Chapter 43

Elyana's Point of View On our way to the mall, I couldn't stop thinking about who was calling Felicity. He seemed bothered while busy with his phone, and when it rang, he suddenly excused himself, leaving me alone at the table. I could feel something was going on—something seemed not right, but I was afraid to dig it up with him because he would surely not like it. Maybe giving him time would help. We got stuck in the traffic. Good thing I was with the most talkative servants we have, and she didn't stop entertaining us with all her silly stories. Daldalita was constantly babbling about so many things on our whole trip, and I took that time to ask their opinions for our Christmas party planning. About the games we could do, food to serve, and the best price for the winners While listening to them brainstorm, I couldn't help but think about Felicity. My best friend is the most talkative and energetic person I know, but that morning, it seemed I was facing a different person. When we arrived at our destination, I asked them to get carts. Each of them was pushing the largest cart available, and Felicity was right when he told me we were going to look like we were about to raid the mall. When we reached the last alley where Christmas decorations were displayed, I started picking large Christmas decorations with colors of white and gold. I decided it would be our theme, and I would fill the outside of the mansion with lights, and what they would only hear was a jolly Christmas song. "Hey, Elyana!" I was busy putting things in one of the carts when somebody called me from a distance. I turned my head to check who it was and discovered it was Quintin, smiling brightly at us. "I can't believe you are here too!" he uttered. I admitted that he had so much energy "Hi, sir!" Daldalita couldn't contain herself. Who wouldn't if you saw your crush early in the morning? "Hello!" Quintin greeted her back, which made Daldalita hit Lorna, the other servant standing next to her, who, just like Daldalita, couldn't hold back the excitement right after seeing Quintin. "What are you doing here, Quintin?" I bluntly asked, and my eyes went to the cart he was pushing. I saw a few items in his cart, and I couldn't believe he went shopping for some necessities. "What do people do here, lady? Can't you see what I have here?" he sarcastically answered while gesturing his hand on the cart. Knowing how rich he was and what kind of man he was, he wasn't the kind of guy who would be seen in that kind of place. I wouldn't be shocked if we saw him in a boutique or inside a jewelry store, but seriously—that was something damn hard to believe. "Well, apparently, this is not a place that suits you. Seeing you push a cart with those—that will decrease your coolness," I uttered, trying to convince him that he was in the wrong place. He frowned. "Oh, come on, don't look at me like it seems to you—I'm lying. I came here to buy all these. I didn't even know you were coming here." He tried to convince me, but it wasn't working at all. I was surprised by what he said. I didn't say anything. I think I just look too obvious for him to say. "Hey, where did that come from? It's just shocking to see you here, but I'm not thinking that it looks like you're lying." I smirked. "Anyway, I'm glad to see you here and these two as well. Just look at them," I continued, turning my head to the servants who couldn't stop smiling at Quintin. "It's nice to see you and them here," he replied, flirtatiously smiling at the two blushing servants. "I won't bother you guys anymore. It looks like you have more things to get. I only have a few on my list," he said, looking at the carts that my companions had. "Wait! I need this!" I heard him say while taking a big green sock. I thought he was going. "This is nice!" He held it up for me to see before putting it in his push cart. "Are you going to buy decorations as well?" I asked him when I noticed he was looking for something on the shelves. "Yeah, it looks like there's still a lack of decoration in the house. I need more lights to make it brighter and more colorful." It seemed he was telling the truth here. 'Maybe he did come shopping, and seeing him was indeed a coincidence.' I thought. I tried erasing the suspicions I had for him and focused on getting all the things we needed before lunchtime. I let him do what he intended to do, but I kept noticing that he seemed to follow us wherever we went. There were times when he was in the same section, and sometimes he asked me what I thought was beautiful among the items he saw. When we reached the appliances section, he approached me and asked, "Which of the brands is durable?" Honestly, I don't know, so I ended up asking my companions, who seemed to know more things than me when it came to those aspects; however, they gave different brand names. "Wow! This is beautiful! Look, Elyana!" Quintin exclaimed while holding a portable espresso machine that was one of the ones I wanted to buy for a long time. My eyes widened in disbelief. "Oh-em-gee! I can't believe they have that kind of machine here!" I didn't notice it. I couldn't believe that one of my dream items was already in that mall, and the same item I was looking for online was unfortunately sold out. I tried taking the espresso machine from him. "Hey, I saw this first." He pulled it away. "I'm not taking it. I just want to see, Quintin," I snorted, and because it seemed he didn't have a plan on giving it to me, I immediately searched for mall staff to ask if they had another one. Unfortunately, there were none available, and the new stocks will arrive next month. It will come from another country, so it will take a while. "Fine, you can have that!" I exclaimed, sulking and acting like a child with a long snout because Quintin didn't give it to me. I regret that I didn't see it first. I would have had it, but unfortunately, I didn't. As we continued strolling, I tried to convince myself that I could get mine soon, or maybe there were some I could buy in a different shopping mall just to lessen the negative emotion I was feeling. I let out a heavy sigh. 'If only that was Felicity, he would have given it to me,' I whispered which made me miss that gay. *** Third-Person POV As Elyana and others walked away, Quintin remained where he was standing where they left him. He was having fun annoying Elyana and watching her reactions, but he didn't need the espresso machine; it would be convenient if he had one. The reason he was happy was that he already knew what to give Elyana as a Christmas present. He only needed to wrap it up and give it to her. After putting the espresso machine inside his, Quintin decided to follow them; however, before he could take one step, he noticed a man whose appearance corresponded to Felicity's description of the man who seemed to be following Elyana. The man happened to be looking in the direction where Elyana and the others were heading, and because of this, Quintin simply signaled one of his friend's men to point out where their target was located. He already gave them instructions on what to do to the stalker on his way to the mall. The first was to follow and observe his every move without getting noticed; the second was to make sure he wouldn't do anything that would harm Elyana, and if he tried, the two men would catch him and take him out of the place without people around them getting suspicious of what was happening. Quintin's part of the plan was to annoy the stalker's boss, and he was certain that he could do it that day. When the two men accompanying Quintin finally moved, he followed through, chasing after Elyana, who hadn't gotten far yet. "Hey, wait!" he called his friend, but even when Elyana heard him, she still didn't stop or look back at him, and because of that, Quintin ran as fast as he could, and when he finally overtook her, he blocked his cart in front of her. "Hey, I was just kidding. You can have this machine." This was part of his plan to make the stalker stop at his pace. In this way, the men he was with could finally catch him and take him out of sight. Elyana halted, gazing at Quintin while her eyebrow was raised. Quintin took the box from the cart and handed it to her. It was the size of a small tumbler, lightweight, and truly portable. Elyana was slightly surprised. Quintin seemed to like the item so much that she didn't fight with him so he could have it. "W-why are you giving this to me?" Elyana stared at him for a moment, making sure that he was true to what he said. "W-What, why? I thought you wanted it?" Quintin asked in reply. His eyes traveled. His height helped him see the wider range and he saw the stalker looking at them in his periphery. "A-are you serious?" Elyana still couldn't believe it. "Y-Yeah, I am. You can have this," Quintin answered. He was smiling sweetly at Elyana to make sure that he would look so sweet to anyone who saw him and when he heard the reaction of the servants who were with Elyana, he was certain that his smile and gesture were effective. To Elyana, only the content inside the box was important to her, not the smile on his lips or anybody around her at that moment. She quickly grabbed the box, before he would change his mind. "Thank you!" she happily thanked him. Her overwhelming emotions made her hug Quintin and the same man watching them peeked and took a picture before hiding again.