May I, My Love? ✔

3. t h e s h o p p i n g s p r e e

After Lisa's high and mighty proclamations of giving me a drastic transformation, I was ushered into my closet and ordered, yet again, to get changed into clothes deemed proper for a member of the noble family for an outing, or more specifically, a shopping spree. After donning a pair of blue jeans, a crisp white shirt and white wedges, I stepped out. I instantly got an approving glance from Lisa, who was eyeing me up and down with wonder in her eyes.

"Thank God you have some fashion sense, and dress quite elegantly. I honestly have never wanted to be the best friend who is basically running after her friend to make her try on girly clothes and heels. It's just so tiring to even look at in movies, I would definitely fail at that in real life."

I laughed at that. "I know what you're saying. These movies just take things too far at times. Always portraying the female lead as a homeless, reckless young girl is just extremely disrespectful."

Hearing my comment, she hit her thigh loudly with her hand, to prove her point as she started to speak in a high, overexcited manner. "Precisely! I don't get what they get from downplaying the heroine like that!! Freaking imbeciles."

I was about to say something soothing to calm her down, when I heard my mother's voice float through my closed door.

"Honey? Are you alright? I'm hearing some awfully strange voices in here. Where are you?"

I looked at Lisa and rolled my eyes. This girl is invariably scaring my mother with her unreasonable antics. She is really bonkers. I quickly straightened up and shouted for her to listen from outside,

"I'm fine mother. It's just that Lisa is here, and she has officially lost her grey matter."

"Hey! How dare you insult me like-" Her whinge was interrupted rudely by my mother's exclamation.

"Oh really? Lisa dear, what are you doing upstairs? Come down quickly and have some breakfast. I have more than just toast today!"

She sang out from outside, making me roll my eyes for the hundredth time in a time span of just an hour. Both of these ladies had the astounding ability to bring out all the annoyance hidden inside me perfectly.

My mother had a love-hate relationship with Lisa. Sometimes, she loved her like she hasn't even loved her own biological daughter; but other times, poor Lisa was the sole target of her fierce sarcasm and cutting remarks. Of course, she loved Lisa galore, it's just that this girl is utterly easy to tease and instigate. Even if we're bluffing something, she still gets offended and starts her pouting and whining. Sometimes, I think about her future boyfriend, and sweat a brow for his safety and serenity. She will definitely strangle him with her ruthless dramatics.

Not wanting to anger my mother, we quickly collected our things and descended the stairs. As we entered the commodious dining room, which was adorned with one of the largest dining tables in the world, we noticed the decorations which were specially placed all around. Mother and father were seated in their respective places - with father at the head of the table, and mother seated to his right. The food that the attendants brought forth was also in copious amounts, and in divers varieties. I wondered what the occasion was until I was stopped in the middle by my father noticing us.

"Good morning Harmony, Lisa. How are you girls doing today?"

Now, if anyone else was at the receiving end of such treatment, they would definitely believe my father to be the kind of person who was incredibly ostentatious, but that wasn't the case. The formality in his tone and his unusual choice of words were the result of his upbringing in the royal environment, and then spending almost twenty years in the service of The Sovereign. We were part of the nobility, and it was the protocol.

We weren't supposed to be casual with other members of the royal family, or a commoner. And to make sure all these qualities were automatically passed on from generation to generation, it was advised to speak to your children in a similar manner, so that they can only learn what they hear from their parents. Which is also the reason why I always prefer to call my parents by 'mother' and 'father' instead of those nicknames everyone else uses. It might be pretty unusual for others, but for me, and for all the children like me, it was an extremely common thing, and was definitely not frowned upon.

"Good morning everyone. I was doing good, but then Lisa arrived." I replied to my father, and he chuckled lightly.

"Right. My folly. You are the kind of friend who's never happy to see Lisa's face."

"Exactly." I replied, my bright green eyes twinkling with joy and mischief.

At this, Lisa started her fake drama, but was intervened by my mother calling her over to the other side.

"My dear girl, come here and sit with me. I will give you lots of good food to eat, and I will also keep you away from these monsters."

My parents were mainly of a jolly nature, and neither of them missed a chance at good humor. It was clear as day that they couldn't get enough time with each other, or me, so they made sure to make the most of all the time they got. Hence, we often have these kind of conversations where we pull each other's leg and obtain a good laugh out of it.

The breakfast consisted of toast with different types of marmalade, croissants, cereal, bacon strips, omelettes and cups of chamomile tea. By the time we finished, I had no space left in my stomach, and we both had been lectured about all the etiquettes of the dance that was to be held, so that we do not let them down.

Shortly after, we finally left the palace in my father's car. The drive to the mall was a long one, but it passed by in minutes because of Lisa's constant chattering. When we reached our destination, she jumped out of the car and dragged me to the nearest store in the mall and started the drill routine.
The reason I call it a drill is because of her dedication to find perfect clothes for every occasion. I too, am fond of distinct styles and raiments, but I do it with much less intensity than her.

One hour, and five huge bags later, we exited the first store, only for Lisa to drag me to another one. It was only then, that I was openly regretting my decision of wearing wedges, all the while lauding myself for not wearing stilettos like my insane best friend. But before we could enter another store, I caught something, or rather, someone familiar from the corner of my eye. When I turned around to look more carefully, I was flabbergasted.

"What was he doing here at his hour?"

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