Shopping
POV: Elena
My aunts and grandmother are waiting for me at the entrance when I go down to meet them.
They are excited to go out and end up infecting me with their joy.
In the car, Aunt Isadora promises to take me to the best clothing stores and that we will do something different with our hair.
According to her, changing my hair represents a life change. And honestly, I need it.
When we arrive, the first stop is the beauty salon.
"Elena, you can get highlights in your hair," suggests Aunt Esther, showing me a photo for reference.
I loved the idea, but I decide to lighten only the ends of my hair.
Grandma decides to cut her hair, my aunts decide they will dye it and give me a different cut.
We spend exactly four hours at the beauty salon, getting our hair and nails done.
We talk about the boys and they tell me stories about my father, who seems like a very good man.
Grandma gets emotional when she talks about him. She says that when he disappeared it was painful for everyone, but for Leonardo it was worse.
They tell me that Leonardo was the closest to my father and that he rebelled when he disappeared.
Since then, he has trained and vented his anger at work. He chose to be a hitman for the mafia as a way to control his frustration and has become the best at it.
I shudder at the story. Leonardo was a child when our father disappeared eight years ago and going through that can't have been easy.
But life isn't fair to anyone, unfortunately.
We change the subject as we finish at the beauty salon.
"Now let's go shopping for clothes. We have a party at Ferrari's house this weekend and the dress code is formal," says Aunt Andreia, and I had completely forgotten about Anabela's birthday.
"I have to buy a present for Anabela," I say and they agree.
We leave the salon and I immediately feel like I'm being watched.A bad feeling weighs on my shoulders and I look around for what is wrong.
The women don't notice my change and it's better that way, I don't want to ruin the moment with them because of something that could be my imagination.
When I don't find anything suspicious, I put my paranoia aside and follow them to a store called Gucci.
They go in and immediately a woman appears and offers a glass of champagne.
Aunt Esther and Isadora take on the mission of finding a dress for me, while Grandma and Aunt Andreia look for their clothes.
"Elena, see if you like this one." Aunt Esther shows me a bright red dress and I immediately refuse.
She laughs and puts it back in place.
I decide to walk around the store to see if I find something I like. I walk through the aisles and pick up a beautiful black dress made of a smooth fabric very similar to satin.
"You can only touch the pieces if you are going to buy them," says an irritated attendant next to me.
"I'm picking out an outfit with my aunts," I say, still holding the dress.
"You don't look like you can afford that dress, girl," she says to me and takes the dress from my hand.
I look at her with disbelief and anger.
"Are you judging me by my appearance?" My voice is a little louder due to my anger.
The clerk glares at me and speaks in a low but still irritated tone.
"You obviously don't have what it takes to be in this store," she says dismissively. "And if you start a scene, I'll be forced to escort you out."
"You don't have to escort me, I know the way out," I say angrily.
I storm out of the store and the clerk follows me to make sure I don't steal anything on the way out.
I pull out my phone to text my aunts and let them know I'm waiting outside the store when the feeling of being watched returns.
I look around for anything unusual, someone staring at me for too long or too close.
"Elena, why are you here?" Aunt Esther asks, pulling me away from my search.
"I was asked to leave," I say with irony and anger.
She looks at me in surprise and then I see a look of pure hatred on her face.
"Come in, we'll settle this now," her tone is dark and unyielding.
I follow her to the counter.
As soon as we arrive, I see the woman who kicked me out of the store holding my dress. I can hear the last part of the conversation she's having with a coworker of hers.
"Now I have to wash the dress because it's probably dirty," she says angrily.
"Ladies?" my aunt calls and they turn around.
When the woman sees me, she glares at me.
"Mrs. Valentini, is this girl bothering you? I already kicked her out of the store once, I'm going to have to call security now," the clerk says and my aunt gives her a murderous look.
"Actually, I would like to know why you kicked my niece out of the store?" Aunt Esther asks calmly and I see my other aunts and grandmother approaching.
"Niece?" the clerk says shocked.
"Exactly, what then?" Aunt Esther says impatiently.
"I didn't know she was your niece, sorry, Mrs. Valentini," she says and apologizes.
"It's not to me that you should apologize," Aunt Esther says irritably.
"O-okay," the clerk stammers nervously and turns to me "Sorry, miss, I didn't know you were a Valentini."
I look at the woman irritated.
"Of course you didn't know, you judged me because I wasn't wearing designer clothes or expensive accessories," I tell her and she looks at me with hatred. "You didn't even bother to ask."
"Hand in your resignation letter to your supervisor immediately, you will never work at this mall again," says Aunt Andreia, and the clerk nods and hurries out of our way.
Her colleague, who had been watching the scene, approaches and apologizes for her friend's behavior, saying that her attitude does not reflect the store's principles.
We leave without buying anything and feeling irritated.
They all decide that we will buy the clothes online, and I agree, tired.
"Let's eat and then we'll leave," says Grandma.
But then I remember Anabela's present.
"You can go ahead and I'll catch up with you. I want to buy Anabela's present," I say excitedly.
"Take this card." Grandma hands me a credit card, but I refuse.
"I have some money saved, Grandma. I can use it. Save the card to buy food," I say, and leave before she can force me to take it.
Yes, I could have accepted the card that Grandma offered me, but I wanted to buy Anabela's gift with my own money.
I go into a jewelry store and choose a diamond bracelet that isn't too expensive.
I remember that my friend doesn't like anything extravagant and flashy, so I choose the ideal gift.
I leave the store and my challenge is to find the food court.
I get lost a few times until I find the place, when I'm on the right floor I enter the square and find my aunt Esther and Isadora sitting there.
They wave to me when they see me and I go to them.
I end up bumping into someone as I pass by and the person barely stops me from falling.
"Sorry," I start to apologize as I look at the face I thought I would never see again.
I let the bag with the bracelet fall to the floor and blink a few times to make sure I really see him.
"Silas?" I say shocked.