Chapter 5 - I Could be Bought?

Around two weeks after our first date, something changed. We had just finished having lunch, and Damian was paying the bill, when suddenly Rai talked to me or at least tried to talk to me at first, awkwardly. He wasn’t the calm, collected Rai that I’d known for the last two weeks. He was even more awkward than when he had asked me to choose his belt at the Hermes store.

“Ummm.. Kat?” He asked.

“Yes, Rai?” I looked at him.

“Umm..” He looked so awkward that I thought something was wrong with him.

“Are you okay, Rai? Do you need something? Do you want me to call the waiter?” I asked, worrying about him.

“No, it’s not that. I just.. Can I have your phone number?” He gave me his phone, and I could see that he was blushing.

He looked so adorable, being awkward and blushing just to ask for my number that I couldn’t stop the enormous grin that appeared on my face.

“Of course, Rai. But now that you have my number, I expect you to call me daily.” I told him as I put my number on his phone, teasing him a bit.

I expected him to blush, but he suddenly looked at me and smiled. Not the soft smile he usually wore, but a broad smile, and oh my goodness, he was gorgeous. All I could remember was that I couldn’t breathe. Just seeing him smile made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

Damian then returned and sat down, shattering the moment I had with rai.

“Kat, would you like to accompany us to the party?” Damian asked.

I couldn’t believe my ears, so I just gawked at him. Damian, being Damian, just laughed at my reaction. I tried hard to compose myself.

“I don't have a dress, and I don't think I will look good going with you guys,” I stated.

I then saw Damian and Rai share a secret smile, and then Damian pulled me up from my seat.

“Don’t worry, Kat. You will be perfect after we give you a makeover.” Damian said, holding my hand and pulling me along with him.

Huh?! Perfect? Makeover? What was he talking about? But before I could think about it further, Damian and Rai dragged me along to all the different boutiques until they found a dress that they thought would suit me.

When we were in the Gucci boutique, they chose an elegant, stunning long gold/black dress and asked me to change. I was so embarrassed, knowing that I could never measure up to them. But I tried the dress anyway, hoping that maybe when they saw that I didn’t look good, I wouldn’t have to accompany them.

After changing, I looked at myself in the mirror. This was the first time I’d ever worn a dress like this. The top black part only covered both my breasts. It had such a plunging neckline that it nearly reached my belly button. And there was nothing at the back, only thin strings to hold the front part. The bottom gold part of the dress, the skirt, started from my waist, flowing down to the floor. The dress was revealing, but it was more elegant than sexy. I still felt kind of exposed, though, but then I went out shyly for them to see.

Damian whistled (maybe that was his way of saying that I looked good) and grinned at me. Rai just looked at me, frowned, and walked away. I was disappointed Rai didn't tell me that I looked good and that he would just walk away; he even frowned. Just as I was thinking all that, he came back with a pair of dangling gold earrings. He asked me to wear them, and then he smiled once I’d put on his chosen earrings.

“You look perfect, Princess.” He said in his deep, silky voice while tucking my hair behind my ear.

Princess? No one had ever called me ‘princess’ before, but as a girly girl who still believed in fairy tales, him calling me ‘princess’ made my heart flutter. Gosh, Rai would be the death of me. And as per usual, I blushed like crazy.

Damian said if I go to the party with them, it’d be like having two bodyguards with me. I thought to myself that if they were only my bodyguards, I would need to say goodbye to my prince charming. Since who could be more perfect than these two?

Just as I was about to say no to accompanying them, Rai had made his way to the cashier to pay for everything that I was wearing. Yeah, they were that rich and high-spenders. I was pretty shocked that Rai would really pay for everything that I wore. How rich were these guys to spend their money like they were Monopoly’s money?

“Rai, no. Please let me pay.” I insisted while making my way to the cashier, still wearing the dress that I tried on.

“It’s alright, Princess. We are the ones who asked you to come to the party. Let me pay for you. Furthermore, I’ve already paid, and I don’t think they accept refunds so that you can pay for them again.” He said while flashing me that broad smile of his.

My mind went blank as I looked at him smiling. His smile made me forget that Gucci did have a return policy.

“Just let him pay, Kat. He has wanted to lavish on a girl for so long. It’ll make him happy if you just let him.” Damian suddenly said.

Letting Rai pay for my stuff would make him happy? Did they think I could be bought? My heart grew heavy at that thought.

“Don’t worry, Kat. It’s not what you think.” I heard Damian say quickly. He must have noticed my expression.

“How would you know what I think?” I snapped at him, irritated by my own thought.

“What I meant was he wants to buy you gifts. You know, like when a boyfriend buys things for his girlfriend.” Damian tried to explain to make me feel better.

I just went back to the changing room to change. I love spending time with them, but if they thought that I could be bought, then they’d gotten the wrong girl. And that they were not gentlemen at all. Those thoughts saddened me.

When I went out after changing, Damian and Rai came to me. I looked at them, and I was sure that my disappointment in them was clearly visible for them to see.

“Kat, I’m sorry if my words upset you. It really is not what you think.” Damian said quickly.

“Princess, I’m so sorry for Damian’s words. He just meant that I want to buy you things to make you happy. I never buy things for a girl before, so buying you things and seeing you happy because of it will make me happy too.” Rai tried to explain to me at the same time.

“So, you don’t think that I’m just some girl who can be bought?” I asked Rai, my voice small. I wouldn't say I liked it if men thought I was a gold digger. I would rather not have any luxurious items rather than have men buying them for me and thinking that I just wanted their money.

Rai looked at me, apparently shocked by my words.

“Princess, I would never think of you in that way. I just want to buy you gifts. Do you think I’m that kind of man, though? One who would ‘buy’ a girl?” Now it was Rai’s turn to look disappointed.

“I’m sorry, Rai. I didn’t mean to imply that you are that type of guy. Or even you, Damian. I just don’t want you guys to think of me that way.” I told both of them while looking down at the floor. I don’t want them to think of me badly.

“Never, Princess. Never.” Rai touched my chin, tilted my head to look at him, and then tucked my hair behind my ear.

“Yes, Kat. Never. Sorry again, Kat. Are we okay now?” I could hear Damian say.

I looked at both of them, scrutinizing them to see if they were being honest. They did look scared that I would think of them as not gentlemen, and they seemed afraid I would get angry or disappointed in them. There were no other emotions etched in their beautiful and handsome faces other than fear and hope. God, with them looking at me like that, how could I stay mad at them?

“Yeah. We are okay now, Damian. I’m sorry.” I said as I turned my head to look at him and smiled.

“Well, that was quite intense. Look at us. Two weeks into knowing each other, and we already have our first fight.” Damian laughed. I couldn’t help blushing at my silliness but managed to laugh with him.

Time flew fast when I was with them. I really enjoyed going out with them. It was very different than going out with my soon-to-be ex-husband or even any other Indonesian man that I knew. I wished I could go out with them every day.