The souvenir
Sofie’s POV
I heaved a sigh of satisfaction as I molded myself further into Roman’s broad, muscular chest and he wrapped his arms tighter around me.
It’d be nice if I could live forever like this; going to sleep and waking up wrapped in the strong expanse of Roman’s chest.
But I knew it could never happen. I could only continue to wish for it.
Roman had hinted on numerous occasions that he was clearly into me for sex and sex alone, but my stupid delusional mind just wouldn’t accept that fact.
My more stupid heart just had to betray me by falling head over heels for him.
Thinking about the fact that in about two months, I wouldn’t have the privilege to wake up beside Roman or have amazing, toe-curling sex with him made me miserable but I wasn’t going to make a fool of myself more than I had already done by confessing my love to him.
He’d probably laugh at me and null the contract and I couldn’t have that.
I wanted to be with him for as long as I could even if it hurt me to secretly love him.
I guessed that was love.
“Baby, would you like to go on a tour of Greece today?” Roman’s voice seeped into my ears and yanked me out of my miserable thoughts.
I cocked my head to stare at the naked, sexy man in whose arms I was safely nestled in and felt my heart lurch for the umpteenth time that day.
God, I loved this man so much.
I tried not to read too much meaning into the new pet name as I feigned a smile at him, “Sure. I’m ready when you’re ready.”
“Splendid,” He said before kissing me, “Would you like to shower together?” He added, his lips curved upward in a sinister smile.
I playfully shoved his chest as I tried to wiggle out of his hold, “No, you horny fucker,”
He didn’t let me go as he smirked at me before suddenly swooping me out of bed bridal style, “We’ll see about that.” He muttered, setting me on my feet under the shower before sealing his lips to mine.
+++
Moments later after our brief make out session in the bathroom, we were seated inside a sleek ferrari with Roman behind the wheels on our way to tour the great city of Greece.
“Wow, this place is huge.” I gasped as Roman brought the car to a stop in front of a gargantuan glass building.
He just chuckled, “It really is.” before hopping out of his side of the car to help me out.
“Thanks.” I mumbled, slipping my hand into his much bigger one.
Roman was acting strange, and it wasn’t good for my whipped heart. When he asked to be sex friends with me, I had thought we were just going to continue having casual sex just like we had always done, and nothing much will change between us.
But I was confused when his character toward me suddenly did a 360-degree change, and he became friendlier toward me.
He was playing with my heart yet I couldn’t do anything about it.
I knew this was nothing but a game to him. Whatever unlabeled relationship we had right now was just a pastime to him.
“No problem, doll.” He smiled as we strolled into the building which I soon realized was a luxury boutique as we entered.
Immediately, I knew it was a bad idea.
“Roman, what are we doing here? You said we were going to tour Greece, so why are we in a boutique?” I asked, my eyes roaming around the mannequins that were elegantly placed in front of the store, and clad in expensive outfits whose prices I knew would probably feed me for a year or more.
Probably a decade.
“We are here to shop for keepsake, doll. You need to have a little souvenir from Greece.” He said before kissing me.
“A little souvenir? We can buy some local crafts from street traders, Roman. There’s nothing little about this place.” I countered, to which Roman chuckled.
He was about to say something when a young lady in a suit walked up to us all smiles, “You’re welcome, sir and ma. How may we help you?”
“We are here to get some dresses for her.” Roman said, ignoring me.
“How many, sir?”
“As many as possible.” He replied, to which the woman nodded with a smile.
“How lovely, sir. If you don’t mind, you may check the second aisle to see if she’d like to get any of the dressers there while I’d also check for some dresses in the backroom.” She suggested, and Roman nodded before gently pulling me by my arm to the said aisle.
I couldn’t help the gasp that escaped my lips, as I took in the sight of the costly brand wears that were neatly held up on racks by cloth hangers.
Everything in the place looked so shiny and fragile that I was scared of moving too clumsily, and breaking something with an exorbitant price tag.
“So, doll. Have you seen anything that’s up to your taste?” Roman leaned in to ask me with his hand placed on the small of my back.
“I-I can’t buy anything here, Roman. Let’s just buy locally made cups or jugs as souvenirs.” I replied, which made him huff before he turned his attention to something on the jewelry rack.
He held up a small velvet box and opened it to reveal a beautiful dainty, gold bracelet which had tiny diamonds carved into it, “We can make do with this.” He said, and I just scoffed as I averted my gaze at the price tag on it.
Shock revolted within me the more I stared at the extortionate price.Copyright Nôv/el/Dra/ma.Org.
“Fourteen thousand dollars?” I exclaimed as he retrieved the piece of jewelry from the box, and held it under the illuminating amber light of the store.
“It’s cheaper than I thought it’d be,” Roman murmured before staring at me, “You like it, right?”
“Are you kidding me? The price is too high, this is a rip off, Roman. I don’t want this, I won’t accept it from you. It’s too much.” I protested, but he just ignored me, and beckoned a store attendant over.
“I’d like to pay for this.” He said as she led us to the check-out area.
“Roman, didn’t you hear what I just said? I won’t accept this from you.” I reiterated and Roman just darted me a smile before handing a black card to the attendant.
The man was wealthy, damn.
“This isn’t as expensive as you’re making it to be. The price is quite reasonable for a cartier bracelet.” He shrugged as he collected the bagged package from the attendant.
I didn’t know what to say, so I just scoffed incredulously.
What else could I say? This was probably just a miniscule amount of money to him.
After all, he had paid me what he probably considered a chunk of change to be his fiancée for a hundred days.
“Thanks for coming, sir. We hope you come back again.” She bowed as we headed toward the exit.
We met the attendant from earlier with an armful of dresses on the way and Roman just shook his head and motioned to the bag in his hold.
“They have a no refund policy here, so this can’t be returned.” He said after we had gotten into the car, placing the bag on my lap.
I knew how stubborn the man could be and I didn’t want to seem too exasperating to him, so I decided to accept the gift.
I would return it to him in two months when our contract ended, I reassured myself as he intertwined our hands, and drove us back to the villa.