Chapter 5: Shopping Time and a Finding

The Lux and Luxurious, or LL, as the people used to call it, was one of the biggest shopping centers in the capital. With three hotels, five food courts, a thousand stores, an ice skating rink, it was also popular with the biggest electronic stores. 

Emily and Pauline headed to the fifth floor first, where the biggest electronic stores sold their products. They walked around to see the newest gadgets. 

“Do you see the newest phone there?” Pauline asked while pointing out a brand new phone. “Jacob may love it if you buy one for him.”

Emily shook her head. “Nah, he won’t. He already had it.” She sighed as she walked a few steps. “He told me once that he had a great relationship with the factory owner. So each time they launch a new phone version, the factory owner will email Jacob and ask if he wants the first edition at a special price.”

“Wow! After marrying him, you can have the newest phone edition too.”

“Probably,” Emily only shrugged, “but I don’t like changing my phone too often. The newest isn’t always the best.”

They walked for fifteen minutes more, but still found nothing to buy. So, they went to the upper floor where the shops sold men’s clothes. 

“Look at those ties!” Emily pointed at the ties on the display. “I will buy some of them.”

“Finally!” Pauline raised both hands. “Woo-hoo! Go get them!”

Emily giggled as Pauline’s cheerfulness infected her. She rushed to see the ties. The shop assistant helped her to choose any variant. After selecting three of them (the black silk, the navy cotton, and the dark gray cotton and linen), Emily smiled at the shop assistant. “I want these three. Do you have any gift wrap service here?”

“Yes, we have three gift wrap services, miss.” The assistant pointed to the three different directions to let Emily know the three gift wrap service locations. “You can even choose the wrap yourself.”

“Thank you.”

After paying for the three ties, she visited the three gift wrap counters to see which wrapping style she liked the most. Finally, she handed over the ties to one counter. “Please wrap this in a box.”

“Sure, miss. Which paper wrap do you want?” The server showed the selection of paper wraps.

Emily chose the silver wrapping. After three minutes, the server had finished and Emily paid for the wrapping. 

“Are we done yet?” Pauline asked. 

“I want to buy another thing for him. Tired yet?”

Pauline shook her head, but she glanced around to see a few round seats longingly. “Uh, I will wait there for five minutes, okay?”

“Okay.” Emily grinned and raised her thumb. “You should tell me if you are tired.”

“Nope, but it’s boring here.”

“Sorry, let’s go to the upper level after this. You can buy a dress you want.” She knew Pauline wanted a dress badly because they once went to the LL and spotted the dress.

“Hey, you don’t need to do that. I’m saving money to buy it.” Pauline shrugged, as she didn’t want to take advantage of Emily’s kindness. 

“I know, but you looked so pretty when you tried the dress. It’s better to buy it earlier. What if someone else buys it and you lose it?” Emily squeezed her friend’s hand. “Let me buy it as my wedding gift. You will be my bridesmaid, after all. As my thanks, okay?”

“Okay.” Pauline finally nodded.

“Five more minutes, then we’ll go upstairs.”

“Take your time. I’ll join you after five minutes.”

“Are you sure?” Emily raised her eyebrows. 

“Yep. Go ahead.”

Emily walked alone to see some men’s shirts. Jacob always wore tailor-made clothes, but she wanted to buy something for him. Seeing a brown knit sweater, she checked the fabric. It was smooth and warm, but thin. As Jacob traveled a lot, Emily knew she found another wonderful gift for her fiance. 

When she checked the size, it was too small. So, she glanced around to find a shop assistant. 

“Can I help you, miss?” A shop assistant approached her.

“I need a bigger size, please.”

“Sure. Please wait for a while. I will check our stock.”

Emily took a seat on a nearby chair when she spotted Viona Dwight. Viona was Jacob’s assistant. The first time Jacob introduced her to his assistant, Emily didn’t feel comfortable because Viona was sexy and always around Jacob and her. 

Once she told Jacob about it, but he only laughed and caressed her hair. “Jealous of Viona, huh? Don’t be. She’s only my assistant. I only care about you, baby.” Then he kissed her, and she forgot anything else. 

She gulped, as she didn’t know if it was better for her to approach Viona. But then, the shop assistant brought the sweater she asked for. 

“Here you go, miss. Do you need anything else?”

“Let me check it first.” Satisfied with the sweater, Emily paid for the sweater and asked for it to be wrapped, too. 

While waiting for the gift wrap, she sat on a waiting chair in a secluded corner. Her mind wandered if she needed to buy other things for Jacob, but then she heard Viona’s voice. 

“Art, I can’t go to your place tonight. I need to shop for some gifts.” 

Emily didn’t eavesdrop, but Viona’s voice was clear enough in a quiet shop. Viona was talking on the phone while holding some clothes.  

“Yes, it’s for my family, but Jacob asked me to buy some gifts for Amy.” Viona stopped for a few seconds. “Yes, Amy Hoffner. You know Jacob loves her, regardless of the fact that he will marry Emily.” Then Viona giggled. “Yeah, first love never dies. Poor Emily.”

Hearing that, Emily gulped. She wondered if Viona saw her, but Jacob’s assistant walked in another direction and didn’t look like noticing her at all. Emily held her breath because her curiosity was piqued. Then she listened further to what Viona said. 

“Art, I want to stop being your agent. Jacob is a good guy, you know.” Viona walked to another display. “It feels wrong to spy on him. Besides, if you can’t trust him, why do you want to appoint him as your replacement?”

Emily frowned. Agent? Spy? Replacement? Jacob was the owner and CEO of the property agents. It was what she knew. What was Viona talking about? Who was she talking to? 

The only ‘Art’ she knew was Arturo Ames, another billionaire. Jacob introduced Arturo to her as his family’s friend. That’s all. But Arturo and Jacob seemed close. Could it be he spied on Jacob? But if he did it, why?