09

Arthur sighed, leaning onto the couch.

“Amy, we are going shopping not new York fashion week,” he screamed loudly.

His daughter has been taking more than an hour to pick clothes to wear to go for shopping. She wanted to buy a new dress for the wedding. She wanted to look prettier than the bride. And Arthur had accidentally become her chauffeur and assistant for the day, to shop and pack her things for the weekend wedding. And his daughter was driving him crazy even before the shopping began.

“Coming Dad. Just 5 minutes.” He heard her voice from her room. Emily was helping her get ready after Arthur failed to impress his daughter by his pick of clothes for her.

“5 damn minutes,” he muttered. As immersed as he was into his work in the office, he thought working in the office was far more easier than to impress his daughter.

Emily came to the living room, where Arthur was seated.

He looked at her and asked, “Is she done?”

She smiled at her husband, “Almost done. She’ll be out soon.”

She ran her hand through his hair, trying to calm him down. He hummed as he felt relaxing. He was just glad to have Emily by his side.

“I’m sorry for being inconsiderate of you and not helping you at home.”

“Don’t be. You are doing well now. It’s fine.”

He opened his eyes and met Emily’s and smiled. He got up from the couch and hugged her. A very tight hug which she returned.

“I’m ready,” Amity announced her presence making her parents break away from their affectionate moment.

“Finally,” Arthur said walked Amity towards the door. Emily followed them.

He got her tucked in the car seat and turned to Emily.

“We’ll be back,” she nodded her head and they exchanged a side hug before he got into the driver’s seat drove away.

“So, where are we going?” Amity asked.

“Um… the mall. Your favorite one, your mom said to me to take you there.”

Amity gave him a broad smile which made his heart warm to the extent he forgot about all the waiting he did for her since this morning.

“I see that you are liking it.” He said, looking at her from the mirror.

“I’m loving it,”

They reached the mall after a long drive while enjoying the music and singing and occasionally Arthur bobbing his head to the music, trying to have a relaxed day.

“Dad, be ready to buy me a lot of stuff today,” Amity warned him before entering the mall.

“Yes, Boss. Your mom has made me aware of it and I am well prepared.”

“Good then, can we eat lunch outside before going home?” she asked, excitedly. She looked around the mall and the smell of food court had already hit her nose. And she couldn’t control herself from asking her dad.

“I’ll think about it,” he said, trying to act coy.

“Puh...lez…” she whined and pouted.

This please kind of made him remind someone from his past.

He just chuckled and said, “Fine. But no ice cream. You had got tooth ache last week and your mom scolded me a lot.”

“Ok!!” she winked at him.

The first place Amity dragged Arthur was to a toy store.

He didn’t dare question her as to why she was entering a toy store when the main agenda of the shopping was to buy a dress for the wedding.

One big teddy bear and one shark stuffy, one Barbie doll set, and a mini vanity set. The list was no where near to ending. Amity wouldn’t leave one bit of space in all the stores she dragged her father.

Arthur was being a very professional assistant and carried her shopping bags, and walked behind his daughter.

That doesn’t mean he didn’t wonder in his mind when the hell would they be buying a dress for the wedding.

Alas, as if some Deity heard his words from heaven, Amity finally entered the dress store which Emily had mentioned to him. He had heard from his wife that this store was Amity’s favorite and they are very accommodating to their daughter.

An employee from the store came to the entrance and greeted Amity.

“Hello, Ms. Amity. Welcome to our store,” the salesgirl had plastered a smile on her face.

“Oh, Hi, how are you?” Amity spoke equalling cheerful.

“I am good. I hope you are doing well too,”

“Yes. This is my papa,” she did the introduction.

Arthur just bowed his head lightly at the salesgirl. He was just glad that his daughter was polite enough to greet the employee and introduce him.

Amity walked around the store as if she owned it. She checked out a lot of stuff inside the store with the help of the salesgirl.

She tried a lot, like a lot of dresses. And Arthur was just relieved to have the salesgirl beside him to assist his daughter with changing as he couldn’t enter the ladies' changing room.

For all, he could hear his daughter telling him 5 more minutes Dad whenever he asked if she was done choosing the dress.

After trying a ton of dresses, Amity picked three frocks and one pastel green gown for the wedding and matching accessories to it which included sandals. Arthur thought the store had a wonderful business planner. They had fitted everything inside this store. He didn’t have to run around with Amity for accessories. And the sales people were more than talented to make people buy it with matchings and not just the dress.

Amity and Arthur walked out of the store after he paid a hefty amount for his daughter’s shopping. He doesn’t remember spending so much on anybody in his life. Sure, he spends money when his mom and wife shop, but definitely not this much.

“So, are we going home now?” Arthur asked.

“What? No papa. Did you forget you had said we could eat out,”

“Uh.. um… right. But can we eat outside somewhere else? I can’t eat while holding these and keeping it around doesn’t seem nice,”

“Yeah. Okay. As long as you buy me ice cream,”

“Gosh, Amy. You make me do all kinds of stuff to get me scolded.”

Amity laughed at her father’s words. And held his hand and walked to the elevator.

They drove for a while and Arthur found a nice restaurant through his GPS. The father-daughter duo had a delicious lunch and of course ice cream. Arthur actually enjoyed this part of the day more than that of the mall. He fed her his flavor ice cream and she fed him her flavor ice cream. There was joy, talk, and loads of laughter. This was a perfect ending for their hectic day.

When they reached home, Emily was having the best of her free day. She was having a peaceful nap. She had completed the house work and had packed bags for the wedding.

“Mommy… we are home,” Amity’s voice woke her up.

When she walked downstairs, she found her daughter opening the shopping bags and her husband, lying on the sofa, breathing heavily. It was easy for her to pick up that Amity had tired out her father.

“How was your day?” Emily asked Arthur as she sat at the edge of the couch.

He opened his eyes and looked at her and shook his head which made her laugh.

“Don’t laugh. I’m serious,” he whined.

“By the way, I have packed your bag. You don’t have to worry about that,” she said in a teasing tone and went to help Amity to pack her bag for the wedding.