Pinocchio

Chapter 22 : Gone Again

Gustavo takes a few money from his wallet and sighs. The sun has shines, but Penelope hasn't awaken yet. He packs his clothes and puts in two piles; the pile in the left is the clothes he bought himself and the other one is the clothes Madame Azalea lent him. He's planning to give the clothes back to Madame Azalea, but now he's confused on how to get all the other clothes into his car.

He sighs and sit at the edge of the bed. He looks at Penelope who's peacefully sleeping with an arm over her blanket. Gustavo suddenly realizes one thing; a small scratch in her upper arm.

He frowns and stands up to sit right next to Penelope. He moves his fingers on her arm, causing Penelope to startle and opens her eyes instantly. She exhales and smiles when she sees Gustavo next to her.

"Hey." She greets as she sits on the bed, leaning onto the bedrest.

Gustavo changes the way he sits to make himself feel more comfortable, facing Penelope. "Sorry. Did I wake you up?"

She laughs. "You did. But it's okay. It's time to wake up anyway, isn't it?"

He shrugs. "It is. Maybe I'll go out shopping again for you this morning, before breakfast. Some big hat and capes, maybe? To cover your wooden body, so that I can take you out anywhere you want to."

She smiles and nods. "That's very kind of you."

"Well then, I'd better hurry. I suppose you're hungry."

She laughs. "I am, yes."

"I hope I don't cause too much trouble. I've wasted half of your money and blow your house-"

"Don't." He shakes his head. "I told you it's not your fault. You've made me very happy for the past few weeks, and I'd do anything to make you happy."

Gustavo immediately stands up and kisses her forehead. He walks out from the bedroom and takes his new jacket off the hanger. And without any words, he opens the front door and leaves.

He sighs and feels guilty immediately. But he knows he can't just go back inside. After all, what would he say if he comes back in?

So he continues walking and decides to go the department store where he bought his clothes the last time. This time, he doesn't stop by to buy anything else first. He simply goes to the department store. The posters are no longer put on the display windows and the store itself is not as crowded as the last time.

Gustavo walks in. All the sales assistants turn their head onto the new customer, but one of them, a girl with a ponytail, immediately approaches him. Gustavo recognizes her as the sales assistant who helped him two days ago from her name tag says "Bianca" in blue.

"Good morning, sir. How may I help you?" She grins from ear to ear, hoping that Gustavo is impressed with her fake friendliness.

"Uh, yea. I'm looking for some womenwear." He says. Bianca arches her brows and Gustavo immediately rectifies his statement. "For my cousin. It's her birthday tomorrow."

"Ah," Bianca smiles and starts walking to the womenwear section. "Let me know if you need anything to help you." And she leaves Gustavo in the middle of dusty paradise with stale smell around the air.

He goes with his instinct; a white caped-blazer nearby him, a pair of jeans, a knitted blue scarf, two shirts, a black large-edged hat, and a pair of flat shoes. He doesn't remember the correct size of Penelope, so, instead of taking the risk to lose his money for something that are too big or too small, he chooses all-size clothes instead. Once he's done, he immediately goes to the cashier.

The woman who works in the cashier has grey hair and a pale skin with a really cynical look and wretched attitude. "Is that all?" She asks lazily as she puts the barcode reader back to its place.