Chapter 8 --- Shopping

      It was a Sunny morning; Kat opened her eyes to the aroma of this morning�s breakfast. Without realizing she was still in China and not at home with her mom�s cooking, she ran out of her bedroom wearing only a robe to see what was for breakfast. When she stepped out of the bedroom, the first thing she saw was Mr. SaPone early in the morning casually dressed with his cup of coffee and newspaper. He was staring at her like a groom looking at his bride-to-be walking down the aisle. Kat was in shock, she didn�t know what to say, she forgot it was her boss she was sharing the suite with, not her girlfriends or family.

Nervously she said, �I am so..r..r..y� ummm..errr�umm. I will be right back� so she ran in her room and quickly got changed and dressed up nicely.

When she went back out to have breakfast, her face was red with embarrassment because he was staring at her just like he did before. He could sense her embarrassment, so he tried to start a nice conversation, �Are you hungry yet? I ordered some blueberry pancakes for you, do you want coffee?�

She was smiling because blueberry pancakes were her favorite, �Wow, blueberry pancakes my favorite, oh no coffee thank you. I�ll help myself to some an apple juice.�

With a surprised face, �You like blueberry pancakes too, that�s great. Those are my favorite also,� he then added, �How was the sleep last night? Hope it was great, because we will be out the whole day today.� With an energetic face Kat replied, �The sleep was great, and I am all ready to work. Oh yeah, you never told me what I have to do? And why am I here?�

He made eye contact with her before replying, �Questioning me already early in the morning� you�re so curious aren�t you? I�ll tell you anyways, we will have to go to many conventions, parties, dinner and so on for this whole two weeks. You will be my personal date to all the events�and��

Before he could finish, she bust out with a high pitched voice, �What?.... that�s my project??? I can�t believe you made me fly all the way to China to be you little pet.� She was angry; she couldn�t even touch the pancakes anymore.

With a strict face and a serious tone of voice Tik said, �Listen Kat, don�t cut me off like that again, I don�t� like it. Let me finish before you go on with your own assumptions. The reason I told you to come here is to be my date for the events and my helper, for you to take notes and keep my paperwork together. I have so much I don�t have time to organize it and my sectary in Thailand is sick and cannot make it with me, so the only person who would be nice for his project was you.�

She was speechless; she had managed to embarrass herself again.

He continued with what he wanted to say, �You told me you always wanted to travel, well here you are in China. You told me you had the ability to do anything, so I had to count on you. And for your free time, you can go wherever you want in China just one thing: I have to go with you.� He finished with a wicked smile. He did not want her wander around by herself in China.

She was already embarrassed enough, but she still wanted to know why she couldn�t go out alone, �What you mean you have to come with me? Why can�t I go out alone, I am not scared, I want to see things and walk around ALONE.�

He ignored what she said and continued, �We will be going shopping this afternoon; you need to get 3 dinner dresses and whatever else you want. I don�t care how expensive it is. I know women like shopping for expensive things, so I am used to it.�

In her mind, all she could think about was how self-centered and arrogant he was. He thinks he knows women so well. The only thing he knows is to pull out his money and thinks all girls want him. Well he was WRONG. Even though her family wasn�t rich, she knew money wasn�t everything for her. Maybe it helped pay for her traveling and loans but it could not buy her!

---Shopping---

Tik picked out 3 dinner dresses for Kat, because she wouldn�t pick any. He made her try them on for him so he could see if they were nice or not. He thought shopping would be easy with women, because all the women he took shopping just grabbed the most expensive items and let him pay when they were done. But with Kat, it was so hard for her to pick out a dress or try it on or go to an expensive store or letting him pay for it. They were arguing constantly about those things. Finally he picked out the dresses for her and made her try them on and while he paid for them. They both needed a break, so they went to eat lunch.

"So Kat where else would like to go? You want to go buy make-up? Shoes? There�s a famous store in this mall and it�s very nice and expensive. You might like it.� He wanted her to shop more.

She was irritated by him, and how he always tried to throw money at her. �Is there any another store that�s not so expensive? Is there a cheap store? I don�t really like these expensive things. I mean it�s nice and all, but I can only wear it once. I don�t think it�s worth the money. I�d rather buy something I can wear all the time and make it useful. It simple, it�s cheap, and it�s comfortable.�

He was surprised; he never heard any woman say that before. Maybe the women he knew were upper class high society women that only bought expensive things to show them off.

She continued, �I am tired, let�s go back. I don�t want to shop anymore, unless you take me to a cheap place, I don�t mind. Oh yeah, when is the dinner? Is it formal?�

He answered her with a smile, �There�s no dinner party or anything tonight, it�s our free time, we will go out to a five star fancy restaurant for dinner, and I know you will enjoy it. They say its one of the best of the best in China.�

She was really annoyed with him trying to buy her things and take her to places thinking she would be happy. Her happiness was�she couldn�t think of her happiness, she didn�t know anymore. Of course traveling and family being wealthy but something was missing�

She answered him back after hearing the plans for the night, �How about you take a break from paying these expensive things and going to fancy places; take a break from telling people where to go and what to do. Tonight, let me take the role and let me take you out,� she said with a smile.

He was looking at her with a questioning face, �Are you sure? I mean, I thought all women would love to go where I�m taking you tonight. But, have it your way, just remember tomorrow we have plans. I have to go to a meeting in the morning, lunch, and dinner also, and the people we are meeting are very important and high class; so we should relax tonight and do something easy.�

Kat smiled at him, �Don�t worry it will be relaxing and you will enjoy the nature.�

After they were done eating he took her to a cheap clothes market outside the street just like she wanted, and back to the hotel to rest before they were out again

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