Marble Statuette | T. Drake

[06]

To take Tim's mind off the worrisome thoughts that had started to affect his mood, Olivia suggested going out on a date. Plus, it was a Sunday and both of them had nothing else to do related to their work.

Ever since the success of Project VANYA at the Fall Gala, the two of them seldom found time to hang out like they used to earlier. So that Sunday, Olivia decided to make the most of the opportunity and she even called Steph to join her with Nico at their favorite coffee shop by evening.

The rest of the day she had allotted entirely to a shopping spree, stating that they needed new dresses for their upcoming trip to the international fair.

Olivia wasn't initially very fond of shopping but staying in Steph's company had left a lasting impact on her. Now she thought of shopping as a stressbuster and was always excited to try out new outfits selected by her best friend and vice versa.

As a result, she thought dress shopping with two people doubled the fun so it was a great idea for her to bring Tim along to the spree. 

She knew Tim's closet was a dull mix of dress pants and suits with a few worn-down pajamas and shirts that he wore much too often at home. So she thought of livening up his wardrobe with something new and more colorful than the somber neutrals he usually wore.

"Remember this store?" Olivia asked, pointing to the costume shop where she had first gone dress shopping with Tim and Steph.

They had chosen costumes for each other to try that day and Steph had picked out a frilly princess gown for her. To tease her about the dress and her hatred for frilly things, Tim had serenaded her with a volley of compliments.

"How could I forget?" Tim remarked as a nostalgic smile tugged onto his features, "It's where I first proposed to you."

She laughed, recalling the moment very clearly, "Oh come on. That wasn't a proposal, you were just messing with me back then."

His smile widened and he raised an eyebrow playfully, "Are you sure about that?"

"Wait... You were serious?" She looked baffled and that expression finally made him laugh as well.

"Nope. I wanted to die rather than keep on shopping with you guys so I was hoping you would get annoyed by the proposal and do the honors back then."

"You're incorrigible," she shook her head, a smile playing upon her lips, "Though I'll have you know if you ever propose to me like that again, I might just end up saying yes. So be careful unless you want to endure a lifetime of hell with me."

"A lifetime with you is nothing short of heaven, Mi Amore."

She hit him on the shoulder with her bag, "Oh shut up. If you get any cheesier, I might have to return you to Domino's."

"Too bad, they don't have a refund policy."

"Hey, stop it!"

Amid their playful banter, they went to the outlet that Steph had recommended highly for both casual and formal wear. As they stepped into the contemporary design outlet, their attention was directed to the aisles of clothing lit up by accent lights.

The whole ambiance of the place was very warm and cozy with a fall-themed color palette and comfy wooden interior.

"Who should we start with?" Olivia asked, looking at the gent's clothing section and then back to the ladies section.

"I'm fine with either. I still don't think I need to buy anything though."

She rolled her eyes, "Oh come on, Tim, you have a net worth in millions, and your wardrobe spells misery all over."

"Hey!" He looked mildly offended at the jab, "I'm not a miser, I value savings over spending everything on trifles."

"And I respect that but you need new clothes, you can't deny it." She stated in a matter-of-fact tone, "I'm not taking you with me anywhere if you dare show up in those grey and white shirts over those years-old trousers."

"Okay, okay. Fine," he had to give in, knowing he couldn't possibly win an argument with her. "In fact, I have an even better idea."

"Tell me."

He made her stand in front of the gent's clothing racks, "You choose what I should wear. And I'll choose for you."

Her eyes lit up at the suggestion, "Sounds great. Just don't pick anything with frills on it for me."

"Okay, I'll try." He agreed but then added as an afterthought, "You look cute in frills though."

She shot him a murderous look, "I will personally torture you to death if you ever made me wear anything with frills or puffed sleeves again. And you're certainly not going to like it."

"Okay, okay. I'll keep that in mind," he chuckled softly.

After a while, both of them had selected a variety of clothes for each other but Tim didn't want to try out anything just yet so he ended up buying every item Olivia had picked.

Olivia, on the other other hand, had a lot to say about the outfits selected by Tim. She was going to put aside a lot of the clothes saying it wasn't her style but he insisted so she settled on trying them out at least.

"Trust me, you're going to look good in every single one of them."

She shrugged, "I know, I look good in everything. But all these colors are starting to make me dizzy."

"Look who's talking, just a few minutes ago you were scolding me for showing up everywhere in greys and whites."

"Yes because with your skin tone, you look like a live-action black-and-white figure." Seeing his face droop at the remark she added, "Well, I didn't expect you to get offended so easily. Oh, come on..."

"If you don't want me to get offended, then either try out all these outfits or I'm buying everything for you as well."

She shook her head, throwing back his previous remark at him, "No, where did the whole philosophy of savings rather than spending on trifles go?"

However, Tim as usual had a smooth reply right up his sleeve. It was almost as if he was waiting for that moment. "Spending on you is never a trifle."

It made her laugh as she gave in, shoving his arm lightly, "You cheeky little weasel..."

"Appreciate the compliment."

***