Chapitre 41: Paradise on Earth
As I stepped into the cool air conditioned mall, Paradise Mall did not disappoint. It was modern with at least 10 floors and a sky roof that opened up to a glass ceiling which allowed lots of natural sunlight into the mall.
"I designed this mall, especially the sky ceiling. Do you like it?" Zaccheus turned to look at me as my neck craned up as far up as I could to check out the tapestry on the walls from the 10th floor down to the ground floor where we stood.
Before I could answer him, two men in black suits and dark glasses approached us and kneeled on a knee.
"Master Zaccheus, it had been awhile. We welcome you back," said the man on the right who had his hair swept to his left side, the old James Bond movie kind of classic hairstyle.
Zaccheus raised his hand to motion these men to rise from their kneeling position.
"Meet my missus, Theeya. Her words are as good as mine from now onwards, you understand me?" Zaccheus looked at them with a piercing gaze.
"Yes, Master. Missus Theeya's words are our command," both of them said in unison.
Zaccheus waved them off and they disappeared as fast as they appeared.
Sensing the bewildered look on my face Zaccheus smiled as he explained: "They are demons. Shadow guards. You can call them Ninjas. Always moving in stealth. They guard this mall. They keep it in order, not necessarily "safe" for the humans but just to keep it in order."
"Keep it in order. Interesting," I murmured.
I was not much of a shopper and I got everything I needed within an hour. Zaccheus was amused and impressed at the same time.
"Are you sure you are done? I would expect you to splurge more. It is a black card, there is no spending limit to the card, you know," he probed.
I simply nodded and pointed to a cafe near the terrace.
"Let's go to Paradise Cafe for a bite and a drink," I suggested.
"Our first decent date. After you, my lovely wife," he made a mocking bow and then we walked towards the cafe.
Everyone knew Zaccheus as the owner. We got a special table with complete privacy from the guests. More like they cleared the entire cafe just for us.
"Isn't it bad for business to clear out the entire cafe just for our date?" I exclaimed.
"Not at all. Business has never been better," he said as he took a sip from his cup.
We placed our orders and Zaccheus raised his brows.
"I always thought you are a seafood person and not a steak person. You just had a whole steak at lunch just now," he gently stated.
Feeling attacked I shrugged and said: "All these time travel must have depleted a lot of my energy I guess. Are all the workers in all the shops here demons too?" I tried changing the subject.
Zaccheus paused for awhile as a smirk spread across his face.
"Smart, changing the subject. The answer is yes. It may look like this mall has tenants from all these Brands but if you realise, none of them are the major mainstream Brands and more to boutique exclusive brands. I own all of them. And yes the workers are all demons. They have been with me for at least a hundred years, some more," his amused smile never left his face as he noticed the reaction on my face.
"How old are you?" I whispered.
He shook his head as he laughed out loud.
"You saw our marriage papers. What did I tell you? I don't look a day over 40, right? I am thirty five. Just a nice age to complement yours," he winked.
"Forget I asked," I rolled my eyes in irritation.
He chuckled but did not say anything more.
"Zaccheus, how does one turn into a demon?" I asked as I eyes the impossibly good looking men and women working at the cafe.
"Is your question more to: Will you turn into a demon now that we are married?" He beamed.
The impudence!
I blushed not knowing why I blushed. My life had turned upside down ever since I decided to carry on my father's legacy to look for the Forty Thieves cave. Little did I know that the man that I would marry in the end wasn't my crush Prof Everett but this devilishly handsome man in front of me.
"I was just curious. And yes now that you mentioned it, yes will I turn into a demon and how does one turn into a demon?" I pushed on, not letting him off the hook. I needed my answers now.
"It is always a choice, dear Theeya. Cassandra did not choose this path. I really hope you do, Theeya," his gaze intent, as he looked deep into my eyes, I felt he could see my soul, sending chills down my spine.
État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
stone