Absolutely Unforgivable(16)
Billy looked towards Jeromy, “You have yourself a hell of a girl there.”
“Yes I do,” Jeromy said as he leaned in to kiss me. I blushed and looked away. I love Jeromy and I loved how much he loved me even more, but I was also somewhat shy and I most definitely wasn’t used to public displays of affection.
I know Jeromy wished I would be more outgoing and confident, but it wasn’t easy for me. I’ve always been quiet and observant of others. I love to blend into the background and just watch what is going on around me. People watching fascinates me. But having others watch me makes my stomach turn. I really don’t like being the center of attention.
I am not even sure why. I think it’s because I grew up with two beautiful, very loud sisters who loved attention and always seemed to go out of their way to make sure they got it. That was hard to keep up with and I think, after a while, I just stopped trying. I became more studious and learned to enjoy the quieter things in life, like reading a good book, and let my sisters revel in the spotlight.
Chapter 5 - New Life, New Clothes
After breakfast Jeromy said he wanted to take me shopping. I told him no. I didn’t feel comfortable about all of the money he has been spending on me lately. Of course I didn’t want to turn down free clothes, I mean really, who would? But I still felt bad, I didn’t want Jeromy to ever think that I was with him for his money or the things he bought me, because I wasn’t.
I really wanted to get a job and have my own spending money but Jeromy didn’t like that idea. He said he wanted me to take my time, get to know the city more and decide on what kind of job I wanted later on. Money was a sensitive subject with us. The more he gave me, the more I felt guilty about it. But as usual, I gave in and Jeromy and I were going shopping today.
Billy had told me that The Woodlands has its own little shopping mall, and I couldn’t wait to see what fun stores they had in there. When we arrived I quickly realized it was anything but little. It was the biggest mall I had ever been to, but Jeromy said that it really was a small mall in comparison to some of the others, like the Galleria, which covered over 2.4 million square feet of space. In comparison, The Woodlands mall was a mere 1.3 million square feet.
I sighed at the thought of the enormity of things, I see now where the saying everything is bigger in Texas comes from. I could barely believe it at times. Houston really was vastly different than Tulsa. I liked my new home. But already I felt so small and out of place and it made me miss being back in Oklahoma all the more.
This mall had quite a few stores we didn’t have back home, like Nordstrom’s and Macy’s. Walking through these department stores, I just couldn’t wrap my head around how big they were. This one store was easily bigger than three football fields and spanned several stories. I felt overwhelmed by the size. I was so in awe of the mere beauty of it, with its marble floors, exotic plants and marvelous statues, I almost forgot we were there to buy things.
Next we went to a store I had been to before, only back home it wasn’t exactly this grandiose. As we made our way through Saks Fifth Avenue I found a dress I absolutely loved, more so than all the others he had already bought me that day. It was white with spaghetti straps. The top was made of feathers and it had a high waist that was decorated with tiny little Swarovski crystals. The bottom of the dress was a tiered tulle skirt that flowed outwards. I felt so pretty, like I was dancing on clouds, as I tried it on and pranced around showing Jeromy.
Next he got me a pair of Christian Louboutin crystal pumps that matched my new dress perfectly. With the other items I hadn’t really looked at the price tags but I did glance down and notice the price on the shoes. They were $850. I felt bad at how much money Jeromy was spending on me. But I also knew Jeromy enjoyed doing it. It really seemed to make him happy to do things for me, so I tried to push back the lump forming in the pit of my stomach. I loved the shoes so much but the feelings of guilt that came with them wasn’t easy to take.
At Macy’s we somehow found our way to the swimsuit department. I don’t know how, but I always seemed to find my way to the swimsuit department. Swimsuits were my weakness. I absolutely loved them. Because Jeromy was being sweet and buying me so many great things today I decided to let him help me pick out a bikini he liked best.
He was eying a white string bikini with a neon pink outline. And I must admit I liked it too. Before long he had picked the white and neon pink bikini he had first seen along with a bright yellow one that tied up the side. “When we get home I’ll try these on for you,” I said to him softly as I gently let my hand fall, playfully and softly rubbing his groin.