Page 36 of Gabriel's Album

The woman is a little too attentive and smiling very brightly at me, so I’m guessing that she’s a fan. She doesn’t give any hint other than that, though, but I notice Ariana has moved slightly further away from me.

The space between us is too vast; I have a need to be close to Ariana, and the distance she puts between us in public feels wrong. I also desperately want to put my arms around her and tell this woman that she’s wasting her time trying to flirt with me, but I don’t.

When the assistant walks off to get some suits, I say to Ariana, “You’ll have to help me pick. Normally, I have Heather come shopping with me.”

“I don’t blame you. Heather’s so damn stylish, you probably should’ve brought her today instead of me, anyway,” Ariana laughs.

I look her over from head to toe, then say quietly, “I much prefer you as a shopping companion.”

Ariana is blushing as the woman who is helping me returns with three suits for me to try on. I thank her, and we follow her to the changing room. There’s one Versace suit and two Gucci ones. No doubt, Heather would have some opinion on the cut and style, and how the colors look with my hair or something, but I just try the black Versace suit on first because it was the closest one to me.

I can kind of hear Ariana’s conversation with the saleswoman and cringe when I hear her pull the usual ‘helping with the tour’ lie that she trots out whenever someone asks her how she knows me. I’m trying not to push her too fast, and with her family history, I totally understand why she’s hesitant to let the world know that we’re together. It doesn’t mean it’s not frustrating, though.

I’ve got the suit on, and I think that I look pretty good. Every now and again, I’ll be struck by the strangeness of my life now. Back in the day, I would’ve bought a car that cost the same as this suit and thought it was expensive. The suit looks good, though, and I think I might get it, but I’ll see what Ariana thinks first.

I leave the room and head back out to see the two women. They stop talking when I appear, and both of them are kind of just staring at me without making any comment.

“What do you think?” I ask. Neither of them says anything, and I start to wonder if it doesn’t look as good as I thought it did. “Does it look that bad?”

“No, no, it looks fantastic!” Ariana says quickly, and I’m reassured because I really did like it.

“Do you think I should get it, or should I try on the other ones first?”

“Go ahead and try on the other ones, we’ve got all day,” Ariana smiles at me.

I glance over at the assistant, who doesn’t seem to have registered the meaning behind Ariana’s words and is looking at me now as though she wants me to take the suit and everything underneath it off in front of her.

The second suit is a black Gucci suit, and it looks okay. It doesn’t look as good as the first suit, though. When I get the final gray Gucci suit on, I really like it. I’m torn between the first and the third, but I don’t think a gray suit is that useful since it’ll be more noticeable if I wear it to multiple events.

“Thoughts?” I say when I appear in front of the women again.

“That suit is amazing,” the saleswoman gushes.

I nod. “Thanks. Ari?”

Ariana looks thoughtful. She tilts her head to the side and considers me for a few seconds before responding. It’s so adorable that I want to kiss her, and it’s so frustrating that I can’t.

“Hmm, it’s good, but I still think the first one looked better.”

The sales assistant gasps at Ariana. “Are you crazy? This one looks the best.”

I raise an eyebrow at her, and she looks sheepish. I could probably get her in trouble if I wanted to be a dick and throw my weight around, but I won’t do that. I’m unsurprised when she starts to backtrack, though.

“But the first one looked excellent as well, sir.”

Oh god, now I feel like a dick. I’ve scared her into calling me ‘sir.’

“You don’t need to call me ‘sir,’” I laugh. “We will go with the first one, though.”

“Very good, uh, Mr. Knight.”

I purchase the suit, then we head to the womenswear section. It’s full of designer clothes and accessories.

A new sales assistant comes over to us, and she addresses me when she talks, which is a bit stupid given we’re in the womenswear section. I guess I’m getting used to people focusing their attention on me, but sometimes, like now, it is inappropriate.

“Hi there, is there anything I can help you with?” she asks, not even looking at Ariana.

“Sure, could you please get some pieces that my friend might like?” I smile politely at the assistant as I ask her to pick some clothes out because Ariana looks overwhelmed by this whole experience.

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