章 14: The Market (2)

Adrianna reached the market before the brother and sister duo. After parking her motorcycle, she walked towards the shop where they were supposed to meet. She wasn't into shopping, but she loved hanging out at human establishments, and the town market was one of them.

When she reached the shop, she picked up a familiar scent. Her wolf growled as she stepped inside. As if in a trance, she started walking in the direction of the smell when someone called her from behind, breaking her reverie. "Adrianna!"

Adrianna snapped out of it and turned around to find the person who had called her. Finding it had come from Okashi, she smiled at her friend and said, "Okashi!"

With Niiya following them, they headed into the store. Niiya sauntered off to the men's section while Adrianna instinctively walked to the section where jeans and shirts were being displayed. Okashi had to drag her out of there to bring her to the dresses section.

"Adrianna, you should wear a dress that accentuates your figure," said Okashi, bringing her to a section with red dresses.

"Okashi, I am never going to wear that color," said Adrianna, distastefully.

"Fine, let's see the blue ones," she held Adrianna's hand as they walked over to the shelves where there were various blue colored dresses neatly piled up.

Okashi picked one up and held it up in front of Adrianna. After a short moment, she shook her head and placed it back. After about ten dresses, Okashi finally managed to find a dark blue dress with black and white motifs that she liked.

"No, that is way to flamboyant!" said Adrianna, trying to persuade her from buying it.

"Oh it looks beautiful. Go to the fitting room and try it on. We will see after you put it on," coaxed Okashi.

It was indeed an arduous task to convince Adrianna. Okashi literally had to drag Adrianna to the fitting room. "You try this one first. I am going to get another one." She quickly said that and stashed Adrianna into the last fitting room.

"Phew!" Adrianna blew air and went in the room. She tied her hair up in a bun, took off her jeans, and looked at herself in the mirror. Even though she hadn't gone shopping willingly, she was still enjoying the girls time out.

She had just removed her shirt just when she picked up the smell again. Her wolf wanted to open the door and rush out to see the source. She grabbed her dress and hastily wore it before quickly opening the door. She froze at the sight of him. He was standing at the entrance of the fitting rooms. Their gaze met. Her hand clutched the doorknob as if it was her life support. Her wolf wanted to be with him, embraced within those muscular arms.

Looking fierce and aggressive, he was extremely attractive. His arctic-blue eyes stared into hers, and she refused to turn away from that sharp gaze. Her wolf and her body were going against her better judgment. The primal lust was so dominating that she felt pained not being with him. She was startled at her reaction to him. This was third time in a row. What was happening to her?

He had just parted his lips to say something, when the door to the room right in front of her opened up, blocking her view. She heard the occupant of the room say, "Hey! How does this one look?"

Adrianna was smacked back to the present and she closed the door. Her wolf growled in protest. She held her jeans and her shirt tightly in her hands and sat down in an effort to calm down. Her patience was thinning by the second. How could a girl like her lose her self-control so quickly? She found herself a little thrown and she was very unhappy about it.

"You look good in anything you wear Keisha," he said.

Adrianna was all ears when he spoke.

"Oh! You just love to flirt with me," Keisha replied and closed her door while saying, "Okay, I'll take this one. Can you help me buy it?"

"Yeah, sure," he said.

Adrianna sat there like a statue. She felt winded. Her chest tightened. She wanted to run into the jungle for fresh air. Her eyes welled up when she heard their conversation. She was angry at her swelling emotions.

"Adrianna?"

She heard Okashi calling her name, and she immediately felt better. Focusing on what they had come for, Adrianna shouted back, "Okashi."

"Hey, show me how it look on you," said Okashi, walking over to Adrianna's room and knocking on the door.

Adrianna quickly wiped her face and lightly slapped her cheeks to do away with the helpless feelings. Throwing the clothes onto the floor, she opened the door with a huge grin.

Okashi looked at her with a strange expression. "What's with that grin?"

Adrianna sobered up a little and her grin faded into a sheepish smile. "How do I look?" she asked, keeping one hand on her waist and the other on the door in front of her.

Okashi looked her over from top to bottom. She liked what Adrianna was wearing, but she also wanted her to try on a few more dresses before making a decision since she had found five more dresses. For the next thirty minutes, Adrianna modeled in front of her friend while Okashi kept making funny faces. In the end, Okashi approved the first dress Adrianna wore.

"Okashi! Why did you make me wear so many then?" asked Adrianna, exasperated at her friend.

"Haha. Come, let's go and buy this one for you," said Okashi, collecting the discarded dresses and placing them in the large box that was kept near the entrance.

Adrianna had calmed down by diverting her attention to shopping. She changed back into her jeans and shirt and went to the counter to pay for the dress. She was laughing and giggling with Okashi while walking to the sales counter when she saw Keisha again. She had her arms circled around him as he paid for her.