Somewhere in the back of my mind I felt him wake up and stand. I even heard the distant sound omitting from the vibration between my phone and a nearby table from an incoming call. I was just so tired and sleepy that I didn't wake up. It was practically the middle of the night. I let Joshua take it.

I didn't know how long he spoke to Lanning. I didn't know that he spoke to Lanning until much later, days later. I wouldn't know if the call was brief, or if Joshua took time to be convinced. I didn't know anything. Nothing at all. I never would.

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"I can't see." I stated the obvious as I brought my hands up to my covered eyes.

"That's the point, Jilly." Joshua said, while steering me in the direction he was taking me.

I heard the swooshing of a door and instantly became alarmed.

"That was the Lamborghini wasn't it?" I asked darkly.

Joshua didn't reply, but he didn't have to. I already know that he had his love struck gaze on along with a smile on his face. He was growing way too attached to the car. Once I was inside, I re-adjusted the fabric that Joshua had secured on my face. It belonged to his bow tie that he had been wearing during the New Year's Event, and spelled distinctively of Durian.

I could have used those solitary moments to cheat and peak, but there was no point in it anyway. I knew we were still outside of the hotel.

I heard the key being put in the ignition and the gentle purr as the car come to life. I wasn't going to lie even I was becoming a little attached to the damn thing. Which was ridiculous since it was just a car. Plus, it was a car that I could never own in a million years.

I didn't know what to do with myself since I couldn't really see, so I ended up resting my head on the palm of my hand. I was started when my other hand found itself inside Joshua's. I was an absolute idiot, because instead of keeping my mouth shut, I ended up blabbering the first thing that came to my mind.

"You're holding my hand." I stated. I was really ready to take on the crown belonging to Queen of the Obvious. No shit, Lilly, he's holding your hand and the sky is blue.

I was debating how weird it would be if I just slapped myself in the face, when Joshua replied.

"Yup, I'm holding your hand." Now I knew he was just trying to be cute by mimicking my social blunder.  At the same time I was relieved that he hadn't pulled his hand away. I wanted it there. Boy, did I want that hand there.

We rode for a while, and it probably wasn't very long, but I knew how nosy I could be. The unknown always irked me, because I would go on an unending quest to figure it out. This time I had no choice but to sit and hold Joshua's hand. Which wasn't that bad if you asked me.

"Wait," I spoke up, the realization hitting me at just that moment.

"If you're holding my hand...that means that you're driving with one hand! Joshua!" I yelled, clearly thinking of the ways that we could crash and end up with broken necks and an even worse event, instant debt.

"We're here!" Joshua said, chuckling and ignoring me purposely.

I was about to speak when I felt him reach over and untie the bow behind my head. The blind fold slipped from my face and I took note of my surroundings. The streets were surrounded by boutiques and even I could recognize the luxurious brand names. There were mannequins that could be seen from almost every window and many people were walking around.

"Where are we?" I asked, looking inside a window belonging to Prada.

"Via Monte Napoleone" Joshua simply said, already getting out of the car. I was about to open my door, but Joshua beat me to it. I stepped out wonder struck by all of the people and the stores around us.

Almost all of the men wore expensive suits. The ironic thing was that they were probably walking out with even more expensive suits in their hands. The women were the most stunning. I felt like I was watching a fashion show in a real life environment. My annoying habit kicked in again and I started to fix certain outfits in my head. There were also the obvious tourists milling around.

"Cool, huh?" Joshua asked from beside me. He wasn't looking at all of the people as I was, instead his eyes were trained on me. He was watching me take it all in. I knew I had an awestruck look pasted on my face, but I couldn't seem to shake it.

"Yes, but we're here because?" I trailed off. I had a slight idea of why we were there, but some part of my mind didn't want to face the truth yet.

"Well, we have no luggage, therefore nothing to wear, and we are in one of the fashion capitals of the world." Joshua let me do the math. He gave me a smile before grabbing hold of my hand again. I was about to argue, but when he intertwined his fingers through mine all of the arguments disappeared.

I wanted to tell him that I hated shopping! I even remembered all of the temper tantrums I threw as a kid just to get out of going clothes shopping with my mom. I never minded what I wore and I was damn happy that way, or at least comfortable.

I was ready to voice all of these thoughts and more, until we stood beside a boutique window and my heart did a weird flip flop thing. I realized that I was actually excited about the clothes the mannequins were wearing. Taking in a big breath, I let Joshua prop open one of the doors for me and walked in.

I was immediately overcome by everything in sight. It was weird, but seeing pretty or even beautiful garments was exhilarating.

Hesitantly, I drifted closer to a cardigan that rested on a clear glass table. Again, my heart was doing that weird racing feeling, especially when I grabbed hold of it and extended it out . It was beautiful, but when my hand reached down to peer at the tab my racing heart suddenly stopped.

I knew Joshua was standing just a few inches behind me, so I set the cardigan down gently and twirled my body to face him.

Leaning in sharply, I whispered in his ear, "That cardigan was two hundred and twenty five dollars. Joshua, tell me I need an eye check." My whispering was clipped.

Joshua gave me a small smile and leaned in just as close.

"I'm afraid your eye sight is doing pretty good."

I rolled my eyes and started to pull him out of the store that very second. Joshua stopped though, making me continue to pull with no results. I finally gave up and turned around to give him an exasperated look.

"Jilly, I want to buy you that cardigan." Joshua told me without letting me speak first.

What? I was a little surprised at the offer. I mean, for one thing I had a problem with him actually buying  me things when I had perfectly good money of my own, but what about his sister?

"No, you are not Lachowski." I told him, making my tone final.

Joshua completely ignored my declaration and started to call a sales girl over. I reached out to quiet him, but the ambitious sales girl was already making her way over to us.

"What about the money you were saving for your sister?" I finally brought out, hoping it would trigger his memory.

"I already have it all. It's resolved, Lilly." Joshua told me. He didn't take time to elaborate and left me standing there like an idiot while he spoke to the eager sales girl.

It was already resolved? What the hell? How come Joshua hadn't told me that he had gotten the money?

"How?" I spoke up, grabbing hold of his arm to get his attention.

Had I imagined the pained look that passed through Joshua's face after my question?

"I got another job from Lanning. No big deal." Joshua gave me a smile. I wanted to ask more questions, but for once, I wasn't getting an open vibe from Joshua.

He didn't want to talk about it, but he seemed alright. Especially with the sweet look he was giving me. I pushed all of the questions away from my head at that moment. I wasn't going to push him. He would tell me eventually.

Joshua grabbed hold of my hand again, for which I was becoming really glad about, and pulled me towards the rest of the store.

We spent several hours doing that, just walking around the boutiques and occasionally going in. I didn't want Joshua to buy me everything, so I would sometimes fight him to pay for my own stuff. He wouldn't have any of it and always ended up paying, though.  I relented, because he looked really happy to be buying me things, if that made any sense.

I didn't remember ever laughing so much in my life. At one point we walked into a really wacky boutique. The prices were ridiculous, especially considering the absurdity of the garments. Joshua and I tried on all of the worst stuff just for a laugh. At one point Joshua was in a pair of leopard printed skinny jeans and I found myself not remembering how to breathe.

There were some boutiques where I just couldn't relax in. There had been so many beautiful things that I found myself wanting to try on and see all of them. I was definitely on a cloud. A cloud that I hadn't known even existed for me.

Joshua bought a shit load of stuff, too. The boy definitely had a thing for shopping. I couldn't ignore the little rush I would get when I got to help him pick out things. He was already so good looking, in the right clothes he was amazing.

We had gone into a men's suit boutique towards the end. Joshua wanted to buy a new one, since the one he had worn during the New Year's event had been pretty much ruined.

He had already had his measurements taken and picked out the suit. The problem was that I wasn't feeling the pants. As Joshua stood on a block, and the tailor continued to write out measurements and colors, I couldn't shake the nagging feeling that was eating at me. Joshua looked perfect, almost. What was it?

I took a chance and found myself standing up and walking in his direction. The tailor was a really cute old guy with a perfectly trimmed graying mustache. He gave me a pleasant smile as I neared closer.

Joshua looked at me with interest. We made the eye contact from the mirror that stood in front of him.  Once I was all the way beside him, one of my hands reached down towards his hip.

"Woah there, Jilly. You sure you want to put the moves on me here?" Joshua asked with a huge smile and a wink. I rolled my eyes and went back to my inspection.

"Shut up, Lachowski." I told him with a smile, as I pulled at some of the fabric gently. My hands finally found the spot that was irking me and I clipped the excess fabric with the tips of my fingers. I tried not to think about the fact that I had just hand fucked Joshua's leg.

"Could you take them in here?" I motioned towards the tailor.

"That's it!" The tailor yelled enthusiastically when he saw my hand. His expression was of utter joy as he wrote down stuff on his clipboard.

"I cannot thank you enough for finding that spot. I knew something wasn't looking right." The older man nodded his head proudly as he slid some pins into both sides to secure the exact spot.

"No problem." I smiled shyly before walking back towards my previous spot, which was a floral chair towards the back.

Joshua had the cutest shocked look on his face, that I just couldn't help the smile that lit up my mine. I could feel the question in his eyes as well, but only shook my shoulders. I couldn't explain it either.

We were trying to decide on a place to eat, when Joshua suddenly turned to me and kissed me. The kiss was completely random, but I didn't waste time thinking about it. He brought his hand up to cup my face and I leaned into it. I let him kiss me right in front of everyone. Some passerby's stared, but I didn't notice.

I was too engrossed in Joshua and what he was making me feel. He pulled away just as quickly as he had kissed me. Grabbing hold of my hand, he smiled back at me and started to pull me ahead. I was thrown off by how bipolar he had been. One minute he had been normal until he kissed me as if he would never see me again, and then he went back to his normal state.

We ate at a really expensive restaurant. The price was worth it because I ended up having the best Italian food in my life.

While we drove back towards the hotel, I couldn't stop staring at our intertwined hands. All day Joshua had been mine.  

Maybe I wasn't that awkward girl that guys like Joshua didn't spare a glance at. Maybe, I was something else. Maybe, I was the person that Joshua made me feel like.

Maybe, I was a girl who was meant to be with someone like him.

We parked the car in the hotel parking lot. Neither of us wanted to get out of the car, but we knew that we had to. I was just about to pull the handle, when Joshua grabbed hold of my hand.

He smiled at me sadly. I could see him from the little light that the moon provided. I wanted to ask him what was wrong, but again, something was stopping me.

We had an amazing day, but I couldn't shake the feeling that there was something wrong. Just like the pants, something wasn't fitting right.

"Lilly, I really care about you. You know that, right?" His intensity threw me off. Why was he making sure of that now?

I licked my lips before nodding me head in agreement. Yes, I knew that he cared. Not just because I wanted him to, but because he had shown me.

"Good, because," Joshua paused looking out of one of the windows. It looked like he was thinking about the right words to say next.

"Because, you really need to know it and not forget it. It's important, Jilly." He picked up again.

I nodded my head slowly, trying to figure out the context of his words. I watched him lean in and kiss my forehead. I closed my eyes at the touch of his lips. Why did this feel like a goodbye? I knew that it wasn't though. It couldn't be.

Could it?

Here is the next chappie for you guys! I cannot thank you guys enough for following Sugar Babe this far! Your support has been the reason that I have continued this book. Guys, the Watty Awards are also looming close! Please, don't forget to vote, comment, and tell others about this book. Now more than ever I need your support!

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Again, thank you guys so much! Also, I've included a meme about Francisco Lachowski on the side XD Finally, the song I am OBSESSED with is also on the side. I listened to it non-stop while I wrote this chapter!