Chapter 9: Mall Date with the Doll

"Thank you!" Eternity smiled brightly at the man behind the baggage storage counter. "Please take care of our things, sir."

"Uhm... I... I... Yes, ma'am," the man stupidly replied, unable to create a coherent sentence.

"Are you done?" Evan said impatiently, causing the customer service representative to jump in his skin.

It seems that the man completely forgot about Evan's existence, even though he was just standing beside her.

"Yes, sir!" The man answered alertly, his tone completely different from when talking to Eternity.

Evan couldn't help but scoff at the customer service crew. He was blushing madly and was utterly mesmerized by his doll's beauty.

He felt a tinge of both pride and jealousy in his heart. He was proud that even other people appreciated the beauty of his Eternity, but at the same time, why was this man ogling at her this intensely?!

Now that all their hands were empty since they stored their shopping bags at the baggage counter, Evan took Eternity's hand and pulled her away from the counter.

In the end, jealousy won.

Men, by nature, are just like any other animal.

They have primal instincts to protect their mate.

Eternity was his and nobody else's.

God, he sounded like the main character of werewolf romance fiction.

Internally shaking his head, Evan continued holding her small, frail hands as they walked around the mall.

"Evan?" Eternity called.

"Yes?"

"You're gripping my hand too tightly." He could hear from her voice that she was wincing.

"Oh!" Evan immediately let go of her hand.

Only then did he realize that there was a significant amount of tenseness in his muscles as he held (or gripped) her hand.

"I'm sorry."

It was such a foreign word in his vocabulary.

Imagine, Evanescence Holz, apologizing to a woman.

But, well, she wasn't any other woman. She was an Eternity Woman. She is a notable exception to that.

"Is there something on your mind?" She asked worriedly. "You have acted oddly since we left our shopping bags on the baggage counter…"

"I'm sorry," he repeated. Heaven knows how many times he will say this today. "I just didn't like how he looked at you."

"Is there something I could do to remedy that?" She was genuinely worried at his reaction.

"It's not your fault, Eternity," Evan assured her. "The only way for it to be remedied is for you to become ugly magically."

Eternity hummed, not knowing what to say.

"Evan?" She spoke again, just a minute later, after her previous one.

"Yes?"

"Can you keep holding my hand?"

The ends of Evan's lips formed a slight curve. Instead of answering, Evan took her hand in his and held it. Not as intensely as before, but with a tight grip to let her know that he was there for her and would never let go of her.

"So what will we do next?" Evan asked this time. "We're done shopping for your necessities, so it's time for the date portion of our mall trip."

"This is the first time I've ever been in a mall." She said. "I thought the only thing you can do in malls is to shop."

"I thought you already analyzed all the shops as soon as you got in?"

"My information absorption skills only have a specific radial distance." Eternity explained. "Hence, I cannot analyze all the shops simultaneously, or else I will experience information overload. Just like how humans do."

"So what you're trying to say..." Evan trailed, trying to put the puzzle into the piece. "We need to manually go to each establishment for you to have a basic understanding and information about them."

Eternity nodded.

"You're not much as an advanced robot as I thought."

Eternity looked offended. "I can only do as much, Evan."

"Don't pout," He chuckled, ruffling her hair.

She pouted even more.

"Anyway, I know the popular date areas in the mall are the arcade, bowling, and the cinemas," Evan said, changing the topic. "For the first option, I'd rather be dead than be seen playing in an arcade at my age. Even worse, I wouldn't know what to do if one of my workers saw me playing at an arcade."

Evan shivered at the mere thought of one of his nosy female office workers seeing him in such a place. Even though he was used to being the source of gossip in the office, it's just humiliating if it's true.

"One of your workers?" Eternity seemed to have taken note of his words. "You have a business? Like this mall?"

"I don't have a business, but I work in one." Evan corrected. "It's not a mall business, but an alcohol and beverage company."

"Alcohol and beverage?"

"I'll just give you a canned beer at home," Even felt his head hurt from all these questions and explanations. He's been explaining the whole duration of the day. But, well, he had no choice. It was part of being an owner, no, having an Eternity Woman to nurture them. "So you can analyze it."

"What's your job there?"

"I managed it."

"So you have a high-ranking job?"

Evan paused for a moment. "You could say that."

He was being humble, of course.

"Can I help you with your job?"

"You don't know many things, Eternity." He pointed out. "You can't possibly serve as my secretary when you don't even know what a beer is, which is the bread and butter of our company."

"Secretary?"

Evan sighed.

"Exactly."

Eternity looked dejected, it was making Evan feel guilty by the second.

"Maybe once you learn more about society, you can work under me."

"Under you...?"

"I don't mean it sexually," He deadpanned.

"Oh."

"Anyway," He shook his head. "Returning to the topic at hand... Where was I again?"

"Second option," Eternity reminded. "You mentioned this thing called 'bowling'."

"Ah," He exclaimed rather enthusiastically. "Just no."

"Why?"

"Because you'll beat me." He said in a matter-of-fact tone. "You'll analyze the bowling alley and learn how to bowl like a pro. That would be embarrassing for me as a man!"

"Why would it be embarrassing?"

"I wouldn't want my girl--" He stopped his sentence mid-way. "I wouldn't want a woman to beat me."

"Should women be worse at bowling?"

"Compared to a man, women should be worse at everything."

Eternity frowned deeply.

"Isn't that a rather sexist statement, Evan?"

Evan shrugged.

"Women are less capable than men." He said as if it were a fact.

"Why would you say that?"

"Because I'm a self-proclaimed misogynist, Eternity." He shouted and let go of her hand, causing the people around them to look at both of them. "Can we change the topic already?" He said, this time in a whisper.

Eternity looked unconvinced but nodded still.

"So you think I'll beat you?" She asked, going back to the topic. "In this thing called 'bowling'?"

"Yes, Eternity." Evan wondered if he still sounded patient to her.

"Why is that?"

"I told you, you'll analyze the bowling alley and all that. While I..." He hesitated to answer, wondering if this was a shame to share. "Never bowled in my life."

Eternity looked genuinely surprised.

"Have you never tried bowling when you were younger?"

Evan cackled, shaking his head. "God, no! Bowling was a far too expensive hobby for a kid in my economic status."

"Economic status?" She repeated. "You were poor when you were younger?"

He nodded. "My father was a janitor in the company where I work now. Knowing we were living paycheck-to-paycheck, I couldn't indulge myself with such activities."

"So they are what you call a self-made man!"

"Not really," Evan felt the tiniest bit of pride in being complimented by his doll. "I wouldn't have gotten to where I am now without the help of Mr. Royall."

"Who is this 'Mr. Royall'?"

"The founder of Royal Blue." He replied. "He adopted me when my dad suffered an accident at work, giving me all these opportunities that a low-income kid like me could never imagine I could have.

"So no, I am not a self-made billionaire. Some people helped me to get where I am now."

"You're a billionaire?!" Eternity gasped.

"I thought it was obvious?"

"You don't act and live like one."

"How should a billionaire live and act then?"

Eternity hummed, deep in contemplation. "For starters, live in a mansion. Second, have a sports car instead of riding a taxi to get here. Third, have a servant following you around. Fourth--"

"How did you even know what a billionaire is?" Evan suddenly remembered that his doll had a limited vocabulary. "And where did these stereotypes even come from?"

"You gave me your wallet, remember?" She reminded. "It also taught me about economic classes and the ultra-rich."

"Ultra-rich..." Evan frowned. He didn't like to be associated as one. "Also, no one uses the word servant nowadays, Eternity. You might be referring to a butler or maid if you want me to use the stereotypes you see on TV."

"I know what a TV is!" Eternity beamed. "You had one in your living room!"

"I'm happy that you do." He faked the energy she was giving him back to her. "Anyway, the last option would be the cinemas. What type of movie would you-- You know what, never mind. You probably don't know what a movie is."

"I don't!" She excitedly confirmed. "But I would be happy with whatever you choose for us!"

"Suit yourself," Evan shrugged as they headed towards the cinema.