In Eric's eyes, Jack was the worst choice for Rachel. Although he seemed to have changed a lot these
days, in Eric's mind, it was just not enough to become Rachel's husband.
Rachel had been with the wrong man so many years. Eric decided to keep an eye on her so that she
wouldn't be deceived by Jack.
A sound suddenly interrupted his personal reflection. He was sure that it was Rachel and he suddenly
felt anxious for no reason.
He thought that if he would stop speaking, nothing could make her angry again.
"Eric!" Rachel called out to him. Her voice sounded cold and it came from behind him. He turned his
head towards her and looked embarrassed. "What's the matter?"
"Do you want to hang out?"
"What? Really?"
"Why do you look so surprised? Go get changed and we'll go shopping," she said in an almost
commanding tone of voice mixed with a slight jest.
Eric stood up filled with excitement like a little boy and hurried up the stairs. After a few steps up, he
suddenly paused and turned to her once more. His face looked gloomy and sad. "I...uh..." He scratched
his chin briefly as he stammered. He then raised a hand to touch the edge of wound on his forehead.
There was a look of worry on Eric's face. His eyes were suddenly filled with anxiety and sadness.
Rachel fully understood what he meant and what he was thinking. She took a deep breath and smiled
at him. "You look handsome! Are you afraid to be seen by other people? They won't bite you, you
know."
She walked slowly towards Eric and gently poked his face. "You don't even need to wear a hat. Just
change your clothes. I'll wait for you outside."
"Rachel..." He was filled with anxiety. He hesitated and could not bring himself to agree with her.
"Don't be ashamed of it. Instead, you should be proud of it. It's considered a badge of honor for you."
She gently stroked the scar with the tip of her soft finger affectionately. Eric turned to her with an
inquiring look. "Honor?" he asked softly.
"You got this from doing boldly what is righteous. And you almost lost your own life in the process.
There is no reason to feel bad about it at all," Rachel explained patiently.
Eric grinned at her.
Boys of his age prefer to show off their beauty in public and feel good to be admired for it. Thus, his
mind was filled with how a scar on his forehead completely ruined his good looks.
He went up as Rachel said to change his clothes. Once he was done changing, he took a hat and
slowly placed it on his head like the finishing touch on a masterpiece artwork. He then took pictures of
himself so he could check how good...or how bad...he looked.
Rachel sat in the car and waited patiently for Eric. She turned to him as he approached the car. She
shook her head with a faint smile on her lips. She thought that he was still too young and childish.
He opened the door and got into the car enthusiastically. "Come on, Rachel. Let's go!" he urged with a
mischievous smile.
He was like a child who couldn't wait to leave for the mall.
His worries have completely melted away.
She planned to bring Eric to one of the popular shopping malls. Before they left, Rachel made a list of
things that they needed to buy and placed the list in his hand.
Eric read the list that Rachel made as she drove the car to the mall. It was then that she realized that
his life was as much a mess as hers was.
After a few minutes of driving, the way ahead was blocked by a congested traffic jam. Rachel slowed
down as they approached the rear of the last car on the lane. She stopped completely and then leaned
her head against the window and watched what went on outside. The sound of Eric's voice reading the
items on her list became a hypnotic background sound.
She was immediately lost in thought.
But her reverie was immediately interrupted by the loud honking of a car's horn behind them.
"What are you thinking about, Rachel? The road is clear ahead."
The cars started to move slowly. Rachel gripped the steering wheel tightly, started up the car and
gently stepped on the gas pedal. "Okay, here we go," she said under her breath.
They looked for a spot to park when they reached the shopping mall. They got out of the car as soon
as they finished parking. Eric still looked worried as he kept fixing his hat. He only started to look
relieved when he saw that his head was completely covered by the hat.
Rachel waited patiently for him. When he was satisfied with how he looked, he turned to her and said,
"Okay, let's go."
It had been a long time since Eric got hurt. He took a deep breath as they entered and he found the air
inside the shopping mall to be fresh and to his liking. He brought out Rachel's shopping list and looked
at it. "So, we need to go and buy all of these food ingredients first?" he asked.
"Well, there's no rush," Rachel said with a playful smile. She took the list from his hand and checked
the items that she listed. "Let's buy some clothes for you first."
"Why buy new clothes for me?" He stared at the clothes he was wearing and looked confused. "I have
enough clothes already. I don't need to buy new ones."
"Yes, you do have many clothes," Rachel agreed with him. "But none of them looks good on you."
Eric's clothes were mostly biased towards specific fashion styles. Some even looked exaggerated and
it made them look deviant from the mainstream.
Rachel just had to complain because she disliked how his clothes looked on him.
They took the elevator to the fourth floor.
Rachel went from one shop to the next, looking for one that had what she was looking for.
A shopping guide approached them with a big smile on her face. "Hello, welcome to our store."
Rachel acknowledged her greeting by nodding politely at her. She then turned to Eric and asked in a
soft voice, "Do you want to pick the clothes you want or do you prefer that I pick them for you?"
"Let me pick them, but you can give me advice while picking."
"Okay. Sure."
The shopping guide followed them around and introduced new shirt styles for Eric. He picked a shirt
that looked interesting to him and inspected it. He was discussing the shirt with Rachel when their
conversation was interrupted by the voice of a woman who called his name from behind them. "Eric?"
They turned around almost in sync and saw a girl in a light pink sleeveless dress that stood a few feet
from behind them. Her sunglasses hung low on her face to allow her eyes a clear view of Eric. She
looked like she wasn't sure if the guy in front of her was him. Hesitation masked her beautiful face.
When Eric turned to look more closely at her, her face became visibly relaxed. She smiled sweetly and
approached him slowly, her high-heeled shoes clacking on the tiled floor. "It's really you! Where have
you been? I haven't seen you in a long time!" she said in a sweet voice as she walked closer.
Eric turned to Rachel for a moment. "Yes, I have been very busy lately," he replied.
"What are you so busy with? You don't even come to the company anymore," the woman complained
with a pout.
"I really can't tell you that right now."
"Why not? Are you involved in something shady?"
Eric suddenly felt annoyed with the woman's comments. "What are you talking about? That's crazy!"
"Don't be angry," the woman said almost whispering to Eric. She completely ignored Rachel and just
talked with Eric as if Rachel was not even there at all.
"No. I'm not angry," Eric replied flatly. He looked impatient as he felt that he shouldn't waste any more
time talking to her. He turned to Rachel and handed the shirt to the shopping guide. "We need to leave
now. Bye."
"Why, where are you going? It is rare for us to meet completely by chance. Why don't we go someplace
to sit down and talk?"
"There is nothing else to talk about. Let's just meet some other time and place," Eric said.
The woman looked annoyed by Eric's rudeness. She suddenly frowned and looked unhappy. "Hey!
Why are you even like that?" But Eric simply ignored her and walked away from that area of the shop
with Rachel.
The employees of the shop did not know what was going on. They all watched the two women and the
man as the three walked across their shop as if there was a show.
Rachel never spoke even once during the whole time. She simply observed the interaction between the
two. She never expected that the woman in pink would involve her with whatever that went on with the
two.
The woman stared at Rachel from head to foot with angry eyes. She raised one eyebrow and turned to
Eric. "Is it because of her?" she said in a disgusted tone. She pointed at Rachel with her pouted lips as
she waited for Eric to respond.
"What nonsense are you talking about?" Eric asked with a frown.
"So, is she your new girlfriend?"
"What? Have you gone completely crazy?" Eric asked with an incredulous look. His face suddenly
darkened. "She is my cousin!"
"Really?" The woman was stunned. She stared at Rachel, who simply nodded politely at her with an
expressionless face. Rachel then turned to Eric with a sigh of disappointment. "If there is nothing else,
then we're leaving. We have a lot of things we need to do."
Rachel might have directed her words to Eric, but the hidden meaning behind her statement was
targeted at the girl in pink.
"Let's go then. We don't have much time," Eric agreed in a tone of urgency and impatience.
He immediately led Rachel out of the store as soon as he finished speaking. They left the woman in
pink stunned and embarrassed. She tried to call his attention several times to no avail. Eric ignored her
completely and walked away with Rachel.
"Hey!" She felt so angry that she stamped the ground several times with her heeled shoes. "Damn it!"
When she turned around, the shop attendants were all looking at her with various facial expressions.
She crossed her arms across her chest and shouted in an irritated tone of voice, "What are you all
looking at?"
She felt so irritated and angry that she immediately waved her hand and left. The shop attendants
watched her leave and then looked at each other silently.
After walking for some time, Rachel turned to Eric and asked with her arms crossed, "Who was she?"
Eric's face froze at Rachel's question. He hesitated for a few seconds and then turned to Rachel. "Well,
she is... my colleague."
Rachel sensed that he was not telling her the whole story and she snorted at him.
Eric looked a little embarrassed as he elaborated to Rachel, "Well, it's nothing. It's just that... she likes
me. But I don't like her."
He almost raised his hand to swear the truth of what he said. He then started to talk about the
inadequacies of the woman.
"She is too self-centered! And she's so ruthless and do not care about other peoples' feelings. I don't
like girls like that. I have ignored and refused her so many times, but she still kept chasing me!" Eric
explained with an exasperated look.
Rachel wasn't sure if she should laugh or cry. "Okay, okay. You don't have to list all of her negative
qualities. If you don't like her, just leave her alone. You don't have to slander her like that," she
explained.
"I didn't slander her!" Eric exclaimed in a frustrated tone. "I'm telling the truth. You saw what kind of
person she was just now."
"Yeah, I saw it. Let's go somewhere else and buy clothes first." They quickly put the matter behind
them for the time being and walked to another shop.
No matter how rough a woman she was before, Rachel always had an eye for choosing the right
clothes for a person. Eric bought only three sets, but it took her more than an hour picking the right
combinations. Eventually, he felt that he would soon be unable to stand and keep up with her.
All the walking and shifting from one shop to another and back again in order to find the perfectly
matching clothes quickly became too much for Eric. "Can I just wait for you in the car?" he asked all of
a sudden.
Rachel's lips twirled as a look of surprise masked her lovely face. "Are you kidding? It's over thirty
degrees outside, right now. Are you sure you want to wait for me in the car?"
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