WELCOME TO SAN FRANCISCO:THE MALL

      Faith picked up the phone but because she was not comfortable talking to Nora about Ethan's family and what was going on in the company, she kept it brief and Nora understood when she casually said Ethan was there, Nora promised to call her back for the juicy gist. They got to the mall and Ethan pulled up at the curb. 

      "Here we are," Ethan said and stepped out of the car. He went over and opened the door for Faith, took her hand and led her down from the car. 

     They made their way through the glass door still holding hands. Ethan turned to her. 

      "So, shall we fix a date for our wedding now? I feel everything has fallen in place or is there still a stone left unturned?" Ethan asked. 

       Faith faced him, walking with her back.  "I don't think there is any stone left unturned. What about we fix our wedding one weekend after Danny and Nora's?" 

       "Danny and Nora would still be enjoying their honeymoon." 

       "I think they would spare a day to come to our wedding." 

        "Be careful, walking with your face turned, you might bump into someone." 

   "Well, that's why you are walking with your eyes in the front right? To catch me before I bump into someone." There was a little silence before she spoke again.   "So, what are we here to buy? It's probably not clothes, is it?" 

      "You know, I have never really seen you wear jewellery before and these pearl stud earrings you have on are very perfect, the necklace, everything is perfect. Did you see the look on the faces of those men and women in that room when you stepped in?" 

      "No, I didn't." 

      "You should have seen... Wait, why did you say you didn't see the look? Were you not looking at them, you even smiled at them." 

       "When I was a little girl, I was so scared to speak, even in school, so whenever I was given a speech, I would always stutter because I was scared that all those pairs of eyes were on me. My teacher told me that the only way I could get it right was not to look at that crowd but to look above them, I should not see them. I have been using that technique and it has been working for me. So when I walked into that hall, I wasn't seeing anybody."

     "That's a good point you have raised to prove yourself right. Whether you saw them or not, men gasped and drooled at your sight, you knocked the breath out of them. "

     "So are you saying I wouldn't have been beautiful if I didn't wear those pieces of jewellery?" 

       "When have I ever said that?" They got to the jewellery seller.   "All I'm saying is that I love those pieces of jewellery on you and I would want you to have more of them." He bent and looked carefully at the show glasses. 

      He picked up a silver necklace.  "This would look good on you. Here." He placed it on her neck and the jeweller gave her a mirror. 

      "Perfect," said the jeweller with a smile. 

     Faith loved the necklace on her neck. She stroked it.  "It's beautiful." 

       "Do you like it?" 

      "Yes." 

      "She likes it. We would take this one. Does it have matching pairs of earrings?" 

        "Certainly," replied the jeweller. 

     Ethan picked up another necklace, a pure diamond. Faith said she liked that one too, he picked it. He got her more jewellery, necklace, earrings, bangles and bracelets and they left the jewellery shop and headed for the clothes store. 

      "How did you manage to stay so low in LA?" Faith asked as they left the jewellery store.  "I mean, your life is filled with luxury and being taken care of." 

     "Well, to me, I feel you don't learn these things, you are born with them. I am a humble person so it was easy for me." 

     "You are humble indeed," Faith agreed and faced front. She saw a familiar face coming toward them, she fixed her eyes on the lady coming in front of them.  Her eyes widened when she saw who it was. Ethan looked at her quizzically when she stopped. "Hey, Belle!" Faith called cheerfully. 

    The lady stared at Faith for a while, then recognition crawled into her face. She glanced at Ethan and back at Faith. 

      "Faith? Wow! You…look good." 

      "Thank you, you don't look bad yourself," Faith said amidst a sarcastic chuckle.  "At least you didn't say pitiable." 

       Belle's eyes fell. 

     "Meet my fiancé, Ethan Floyd," Faith continued. 

    Belle looked up and smiled at Ethan. Ethan smiled back and stretched out his hand to shake Belle. 

      "Nice, meeting you," Ethan said. 

        "Same here," Belle replied. 

      "Well, Belle, I just wanted to let you know that I found love. I found someone who loves me for me and not because they pity me, someone who's never going to dump me for girls like you..." 

      "Hey, honey, what are you doing?" Ethan inquired looking surprisingly from Faith to Belle. 

      "No, babe, I got this. Thank you for letting me understand the kind of mistake I was making. Were it not for you, I would have still been with someone who is with me because they pitied me..." 

       "Okay, that's enough," Ethan said and grabbed Faith's hand to go. 

       "And, I found my mom and my family was not as messed up as you said. My mother never left because she stopped loving me." Ethan started to drag her away. "Next time, don't conclude on people's lives because of what someone else told you about it!" she called. 

      Ethan dragged her to a corner.  "That was really embarrassing, you know that?" 

        "Embarrassing? You should have seen how she treated me. That was an embarrassment, at least I wasn't saying it to her in the rain. You should have let me finish." 

       "What kind of a man would I be standing there and watching my woman tear another woman down. You shouldn't have stooped to her level." 

        "Well, I don't care what you think. I needed her to know the truth so that she won't go around tearing other women down." 

     Ethan started walking and Faith followed him.  "You shouldn't have done that it's not necessary." 

      "Are you being defensive of this woman for some other reason I don't know?" 

    Ethan looked sharply at her.  "What are you insinuating?" 

       "No, I need to know, because I don't see why you are going on and on about what I should do right and what I shouldn't do at all." 

      "You wound me, Faith. All I'm trying to say is that you should have let go of the past, she has seen with her eyes that you are better. I mean she could have changed or maybe she is suffering from something we don't know about." 

      "Well, she didn't think of that when she pushed me down in the rain and said that was where I belonged!"

       "You don't have to be like her to make her feel the same—okay, I'm done, alright, I'm done with this argument. Let's not argue about her again," Ethan said raising his hand in surrender. 

       "It's a good thing you quit talking because it's beginning to piss me off," Faith said and walked off. 

      Ethan watched as she walked quickly away from him, swaying her hips from side to side. He smiled and shook his head. Then he started after her and caught up with her. 

       "Hey, wait for me," he said and slid his arms around her shoulders.  "You can't go ahead without me." 

        "Right?" Faith replied smiling. 

        "Right, we came here together and should go everywhere together. You are my guest and I should take you around." 

       Faith laughed.  "Need I remind you, amiable CEO that I have lived in San Francisco for over five years? Don't trust me in San Francisco." 

       "Well, I'm so scared. Was that a threat?" 

        "Call it whatever you want to call it, just know that I am not a guest in San Francisco, I am a rogue." 

        Ethan feigned surprise and gasped.  "Please, bring my fiancée back, where did you keep her?"

       They both laughed. Faith grabbed his hand. 

      "Oh, look at those chocolate bars!" She started running towards the chocolate stand with him before he could say anything.

     They got to the stand in a few seconds and Ethan looked at her quizzically and they both giggled. 

      "You know you didn't have to grab my hand and run toward it, it's still here waiting for us to come for it." 

       "You never can tell." She turned to the seller.  "I want all of them." 

       "All?!" Ethan was surprised. 

        "Yes, I'll pay," Faith replied excitedly. 

         "No, I'm not talking about the price how much are those? You know what I'm talking about. It's going to make you bloat."

         "Well, this is what I crave right now, let me eat it to my satisfaction." 

        "Whatever gives you joy." 

   The seller handed Faith the whole chocolate bars in the place with a smile. "Here, you go ma'am." She turned to Ethan. "Congratulations, Mr Floyd, your wife is beautiful and lively." 

       Ethan who was surprised smiled.  "Thank you." He handed her his debit card. 

       "I can see someone is quite popular around here," Faith said as they walked away from the candy shop. 

      "Whatever." Ethan put his arm around her shoulders again.  "We should have come with someone to hold all these things because I suddenly feel like going on a shopping spree." 

      Faith grabbed his hand.  "I will go get you someth ing nice and then we would go home, understood?" 

       "Very well, ma." 

     Faith smiled and dragged Ethan towards the men's.