Chapter 11

After being satisfied with torturing me by jogging around the city park for an hour, I continued to let Richard drag me into his car. I didn't even protest as he helped me buckle up before he led us to our next destination.

"Err... Are you sure I can choose whatever I want from this place?"

He nodded slowly, flashing a smile that managed to dazzle my eyes in that one second.

"Of course. You are free to choose whatever you need here."

I then averted my eyes from Richard and looked around me, looking at the entire clothing boutique we were visiting at this time with a feeling of exasperation.

It didn't mean that I didn't like the entire collection of clothes and accessories that are there, but because I find the prices for each item so fantastic, I thought they set the prices according to their will rather than based on deep calculations.

For example, I saw a midi dress with a floral print near me. Even though the model was normal in my opinion, the price listed on the tag barely reaches my total salary of two months!

Or a row of high heels in various models on the shoe rack right behind me.

I went up to him to check out a few pairs of shoes that immediately caught my attention, but I quickly returned them to the racks as soon as I saw the prices, which, again, made no sense to me.

In my conclusion, all the clothes and accessories in the boutique where Richard invited me at this time have very, very inhumane prices for an ordinary private employee like me whose income is only enough to buy a few items in this boutique.

Because of that, I felt a bit reluctant when Richard let me choose whatever I wanted in this place.

After all, this was just our first date.

What if our relationship didn't go well after the first date?

Besides being heartbroken after I broke up with him, I would also have a series of debts waiting for me to pay off.

And that was the last thing I wanted from my relationship with Richard.

"Are you sure about what you said just now? Because if you want to change your mind—"

"Of course I really meant that. Why did you ask me that?"

"Well... It's just..."

"Does it mean you don't like this place? If so, we can try—"

"No, that's not what I meant! I mean…"

I swallowed deeply, searching for some explanation I could tell him from inside my head by glancing at one of the rows of dresses not far from where we were standing, hoping that there was at least one item I could buy with my own money without feeling guilty.

Unfortunately, I immediately shook my head slowly when I saw the price, which was still out of reach for me.

"Hannah, if you don't like this place, you can say so. We can go to another boutique and find something nice that suits you…"

"Honestly, I really like this place, Richard…"

"If you really like this place, then you can start choosing what you want to wear for our first dinner date. Why are you wearing such a gloomy face like that?"

"I don't know if I can tell you this, but..." I said, taking a deep breath. "I think this is a bit excessive. Then again, I'm not sure I can afford all of them with my own money."

Richard, who had seen me confused, now nodded his head and patted the top of my head slowly.

"When it comes to price, you don't need to worry about that since I will pay for everything for you."

"No, I can't let you keep doing it…"

"Why can't I do it?" he replied, raising an eyebrow. "Even though earlier you didn't look shy at all when you ordered me to order dozens of fish burgers and some strawberry sundaes, which in the end you finished all by yourself..."

"Those are two different things, Richard Clark. How can you combine two things that are so clearly different as if they were the same thing?"

"You think so?"

Without hesitation, I nodded my head, and he responded by holding my cheeks, forcing me to look straight into his dark brown irises as if he wanted me to let him suck my soul with the magnetic charm in his eyes.

Then next, he pinched my cheeks playfully, making me, who had absolutely no idea what he was doing, push his hand away and stroke my cheeks, which still left traces of his pinches.

"What the hell did you do just now?!" I snapped while throwing my annoyed glance at him, who had been stunned by my reaction earlier. "You just pinch my cheeks out of the blue. Do you know how hurtful it is? What if later my cheeks get stretched because of what you did to me?"

Instantly, his laughter exploded to be heard all over the clothing boutique where we were at this time.

"What is it? Why are you even laughing? Is there anything funny about what I said earlier?"

He innocently nodded his head on the sidelines of his laughter, and I wanted to beat him that very second if only I hadn't remembered the place we were now and that it would destroy my entire future if I did it recklessly.

Because of that, with all my wisdom, I stepped on his right foot with all my might so that he, who had been laughing out loud, immediately stopped laughing and was busy holding his right foot, which I stepped on earlier while wincing in pain.

"Gosh, you're really fierce, aren't you? What's wrong with me laughing at my own girlfriend?"

Which I replied by pinching his waist a little.

"I don't know if you're pretending to be stupid or you're really stupid, but what's clear is that I don't like what you're laughing at."

"All right, all right, Hannah! I give up. Sorry."

"That's even better." I said while patting his shoulder lightly. "Because I don't want to let you continue to pay for me, so we better get out of here right now. Okay?"

His hand immediately held mine as I was about to move away from the top of his head, and he shook his head disapprovingly.

"No. I still want to buy you something for our dinner date."

"But…"

"Please, Hannah. Let me treat you to something nice for today...

And if you still don't want to buy from this place, we can go somewhere else and I will buy them for you."

He then put on a pitiful face with his puppy eyes, which unfortunately is one of my weaknesses and was hard for me to ignore.

"Ugh… fine." I said so because I didn't see any chance for me to win over him. "I will let you pay for whatever I choose from this place."

His pitiful face immediately brightened as soon as he heard my answer, and he responded by hugging me for a moment before he held my shoulders while looking into my eyes closely.

"Thanks for granting my wish. Then I will go to those sections," he said as he pointed to the special section for men's clothing, which was quite far from where we were standing. "If you need help, you can ask him to help you choose clothes that suit you."

One of the shop clerks that Richard appointed to help me then nodded slowly at him, flashing a business smile that made me feel uncomfortable for very obvious reasons.

"Rest assured, Sir. You can count on me to help her."

"That's what I expected from you. And since my girlfriend looks like she's having trouble choosing her outfits for our special day, then I'll leave her in your care."

"Yes, Sir. I will do my best to help her choose her outfits."

My boyfriend seemed satisfied with the clothing boutique clerk's answer and turned around, leaving me alone with a foreign woman who still showed me her business smile.

"This way, Miss."

"O-o-okay."

A little clumsy, I followed the employee's footsteps, which led me to one of the women's clothing sections, which immediately made me fall in love at first sight.

"Th-th-this…"

"From my observation, you seem to be the type of girl who likes to look elegant and modern, but you still want to look simple. So I think you will definitely like at least some of the clothes in this section."

Unexpectedly, the shop clerk who previously made me uncomfortable with her businesslike smile apparently has keen eyes and a good understanding of my fashion sense.

Something that I have never encountered at all the clothing stores I've been to so far, and that alone was enough to make me realize the difference in the quality of service at this clothing boutique compared to all the clothing boutiques I've visited so far.

I nodded my head, agreeing that what she said to me earlier was true.

"You are right. I'm surprised you even know my taste."

She shook her head slowly. "You're exaggerating, Miss. I only did what I had to do, so it's not a big deal."