the girl.

The girl's face immediately contorted, she was a teenager after all, and she didn't have even a speck of Astrid's temperament. "Huh!? Where is your manager? Do you know who I am?" She asked angrily, as some of the customers started to look at the commotion.

The man smiled. "The manager isn't here today and I'm in charge, I know who your father is. But, rules are rules Miss. Those clothes are not yours." The man spoke carefully, he was dealing with a child after all...

The girl looked at the man with a dark expression, as she then looked over to the terrified Francesca with venom in her eyes. "I won't forget this." She stomped out of the store, not willing to be embarrassed anymore. And since she couldn't deal with this horrible man without her father...

Seeing the girl storm out the man sighed in relief. He smiled at Astrid. "My apologies Miss, your friend's clothing won't be refunded. As my apology take this 40% discount for your next shop." One must know, the man was good at sucking up to the right people. Giving young girls a discount at shopping while sorting out their situation? Francesca was put into a better mood now.