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“He’s my friend—my best friend. But he’s also my boyfriend,” Isla said as she moved back to stand in front of Kade’s chest.
The older woman looked like she was having a hard time with what was going on. She had basically raised Isla since she was a little girl, and even now, she saw her as that young, impressionable child from so long ago. It was hard to see someone with such a pure heart with someone who was so clearly the opposite.
“But Isla, you’re so young. And he’s…” She looked him over again and knew he was at least in his mid-20s.
“I’m 18,” the blonde said in a defensive tone. “You’re the one who told me to grow up and see the world for real. He’s been letting me do that. He makes me happy. Don’t you care about that?”
Clarice looked at her without saying anything, then quickly looked at the man behind her. She needed some time to think about it.
She didn’t answer and instead turned around and walked down the hall to her office, not caring to look back at Isla’s sad face.
Kade whispered in her ear, “Come on, baby, let’s go,” and took her hand. He took her down the stairs and out the door to his car without saying a word.
He sighed as he got into the driver’s seat and closed the door.
“She’ll come around,” he said to make her feel better. “You can’t really blame her, Isla. I don’t look very welcoming.”
Isla scrunched up her nose to show that she didn’t like what he said.
“But I do. Why would she judge you just because you have tattoos and piercings? That doesn’t mean you’re a bad person.”
Kade shrugged and didn’t seem to care that much about that impression.
“Some people do care. But I don’t.” He took her hand and kissed it sweetly. “I don’t care what you think of me.”
Isla smiled and lifted their hands together so she could kiss his knuckles.
Kade smirked as he started the car and said, “Let’s go to the mall now. I’m buying you whatever you want.”
Isla laughed at what he said. “I thought you had to do some things?”
“This is my job: to spoil you.” Isla smiled in a funny way. Was he trying to get her to be his sugar baby?
“Okay, Daddy,” she said with a smile.
Kade was shocked by what she said and almost hit oncoming traffic.
“F**k baby, that mouth of yours is going to get you in trouble one day,” he said. That one word had made him very excited.
As he drove them to the mall, Isla laughed and rested her head on the window.
*************
Isla’s eyes were bright as she and Kade walked around the mall holding hands. His face showed no emotion, but the little girl below him was beaming with happiness.
As he said before, his “errands” were really just an excuse to buy Isla anything she wanted. He was going to keep the clothes she chose at his house so they wouldn’t have to drive to the orphanage every time she stayed over.
Isla took him to a cute outlet store called “Honey” first. It was full of short skirts and dresses.
Isla’s eyes got big with amazement as she moved around the store, picking up anything that caught her eye.
She got nervous about asking an employee for a fitting room after she had a lot of clothes in her arms.
She didn’t like talking to people.
Isla walked up to a tall brunette who was talking to her co-worker, with Kade close behind.
“Excuse me, could you please open a changing room for me?”
Isla spoke softly, but she tried to be polite and looked the worker in the eye.
The woman looked down at the mumbling blonde and smacked her gum to show she didn’t care. Then she looked up at the man behind her.
“Hello there, sir. Can I help you?” She smirked and pushed her chest out to make her breasts look bigger.
She could see his tattoos and piercings, as well as the muscles that were clearly visible even through his hoodie.
“Get my girlfriend a change room or I’ll call your f*****g manager.” He said this in a cold voice.
The young woman blinked in shock, and her confident demeanor wavered. She mumbled things that didn’t make sense as she walked to the change room door with a key on her lanyard.
She said with a frown, “I hope you find something you like.”
Isla whispered, “Thank you.” Kade’s outburst made her feel a little embarrassed.
She quickly locked the door and tried on all the clothes. She was happy with all of her choices and had already forgotten about the rude woman who worked at the store.
“Is everything okay?” Kade asked when she came out of the fitting room.
Isla smiled and nodded, then let him take them to the register.
The cashier said, “Two hundred fifty-three dollars and eighty-seven cents.”
Isla’s breath caught in her throat, and she looked at Kade with worry. He didn’t even blink.
He started to take out his card, but Isla tried to stop the sale.
“Wait, Kade, it’s fine. I’ll leave some things behind. That’s too much.”
There was worry and a little bit of guilt in her eyes. She didn’t want Kade to feel like he had to buy her all of this. In the car, she really thought he was joking.
“Don’t worry about it, baby. I want to buy you these things.”
He let go of her hand and tapped his card on the machine, which worked to pay for her clothes.
Isla still felt bad about his purchase, though. She had never spent that much money before. A $100 bill is the most money she’s ever seen at once. It was funny that Kade had used the same bill to buy groceries when they first met.
“Smile, pretty girl,” he told her when he saw her with a little pout on her face.
Isla smiled and looked at him with love, just because he told her to.
She held onto his bicep as they walked out of the mall, happy that he had made her day better.
“Can we go to your place instead?” she asked as he turned on the car.
Kade looked at her for a moment, then nodded. He knew she was still a little upset about what had happened between her and Clarice.
Brynn came up to Isla after she had been working for a couple of hours and asked if she was okay with handling cash since it was so busy.
It was almost 4 p.m., and the evening rush was coming in. Isla had to spend time inside and outside the kitchen to make up for the lack of staff.
Even though her new job made her very uncomfortable, she tried to deal with it because she didn’t want to let anyone down.
She asked softly, “Hello, what can I get you today?”
“Sorry, could you say that again?”
Isla looked up, and the annoyed face of the girl in front of her made her small figure look even smaller.
The black-haired teen was chewing her gum too loudly and glared at Isla when she didn’t say it again in a louder voice.
She rolled her eyes, put her hand on her hip, and then told her what to do.
“Please get me a small iced coffee and a double chocolate fudge brownie.”
Isla nodded and tried to sound more sure of herself when she told the impatient teen how much she owed.
“That’s $6.58.”
Isla’s hands shook with worry as she counted the quarters and coins that had been thrown on the counter.
“Your order will be ready in…”
The girl had gone to be with her friends, and they were all laughing and looking back at Isla, who was shaking.
Isla made fists with her hands and welcomed the pain of her nails digging into the soft skin of her palms.
She blinked slowly and forced a smile on her face to greet the next customer. This time, she was determined to break out of her shell and be more sure of herself.
Finally, the crowd started to thin out, and Isla was able to leave the front counter where she had been tortured.
She heard a voice she knew right away after being in the back room for a short time. “Hey Isla, I was wondering if you wanted to hang out after work.”
When Isla heard the familiar voice, she let out a breath and her mood got better right away.
She had never had a girlfriend before, and Brynn was always very nice to her.
She smiled to herself and wiped her eyes again before answering.
“Sure, that sounds good. Just give me a minute to tidy up.”