Rules of Engagement

Chapter 15 An Intimate Woman

On their way back, they took a taxi. Seeing that the two had been out for the whole morning and dressed differently when they came back, Blanche understood all. She just felt relieved as they loved each other so much.

After lunch, Johnson and she proposed to leave for their hometown. Elsa held her parents' hands, refusing to let them go.

"My silly girl, Mom and Dad are so happy to see you live a happy life. How can we stay with you every day? You already have a husband by your side from now on."

"Mom!" Elsa couldn't bear to part with them.

Blanche patted Elsa's hand and said in a low voice, "Be a good girl. You have grown up and you are a married woman now. You should take care of Ren's feelings. You two should respect each other's habits and feelings when living in a family. Do you understand?"

"I know." Elsa nodded. "Then I'll go home to see you after a while."

After a few more words, Blanche began to pack their things up to catch the bus. If they left at this moment, they would be home in the evening.

When Soren took hold of Elsa's hand which was a little cold, tears began to brim in her eyes. He took her hand and walked to the gate. "Mom, Dad, please stay one more night. I've booked two tickets of Shaoxing opera in the evening, and there's Mom's favorite "The Story of the Stone". It's a rare opportunity for us to keep you company. We'll go around with you this afternoon."

"Well..." Elsa didn't know that Soren also knew well about her mother's hobby of watching Shaoxing opera. Her mother usually bought DVDs to watch, so it was excellent to have the chance to watch it on site.

Blanche looked at her daughter and then at her son-in-law. "Why did you spend that money? I am so happy that you take me in mind."

"I've already bought it. Please stay here for one more day." Soren tried to persuade her.

"Okay, okay."

In the evening, Blanche and Johnson dressed up to go to the theatre. Soren and Elsa took them to the entrance and made an appointment with them to meet at the same place after it finished.

In this way, again Elsa was going to be with him alone. Soren still wore his casual clothes, a beige polo shirt and a pair of casual pants of the same color, while Elsa wore a white shirt and black pants, just the same as what she wore at work. She walked aside and kicked the things on the ground with her head down. In fact, there was nothing on the ground. Occasionally, only one or two pieces of fallen leaves floated in the air.

Suddenly, her hand felt warm. It was held by Soren, who was in a natural state to hold her hand, kiss her lips and treat her parents well.

Elsa didn't take back her hand, but followed him silently, keeping her head down.

While they were walking, Soren suddenly said to her, "Hey, Elsa, look at that dress over there. Isn't it beautiful?"

Elsa looked at the direction where he pointed. There was a beautiful green dress, as bright as spring, which made her feel warm. She nodded, "Yes, it's beautiful."

"Let's go and have a look." Soren took her hand and strode towards there.

Elsa followed him into the shop.

"Miss, could you please take this dress for me?" Soren said politely.

Unfortunately, when he was talking, the salesgirl just took the dress and said apologetically, "Sorry, Sir, another customer also wants this dress and she came a little bit earlier than you."

"Do you have another one?"

The salesgirl shook her head and said, "My boss made this dress by hand. This is the only one. Please take a look of other styles, maybe you'll like them, too."

The other girl quickly entered the fitting room.

The dress itself was very beautiful, and it also suited the girl very well. She grabbed the hemline of the dress and spun in front of the mirror. She said to her companion, "Shall we buy this one? Please?"

The man with her was a middle-aged gentleman in his fifties. He kept nodding, and there was obvious admiration in his eyes.

Soren thought it a little pity. He appreciated the design and color of the dress, and thought it was a good match for Elsa. However, before Elsa gave it a try, it would be bought by someone else.

But Elsa did not feel any regret. It seemed that they were a father with his daughter. The girl was only in her early twenties. Such a warm scene was better than a beautiful dress bought for herself.

The girl was out-going. Noticing that Soren and Elsa fixed their eyes on her, she walked up to them and asked with a bright smile, "It looks gorgeous, isn't it? But I like it so much. Even if you want it, I can't offer it to you, since I came first. You can only choose another one."

Her cute look made Elsa want to laugh. As a girl in her early twenties, she surely would be like this, with no worries, and naively expressed her feelings and emotions on her face directly.

"Yes, it's very beautiful. We'll take a look at others." Elsa responded.

"Then, honey, let's buy it." The girl ran to the middle-aged man and kissed him.

Seeing that, Elsa was stunned for a while. It turned out that they were not a father with his daughter, but a couple.

The man obviously didn't want to be so intimate with the girl in front of others. He stepped back and said, "I'll pay by card."

When the middle-aged man stepped back, he saw Soren and Elsa. Obviously, he was in a mess just now. After a short while, he regained his composure and walked to them, smiling, "Ren, what a coincidence!"

Soren reached out his hand and shook hands with him. "Mr. Zheng, what a coincidence!" He greeted with a cold smile.

"This lady is...?" Mr. Zheng looked at the Elsa who stood beside Soren and asked.

"Honey, aren't we going to buy this dress?" The girl began to stamp her feet.

Mr. Zheng looked at her seriously and gave her a wink, hinting her to stop. Then he turned back to Soren and Elsa with a smile. His serious expression was hard to suppress, so the smile on his face was a little unnatural. Soren put his arm around Elsa's waist and said, "Mr. Zheng, this is my wife, Elsa Xia."

"What? You've got married?" Mr. Zheng was quite astonished.

"Yes." Soren replied with a slight smile.

"Why didn't you invite me to your wedding? Ren, it's your fault. Such a big matter, why didn't you tell me?" Mr. Zheng sounded as if he was scolding Soren as an elder. But actually deep in his tone there's respect and flattery.

Soren didn't mind his words. "Neither of us like to be extravagant. So we've only invited our parents and close relatives."

Mr. Zheng nodded and didn't know what to say.

The salesgirl took out another milky white dress and said to them: "I'm really sorry, ma'am. That dress was bought by this gentleman. Would you like to have a look at this dress?"

"Okay." Regardless of what happened just now, Elsa took it over. But she felt a little embarrassed with Soren's hands on her waist. They were hot and evident.

Mr. Zheng said in a hurry, "Ah, Elsa and Ren also have taken a fancy to that dress? Come here, Annie!"

With the dress in her hand, Annie ran over to them and asked in a coquettish tone, "Why are you still talking? is there anything interesting topic? Let's go to buy this dress first."

"Annie is my assistant, temporary assistant." Mr. Zheng seemed to be trying to explain something to Soren, then he said to Annie, "This dress is not suitable for you. Put it down, we can have a look at others. Ren and Elsa, go and have a try. The color matches Elsa's skin."

He then firmly took the dress from the girl's hand and handed it to Elsa.

For some reason, Elsa felt uncomfortable with them. She had thought that they were father and daughter before. Now she didn't want to try this dress anymore, let alone buy it.

Mr. Zheng's hand was still stretched out in front of Elsa. She couldn't figure out what was going on between him and Soren, so she didn't know whether she should turn him down or not. In fact, the interpersonal relationships were very complex in the society. Even a small matter would cause an irreparable impact. Elsa was clear that she shouldn't cause Soren any trouble.

"Since Mr. Zheng and your assistant like it. How can we take it away? And it is the rule that first come, first served. Elsa and I will look at other dresses. Please take it." Soren said casually, holding onto Elsa's hand tightly.

Annie also realized that Mr. Zheng must have known something. She dared not to act like a spoiled child and waited for his decision quietly.

Mr. Zheng held the dress and didn't know whether he should buy it or not.

"Elsa, don't you want to give it a try?" Mr. Zheng asked. He looked at Elsa with hope in his eyes and stretched out his hand once again to her.

Elsa smiled, "I always respect Ren's decision. Besides, there are so many dresses here. We don't have to buy this specific one. We can just look around. Anyway, we just want to hang around and have a look."

Mr. Zheng was still hesitating. Soren nodded to him and said, "Then please take your time, Mr. Zheng. Elsa, let's go to have a look over there."

It was obvious that he didn't want to talk with Mr. Zheng anymore. Those who had a little self- knowledge would get to leave.

But with no reason, Mr. Zheng was still standing there.

Soren didn't give him a look anymore. He took off the big glasses of Elsa and took the milky white dress from the salesgirl. "Let's try this one." Said Soren to Elsa.

Therefore, Mr. Zheng had to return the dress to the salesgirl and said, "We won't take it."

At the beginning, both sides were interested in this dress, but in the end, neither of them would buy it, which disappointed the salesgirl.

As Elsa took over the dress and was about to try it on, she heard a burst of giggle. Then a voice said, "Mr. Zheng, it's not easy to meet you here. I have to give you a discount. This dress fits the young lady perfectly. How can you not buy it? That's a thirty thousand dress. I'll give you a 20% discount. Go and get the receipt for Mr. Zheng!"

Hearing that, Elsa was speechless. How expensive the dress was here! She didn't even want to try it on. Subconsciously, she looked at the woman who spoke just now and found that her glasses were taken off, so she couldn't see her clearly. Elsa could only figure out that she was a beautiful woman, judging from her figure and long curly hair.

That woman laughed before saying anything. Her smiling voice arrived first, then came herself in person, which made people think that she must be a happy and out-going person. She came closer, put an arm around Soren's arm and leaned on him intimately.

Elsa immediately thought of the woman in the photo. She lost her mind for no reason. She wanted to try on the dress, but she couldn't move her feet now. The dress in her hands seemed as heavy as a thousand pounds.