Chapter 4

Lucinda's POV;

Mr Ackerman brought me to the wedding outfits store. As soon as we entered, the people who work there gathered around him in a silent greeting of recognition or respect and they smiled. They talked to him like they knew him well. In the middle of the conversation with them, he pointed at me and said to them, "She's Lucinda, the girl I'm marrying" then they all clapped and cheered with excitement.

He continued, "Can you help her by guiding into the store?" 

One of the female staff came forward and said, "We'll take care of her, Sir." And walked to me and said, "Congratulations for your wedding, mam. Do you have any preference for your bridal gown?" 

I shook my head as my response. 

"It's alright. Let's go in and have a look at the newly arrived bridal gowns first."

When i looked at Mr Ackerman, he said, "Go with them." 

I walked with the female staff and came to another section of the store where there are much more expensive clothes than the clothes I saw when I entered the store. The staff began to show me gowns one after another while I checked the price and denied everything. Why does this place only have expensive outfits? 

I asked the female staff who was with me to leave and began searching for the lowest priced gown in the store. 

"I heard the staff got tired while choosing a gown for you. What type of bridal gown do you have in mind?" I lifted my head and saw Mr Ackerman standing on the other side of the rack.

I replied, "Everything looks expensive here."

"Is that why you're taking a longer time to choose? Do I look like I can't afford these bridal gowns?" He let out a chuckle and continued, "Don't worry about the price. Just choose whatever you like. If you don't like anything here, let's go to another place."

"Can I take the outfit with me when the contract ends?" 

"Yeah, you can. I don't think I'll fit in your dress anyways." He said with a smile. His phone rang. "I'll have to get this. Don't look at the price." And walked away.

After Mr Ackerman left to speak on his phone, I continued looking at the bridal gowns. While I was looking, I came across a wedding gown which I saw in the television program where the main lead was wearing it at her wedding. It was the first time I asked my father about my mother's whereabouts. As a result, he turned off the television, hid the remote and warned me not to watch television again.

"Do you like this?" Mr Ackerman's voice brought me back to the reality. 

"Huh? Did you say anything?" 

"You were looking at this bridal gown for a while. Do you like it?"

I shook my head and said, "No, just an unwanted memory." And moved away from there.

After a while, i showed the bridal gown that i picked to Mr Ackerman and said, "I'll take this one." 

He checked the price and said, "Try and see if it fits you well." 

"It looks expensive. I don't want to make it dirty."

"What if it doesn't fit you on the day of our wedding? Just try it out." He asked the female staff to take me to the trial room.

"But i…"

"We don't have all day so try it out quickly." He said as he looked at his phone. 

In the trial room, I changed into the bridal gown I picked and looked at my reflection in the mirror. I never thought I'd have a chance to wear something this expensive in my life. 

I stepped out of the trial room only to see Mr Ackerman was on his phone talking to someone. He has been on his phone since morning. Is he busy? One of the staff asked him to look at me. When he turned and saw me, he put his phone back into his pocket and walked to me. He didn't say a word and just stared at me. 

"I'll go change it." I said while avoiding looking at him. 

"Wait. Where are you hurrying to?"

"Didn't you say before that we don't have all day? It fits me so I'll change back to my clothes."

"Hold it. Let me take a picture of you in this bridal gown."

"Why do you need a picture?" 

"To post on my social media. We have to show that we're getting married for real. There are already rumours about it."

After he took one picture, i tried to walk back to the trial room but he stopped me asking, "Where are you going?" 

"Didn't you take a picture of me just now?"

"One isn't enough. What if they think I stole your picture from some websites? Let's take more to make it look real." And he started taking many pictures of me. 

While he was taking pictures, i asked, "What about you?"

"What about me? Do you want to take a picture with me?" And let out a smile.

"Aren't you buying wedding outfits for you?" 

"I already did while you were choosing your gown. Wait here, I'll go and change. Let's take a picture together." With that he left. 

Minutes later, Mr Ackerman walked towards me in a tux which looked like a comic ripper. He asked while brushing off the suit, "How do I look?" 

"It fits."

"Is that how you compliment others? That explains why you're still single." He walked to me and made me look at the mirror while saying, "When someone stand in front of you and ask 'does it look good' it doesn't mean they don't know they look. They already know how it looks on them. They're asking because they want to hear from the person they like. Now, tell me how I look?" 

"Why are you asking me? You don't like me." 

He let out a sigh and said, "Looks like there's lot to teach you." He took a look around the store and said to me, "Watch me and learn." He turned to the staff and asked, "How do I look? Do you think it suits me?"

She replied, "You look like the main lead of the romantic movie, Sir. The tux looks like it was made for you." 

He turned to me and asked, "Did you learn anything?" 

"Since you asked her, does that mean you like her?" 

"Let's bill the outfits and leave." And he walked to the bill counter. 

'Why is he asking me weird questions?'

After walking out of the store he said, "Outfits done. Next, let's go buy some wedding rings for us." And lead the way. 

Minutes later, we came to the jewellery store. One of the staff asked, "Mr Ackerman, it's surprising to see you here. What's the occasion, Sir?" 

"Wedding." 

"Whose wedding? I didn't hear anything on the news or see in the paper. Which cousin of yours is getting married?"

"It's me. I'm the one who's going to get married." He pointed at me and continued, "With this girl."

The staff placed boxes of rings on the table and said, "These are the trending rings in the market, Sir. See if you like one of these, I'll bring some more."

Mr Ackerman said to me, "When the contract ends, You can take the ring with you too." And started looking at the wedding rings.

'Does he think of me as a gold digger?'

Once we were done with the wedding ring, Mr Ackerman said, "I have an important meeting to attend so I'll take my absence here." He gave me the bridal gown and ring. 

"My house isn't safe for these kinds of things. It'll definitely go missing if I take this with me. It's better if you keep it."

He nodded and took it with him and I walked away from him.

An hour later, at my house, I lay on the shabby bed and looked at the ceiling which had many cracks in it. I'm going to move to a better house after receiving money from him. I'm done with living at a place like this. 

A knock on the door made me get up from the bed and opened the door to see who it. It was the landlord. 

"When are you planning to pay the rent?" The landlord questioned me. 

The money I gave to Shadow was the money I was supposed to pay the rent. What am I going to do now? 

"I don't have money with me. Give me some time, I'll pay you tomorrow." 

When i tried to close the door, he stopped me and said, "This is what you've been saying for many days. I'm not going to let it go this time."

"What are you going to do then?" 

"I'm going to ask you to move out of the house. If you're not willing then I'll call the police to get you out of here. Do you want me to call them?"

"I didn't do anything wrong. Why do I have to be scared of the police?" 

He entered the house and threw everything out of the house saying, "Pay the rent if you still want to stay here or else get out!" And locked the house. 

I took all my clothes which were on the ground and walked away from there after saying, "I don't need your house anymore."

I came to the club where i worked earlier. Unusually, It had closed sign on the front door because Mrs Smith never closes club until 11 pm. I knocked and waited in front of the main door. 

Mrs Smith opened the door and asked after seeing me, "Did you regret your decision and came to work again?" 

"I…"

After seeing my bag, she said, "Come inside." 

I walked into the club after Mrs Smith while asking, "Why did you closed it early?" 

"The people who serve at the stand took a leave so i had to close it."

"You could have made a call to me, right? Why didn't you called me?"

"How can I call you if you quitted already?" 

"This has nothing to do with me working here. You can call me whenever you need help."

She patted my head and asked, "Are you trying to act like grownups now?" 

"Mrs Smith, I'm nineteen."

"But you still look like a kid to me. I can't believe you're nineteen already." 

While we're talking, the main door opened and a customer walked in. It was guy in his thirties.

Mrs Smith said to that guy, "Sorry, We're closed today." 

The guy said while pointing to the door, "But the sign said it was open." 

Mrs Smith gave me a stare and asked, "It's you, right?" 

I placed my bag behind the counter and said to that guy, "Yes, Yes. We're open. Come over here for your drinks." 

While i was pouring drinks for that guy, Mrs Smith asked, "What are you doing?" 

"I'm helping you." 

Another guy walked in with his girlfriend.

"Mrs Smith, go and receive the customers, I'll take care of the drinks." 

While i was serving the drinks, i saw Mr Ackerman walking into the club so i covered my face using a mask and continued serving the customers. Mr Ackerman took a seat at the stand in front of me and said, "Wine" 

While i was pouring a drink for him, he asked, "Do i look stupid not to recognise you with this mask?" 

I removed the mask and continued pouring wine for him. 

"What do you think you're doing here?" I ignored him and served others. He grabbed my hand and asked, "Didn't you say you quit? Did you lie to me?" 

"What are you doing?" 

"Why did you lie to me?"

"Take your hands off me!" 

"I don't like people going against their words. Especially when I'm marrying them."

I took my hand out of his grip and said, "Then call off the wedding. I'm really bad at keeping my words." After hearing that, he left the club.