Chapter Three

Dakota parked her car at the parking lot and walked towards the clothing store. Today was the launch day of the spring set collection she had designed. Mother and Diana were already at the store, attending to new and existing shoppers. 

She stood in the parking lot, checking her phone for any missed call or message from Ryan, her fiancé. She had been calling him all day but it kept going straight to voicemail, so she sent him a text message to know what was going on.

As she got into the store, she took in the scene before her. The fact that people looked so eager to invest an insane amount of money on clothes she had designed made her smile with pride. 

At the corner of her eye, she spotted Diana talking to some customers, animatedly. A young man who looked familiar was making a video of her, just like the other shoppers. They seemed so taken by Diana and what she was saying that they didn’t even notice her.

As Dakota advanced forward, she suddenly stopped in her tracks. It was Ryan.

She took out her phone from her bag and dialed his number. She watched him stare at his phone ring, clearly thinking of what to do. Much to Dakota’s surprise, he declined the call and continued to focus on Diana. 

Her heart sank. “Ryan?” She called out, softly.

As he turned towards the sound of her voice, his expression resembled a deer caught in headlights. 

“Babe…what are you doing here?” Filled with unease, he glanced at Diana and back at her.

“What do you mean what am I doing here? I work here.” She laughed lightly, confused by his question.

He let out a nervous laugh. “Right, you do.”

Dakota frowned deeply. Was it just her or was he acting strange?

“I’ve been trying to reach you all day. What’s going on?” She asked.

He smiled and pulled her away from the crowd. “Nothing’s going on, babe. Why would you think that?” 

“You didn’t return any of my calls and you didn’t tell me you’d be coming here today.” She stated, confusion visible on her face.

He scratched his head sheepishly. “I guess I wanted to surprise you.” 

Convinced, Dakota visibly relaxed. “Oh, you should have still called back. You made me worry.”

“Well, well, well if it isn’t the cutest lovebirds of the year. ”

Diana cooed with a sickly sweet smile, as she joined them. She stood a bit too close to Ryan, who appeared anxious. 

“Hello, sis.” She quipped. Ryan shifted awkwardly.

Dakota gave a restrained smile in return. She wasn’t in the mood for Diana’s antics. 

Staring back and forth between the two of them, Diana laughed. “What’s with the sour faces? Aren’t you both excited to be getting married soon?” 

Neither of them responded. Dakota didn’t know what her sister was up to but she certainly wasn’t in the mood. She glanced at Ryan, waiting to see his reaction, but he only smiled weakly.

“We should pay attention to the guests.” Dakota began to speak.

“What do you think, sis?” Diana unexpectedly moved closer to Ryan and wrapped her hand around his arm, tightly.

“Diana…” Ryan protested feebly, but didn’t pry his arm away from hers. He only stared at Dakota with wide eyes.

“Don’t you think we look like the better couple?” Her sister asked with a cocky smile. She held onto Ryan’s arm, not letting go. 

Dakota stood there, stunned. She didn’t know what hurt more, that Diana could say something like that to her or that Ryan let her sister hold his arm in that manner.

The room suddenly became small. She needed some air.

“Oh my God, you should see your face! You looked like you were going into shock.” Her sister said with a snicker. 

“It was a joke, obviously. Loosen up, big sis.” She further stated, as she shook her head.

Dakota was not the type to cause a scene, especially on a day like this. She refused to take the bait Diana was dangling in her face. Today had to be perfect for Mother or she would never trust her to do anything ever again. 

She smiled forcefully. “A joke. Of course.” 

Although Diana liked to rile her up, she trusted Ryan. He didn’t want to embarrass her sister, so he let it happen. He wouldn’t do anything to hurt her. 

Diana let go of Ryan, who just looked on dumbly. “Well, this has been fun. Toodles.” She said, as she sashayed away. As Dakota proceeded to leave, Ryan held her wrist to stop her.

“I need to talk to you. Can we go somewhere quiet?” He asked, a serious look on his face. 

“Ryan, if it’s about what Diana said, you don’t have to explain yourself to me. I know how she is.” She said, reassuringly.

He scratched his head. “It’s not about that, D. It’s something important.” She had come to notice that he only called her that when he wanted to apologize for something he did. 

“Can it wait until later? I need to be present for today’s event.” Today was too important to be distracted by anything else. 

Ryan ran his fingers through his hair and sighed. “Actually, it—”

“Dakota?” Mother suddenly called out. She stood a few feet away from them.

“I have to go now. Let’s talk later, okay?” Dakota freed her wrist from his grip and walked to meet her mother. Ryan sighed in resignation and trotted off in the opposite direction.

“This is not the time for frivolities. We have people to attend to and sales to make!” Her mother said, scowling. 

“I’m sorry, Mother. Ryan wanted to talk to me.” She tried to explain.

Mother lifted a manicured finger to cut her off. “Spare me the details. I don’t have the time and frankly, I’m not interested. I won’t have you standing here making small talk with Richard, while we have customers waiting to be attended to!” 

Dakota grimaced. She thought of correcting Mother’s mistake of her fiancé’s name but she had a feeling it wouldn’t be appreciated at that moment, so she kept quiet.

“Where’s Diana? Elias Persson just came in and I want her to be the one to show him around.” Her mother inquired. 

Dakota stilled at the mention of Elias. If they ran into each other again, he might finally remember their awkward encounter. 

“She was here a while ago. I’ll go find her.” She offered.

Mother nodded. “Be quick about it.” She sauntered off in the direction Diana had taken when she left. As she passed the clothing section, she heard a familiar voice.

“Why did you bring me here? You know we can’t be seen together.” It was Diana, unmistakably. She seemed to be in a heated conversation with someone.

As Dakota progressed to announce her presence, the voice of the other person caused her to stop in her tracks.

“You shouldn’t have done that to her.” The voice chided. She froze. Was she hearing Ryan’s voice?

Diana scoffed. “I have no idea of what you’re talking about.” She furrowed her eyebrows in confusion and pressed her body against the wall to avoid being spotted. 

“You know exactly what I’m talking about. You’re making it obvious that something’s going on between us.” Ryan stated in a low tone.