Page 67 of Triple Threat

“Right and would you prefer the crepes savory or sweet?” the gentleman waiter, in actual tux with tails, asked.

“Sweet, if you please…” Roan murmured. “Oh, and a rasher of bacon.”

“Yes, of course.” The man scurried away, and I blinked slowly at Roan.

“I will never get used to this,” I whispered, and he chuckled.

“You will. Your life has changed for the better Sadie. I promise you.”

I threaded my fingers between his and gripped his hand lightly and nodded, slightly overcome.

Breakfast was wonderful, the crepes light, paper thin, and rolled about a sweet cream cheese filling and loaded with strawberries and fluffy hand whipped cream.

“What does a personal shopper do?” I asked, nervous.

“She will come to the room, take your measurements, go through some catalogs with you and get a sense of your style then she will either come with us and take you shopping or at our request, will do the shopping for you and parcels will simply arrive at our room.”

I felt my mouth drop open and said, “People actually pay people to go clothes shoppingfor them?” I asked.

“Aye.”

“Can’t we just go to Target?” I asked meekly.

Roan chuckled.

“That would be a ‘no’, Poppet. We must keep up appearances.”

“Alright,” I murmured.

“We can go out to any place you’d like,” he said finally. “I shall split the difference with you, so to speak.”

“Yeah?” I asked curiously.

“Yes. Personal shopper here, and then you and I shall go for a walk through the boutiques down the street.”

“Okay, I think that I can handle that.”

He smiled at me. “You still look nervous.”

“I guess I’m glad we’re in DC and not Indigo City,” I said. “I’m still low-key worried about running into someone I know… you know, from the street. I’m afraid they’ll think I’m a sell out or something. I don’t know…”

“Ah.” He nodded succinctly. “Worry not,” he murmured. “Character is like a tree and reputation like its shadow. The shadow is what we think of it, but the tree is the real thing.”

I sat back and looked at him, plaintively, the crystal chandelier above our heads winking rainbows on the slightly iridescent and totally opulent wallpaper behind Roan’s head.

“Who said that?” I asked quietly, and he smiled.

“Your American president, Abraham Lincoln… I thought it both truthful and apropos to the situation as well as fitting for our setting.”

I smiled and squeezed his hand one last time before taking it back so I could use it to eat some more. He left me to think about what he said and I decided it was one more thing I loved about him. He knew just what to say to make me feel empowered. He was right. I knew the situation at hand and fuck what anyone else thought. They weren’t taking care of me… Roan was.

“Thank you,” I murmured, and he smiled at me.

“Of course.”

* * *

The personal shopperthing was excruciatingly uncomfortable, but I managed to send her off with enough ideas that I didn’t find horrible and Roan approved of, straddling the line between my old life and this new one. When she was gone, I finally managed to breathe again without my chest feeling tight.

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