~Two Little Fingerlings~

Dolores was lounging idly on her bed with a novel in her hands and her glasses resting on the bridge of her nose. After exerting control over her tumultuous emotions long enough to catch a few hours of shut eye, she decided to pass time with a book. Reading has always been her impactful go-to if she needed to forget about time.

In her hands was one of another novel which she had chosen from the school's library. Simeon was the one who referred the book to her. Caught in-between were the words written in bold font on the cover page. Ever since she set eyes on the first few paragraphs of the enchantingly assembled words of the book, she found herself reeled in with every page she flipped.

"Leah has gotta be out of her coked mind if she thinks Estefan has got his eyes out for her." She propped her legs up on the wall, proceeding to turn over a new page as her eyes scanned across the printed lines quickly.

A loud honk sounded outside her window seconds after, temporarily pulling her away from the world she was ensconced in. She placed a bookmark on the page she was and with a dreary sigh, she looked out, spotting Simeon's car. He was waiting for her already.

"Coming!" She yelled towards him with a wave. She left the window to walk into her closet where she grabbed a blue purse for herself. "You couldn't wait a minute longer for me to finish up that chapter." She muttered in annoyance, walking out of her room.

She stopped by her dad's study to announce her whereabouts to him but discovered to her surprise that he wasn't in there as usual. She shrugged, deciding to tell him about her outing after she returned. She walked quickly to the door, pulling it open to reveal Simeon with his hand poised to knock.

"You should have delayed your arrival by a few minutes, you know. I was this close to figuring out what plans Leah had mapped out for her friend before you blasted your stupid horn at me." She whined, walking towards his car which was parked right outside the gate.

He grinned broadly, chest puffing out in pride. "I told you I have good taste for good books. Next time, never doubt the book king." He bragged.

Dolores rolled her eyes with a small smile gracing her face. "Whatever you say, my lord."

When they both entered into his car, she reached forward to turn on the radio for songs they could vibe to on their short trip to the mall. It was a friday and hits were played on almost every station they tuned into. The people and things by the left and right of them were a blurry sight as Simeon sped past, hoping to be able to beat the six o' clock crowd at the shopping center.

In a small while, they arrived the place and had the car parked safely away from the prying eyes of both automobile fanatics and thieving criminals. His car was a perfect symbolism for what people referred to as a 'fortune' and was bound to get attention of all sorts; wanted and otherwise.

"Let's get your own outfit first." Dolores suggested when she stopped in front of the entrance to the clothing section.

"No, let's get yours first." He countered her suggestion, with a swipe at her nose.

"Stop!" She swatted his annoying fingers away from her face with a laugh. "Let's get yours first since guys do not take so long making a selection. They picture what they want and go for something looking closely related. Unlike us girls who picture something in mind and do not quit searching until we find that exact thing we seek."

His lower jaw hit the floor in astonishment. "So that's what my mom spends her time doing each time she tells me she's going for shopping.

"Precisely." Dolores confirmed with a comic nod of her head.

He shuddered as though recalling a chilling memory. "Let's get mine then." He said, leading the way through the doors and down to the male apparels. A guy who was idling around a couple who were also shopping for clothes, ambled over to them with a sweet smile. His eyes flitted over to Dolores and he winked at her.

"Good evening and welcome. We are at your service to get you whatever you need. Tell me the exact thing you seek and leave the rest of the hunt to me." He spelt out his rehearsed line, adding another sleek wink to the flustered looking Dolores by Simeon's side.

"Hey man, stop doing that weird thing with your eyes. You're scaring her." Simeon stated immediately after noticing her discomfort.

"Oh, I thought you both were siblings." The salesman asked, sizing them both up.

They laughed at the absurdity of his guess and denied it. Simeon once again had to state his mission and what he needed to buy.

"It's a good thing you are both in a relationship because you're in luck. Just one look at the both of you and I realized that you both are too entwined in more ways than one to be siblings." The salesman rambled on, ignoring Simeon. He went on, "I have just the perfect outfit for the both of you."

Dolores had to speak up this time before she died of embarassment. "Um, actually we're not dating either. I just came to help him pick out an outfit for our school's prom happening tomorrow."

The pesky salesman's eyes widened in realization. "Oh. Well come along, fingerlings. I have something absolutely beautiful for you both. I know you don't want something matching but they might do the trick." He strolled away, leaving them to follow his lead.

"Fingerlings?" Simeon turned around to whisper in horror. His face revealed anything but pleasure with the five minutes of torture they'd just encountered with a strange personality whom they weren't going to forget in a rush.

Meandering around bends and turns they didn't think existed in the modest looking section, they finally stopped in front of an exquisite array of suits and trouser pants. Simeon had his hands widely spread out as he let his gaze encircle the sight before him.

"Now this is what I'm talking about. Bring out them babies, my man." He hollered in excitement. Only a few of the other customers found humour in his display. The rest frowned at it as if to say, 'could you tone down the noise a notch? We're also trying to shop here.'

That being the case or not, Simeon who was oblivious to both groups of customers, dove right into selection, while Dolores stood back with a smile at his childish nature. She watched him take out a purple colored suit at first. He placed it over his body, giving her a look as though to seek her opinions on it.

Dolores shook her head slowly. "Purple? No, I don't think this fits you. Try something else."

He set the clothing back, taking out another set from the rack. It was a cream suit with gold embroidery on its lapel. It complimented the attire well but didn't match with Simeon's skin tone. Dolores shook her head at it again. Some minutes later, he arranged everything back to the rack when he saw the all of his choices were rejected. He ambled over to where Dolores sat, running a hand through his dark hair in exhaustion.

"Left to me, I don't want to attend the dumb prom party. I figured it'll be so boring at home and I can have fun watching the disappointed faces of students whose prom dates abandoned them."

Dolores glared up the side of his head at his remark. "Very funny."

"What? You're going with Nicolas, that's very certain. I was talking about the other people." He paused to blow out breath from his mouth when she didn't quit glaring at him. "Alright, I'm sorry."

She sighed, giving a careless roll of her shoulders. "It's okay. There's nothing to be sorry about. It was meant to be a harmless joke and here I am taking blind offence with it. With Nicolas' open rejection, I don't think--"

"That's enough." Simeon cut in politely. "Let's not bank on disappointment on the eve of our school's most anticipated prom. I'm not entirely a fan of your boyfriend but I believe he isn't so crazy as to pull such a stunt tomorrow. Let's hope for better, alright?" Using their height difference to his advantage, he ruffled her mane of hair. It earned him a warning growl from her.

"I'm going to have to cut off your wandering fingers one of these days if you don't keep them to yourself."

Simeon pouted with mock sadness creeping into his features. "But it's fun riling you up."

Dolores rose from her seat with a brilliant smile. "Of course it's fun until you see your long fingers wiggling across the floor with blood stains trailing after them." Her biting remark was slathered in thick layers of sarcasm. Thick enough to give Simeon a visual representation of her exact words and have him shudder.

"Where have you both been my fingerlings?"

They both whipped their heads to find the salesman they had earlier lost somewhere amongst the throng of lined up outfits. Now, he was waltzing along to meet up with them.

"Don't you ever--" Simeon started but Dolores had her hand placed right over his running mouth to silence him.

"We have been here, fish daddy, waiting patiently for you." Dolores replied sweetly. Her face soon twisted in disgust as she felt a tongue swipe into the palm of the hand she held over Simeon's mouth. "Gross!"

While she wiped her palm against his shirt, the salesman stared at her like she was from an entirely different planet. "Gurl! You're the first person to actually give the exact response I've been seeking. The others only look at me like I'm crazy."

"Of course you are." Simeon muttered but luckily for him, it only got to the hearing of Dolores.

She passed him a look, warning him to behave himself. She turned back to the salesman who stared at the both of them with confusion. "Is anything the problem?"

He shook his head, gathering his momentum. A bright smile once again replaced the look of befuddlement as he held a maroon colored set which they hadn't earlier noticed, up to their view. "I think this is absolutely perfect for the fingerling behind you."

Simeon grinned, not seeming to be bothered about the nickname anymore. He moved forward to grab the suit then looked back at Dolores. When she nodded, he turned back to the man. "We'll take this."

~~~{•}~~~

Simeon is really a handful even for me. I almost cried while writing cos just imagine going out to shop with a partner like him. Exhausting. Do you have anyone like this as friends?

Leave a vote if this was your best chapter yet
~~Chignature~~