Desire

(34) Olives

"Surely I could have had more notice." Robert complained. He had his phone to his ear, his back to the empty room as he listened to the friendly voice in his ear. "Okay okay, I'll get it sorted out, no problem. I'll see you tomorrow." He ended the call with a click of a button and slipped the small device into his pocket.

"Kimberly!" He called out. "Caiden!" He shouted soon after. Of course neither answered him so he made his way upstairs.

Robert knocked on his Son's bedroom door as well as his guest's and stood waiting for them both to appear. Caiden's door was the first to open. The two had made up per usual and were back to their petty squabbles. "Yes?"

"I need to speak to you both. Kimberly!"

Kimberly's door flew open, hair covering most of her face, hopping with her hands holding a sock, attempting to pull it over her foot. "Can't you let a girl get dressed?"

"I'm sorry, I didn't realise." She was indeed almost fully dressed. She wore dark blue shorts and a white vest with a cherry cardigan over the top. "It's raining outside."

"Do I have to go anywhere?" She questioned aloud but more so was asking herself.

"Well now you do. I have just had a call about a fundraiser being held in my name, of course I wasn't made aware of this until three minutes ago so we need to get you a ball gown and Caiden if you'd like anything new then feel free." He checked his watch. "It's 12pm, how about we go shopping then stop for lunch afterwards?"

Caiden looked between Kimberly and Robert. "Sounds fine to me." There were some days where Caiden and Robert did get along, just their definition was different to the usual.

"Sounds fun." A smile jump on Kim's face. "When do we leave?"

"Now if you're both ready?"
—
"You can pick up things other than pyjamas, sweetheart." Caiden reminded. The three were in a huge store full of clothes, pyjama, decor along with anything your mind could imagine.

"I know, but my father bought me a lot of the clothes I wanted. I like pyjamas and accessories." She shrugged. They were there before ball gown shopping for a few little items any of them needed, which turned into them pushing Kimberly to pick up some things for herself.

"If you insist."

"Oh... actually. Do you think you could find me some underwear?" She asked nervously. "Anything, nothing in particular." She grabbed a pen out of her purse and pulled Caiden's hand, writing her sizes on his palm.

His eyes were wide, slightly shocked at the request. "Of course." He blinked a few times, looked at Robert who stood behind the girl, then back at the girl herself not entirely sure what to say. "Any?"

"Anything." With a nod he left to find the right section.

She felt Robert's arms wrap themselves around her waist. "I want to go pick you up something myself really quickly, is that okay darling?"

Confusion spread across her face. "Sure... what is it?"

"That would ruin the surprise." He lifted a hand to smooth over her hair. "Don't move from this section okay. Pick as many as you'd like and if you're comfortable you can show me then once we're home okay? I'm sure Florence would love to see what you got."

"Okay, sir." She smiled, excited to show off her new things that she hadn't even gotten yet.

Robert tightened his hold on her slightly, and though he couldn't see her face, he knew her eyes were wide. "Why can't you call me by my name, huh?"

She sighed. "I don't mean to. I-"

"It's okay, pup." He laid a kiss on the back of her head. "I'll be back. Don't move." And just like that he was gone, leaving her alone in a public place, something that rarely ever happened in Kim's life.