Chapter 48: Chapter 48

"Happiness is not in money, but in shopping."

-Marilyn Monroe-

***

It was Sunday morning at Raphael's penthouse. Clara was awakened by the sunlight radiating from the window. She stretched her muscle while tossing her body to the side, as her arms reached out to feel Raphael beside her but he was not there. She had permanently moved every night to his room to sleep with him.

Most nights they did nothing at all but cuddling around each other, having light or deep conversations while watching a movie or resting without purpose. He had woken up half an hour earlier, thinking he did not want to wake her up since she had been exhausted from all the works she had been doing lately.

Clara spent ten minutes after waking up contemplating on her life. And somehow, she did not know what she did to deserve such amazing life. Yes, there were some unpleasant incidents which had occurred in her life, but for the most part, she was happy, and all the pain she had ever experienced was meant to make her stronger. How funny was it that she had only realized it after all these?

As for the day, she had emptied her schedule and planned on staying at home to relax. She would probably take a few laps of swim followed by a light exercise, noting that she had not had a full body exercise in a while, her body was starting to get stiff and premature bone damage would be the last thing she wanted. Perhaps afterward she would just read a book in her room while drinking a warm cup of tea. Yes, that sounded like a perfect plan

It was when she had freshly taken a morning shower that she found out someone had entered their house. She could hear some chattering from downstairs, not wanting to miss anything, she headed down to find Celine in the living room paying them a visit. She was seen talking to Raphael, both of them were laughing over something before her eyes found Clara and she cut short what she was going to say to pay full attention to her future sister in law.

"Clara, guess what, I am taking you out shopping today, now change your clothes, we will be having a blast" Clara who was still confused raised her shoulder, opening her palm questioningly at Raphael when Celine was not looking, but he only gave her a quirky smile.

When Celine saw Clara still standing there facing Raphael, she grabbed her hand, bringing her upstairs to her room. She had heard rumors from her brother that the closet he had created for her was rather something, as both of them stepped into her closet, Celine could understand why. It was certainly something. Without asking for permission as a sign of their closeness, she began to pull out a few outfits from the wardrobe.

Driven by her fashion sense, she had to take a moment to pick out a great outfit combination from the huge collection, but managed to settle with a soft red knee length dress and a long nude brown coat and a block heel boots.

She handed over the set to Clara, asking her to wear them, she had never thought of combining those before, but decided to listen to her advice, it did not disappoint, for when she looked at herself in the mirror she was actually looking rather fine.

"Can I invite one of my friend as well?" Clara asked Celine just before the left the room. To her surprise, she agreed.

"Of course, the more, the merrier, just make sure she also loves shopping, cause if she doesn't she might not be able to catch up with us." she joked. Clara picked up her phone, searching for her contact, clicked on the call button and had to wait fifteen seconds before it was connected. From the other side of the line, Clara could hear a small murmur of hello.

"Renee, I am planning to go shopping with Raphael's sister, do you want to come with us?" There was a brief pause before Renee gave her a rather off reply.

"Sorry, I have something to do today, I can't go with you, but You should come to my place next week, I'll take you out." Clara felt a bit disappointed, but she dropped it anyway.

"Guess it will just be the two of us."

Before long both of them were heading to Champs Elysees. The best shopping district in Paris. Both had their (husbands') cards at hand, but Clara was not sure if she was going to spend that much, because the last time she went shopping with Raphael on the district she felt like she already saw everything and had plenty bought for herself.

But Celine was able to prove Clara wrong, thirty minutes of walk and they had entered their first store, Van Cleef and Arpel. One of Celine's favorite place to visit. She was a member at Van Cleef and Arpel and had a whole collection of their jewelry. She picked up one of the jewelry and tried it on. The staff were happy to assist her as she was a frequent visitor.

"You see Clara, when you are having a bad day, retail shopping is always a good medicine" She watched as Celine admired the diamond jewels hanging around her neck. She ended up buying it and asked for a thousand-dollar gift card as well.

"It's for my friend." She explained.

"Do you want to get something here?" she asked. Clara shook her head. The jewelries were beautiful but she felt like she had plenty at home. However, judging from her gesture, she realized that Clara was just being shy, because from the look in her eyes, she clearly loved a few pieces in there.

"You know Clara, if you want something, just buy it. Don't worry about my brother. He will not run out of money just because you spend a few thousand dollars." She paused as she took the jewelry bag from the counter.

"Let me tell you a secret, sister. Men might look powerful and all, but the truth is, their desire is to please the woman of their choice. The reason why men work so hard other than for themselves is for acknowledgement from their loved ones, it could be their boss, their family, and most importantly, their spouse, and if he is a gentleman, which my brother is, he would not mind his darling spending a fraction of his earning for things that will make you happy" They walked out from the store and was heading to the next one.

"My husband is also the same, he works hard, and I am so proud of him, I have my own company so I never seek much from him, but he always gives me my monthly allowance anyway. For men, it is what natural for them, they want to play the alpha in the street, to be the dominant role, to provide, it's in their gene, however when it comes to the woman they love, they will be as docile as a tamed bird, a wise woman knows not to make a fuss about it.  and in return, I always give him my whole hearted affection." Hearing those coming from Celine made Clara realized there was so much more she did not understand about relationship. Celine was only a few years older than her but she seemed so much more mature and experienced already.

The next destination had to be one of Celine's favorite designer brand. Hermes. While Hermes is famous for their Birkin and Kelly bag, they also offer other selections at their store which Celine also adored, when she was younger she had hung out with a few jet setter babe and they always had at least one birkin or Kelly in their collection.

That day she had planned to pre ordered another one of the classical piece. When they entered the store, those bags are nowhere to be found. It's normal, after all, the bags which are high in demand was placed somewhere the buyers cannot see at the first sight. It was a strategy intended to make the buyers more appreciative of the handbags.

Celine had managed to previously obtained three birkin bag and four kelly bags, she managed to obtain each piece from each line in different shades. Part of how she did it was thanks to her smooth talking and ability to play along with the game.

When you directly ask for one of the bag to the staff, they will tell you the bag is out of stock or other reasons, and you will most likely lose your chance in obtaining one. The key is to make other purchases first before asking about the bag, even then she was not asking directly for them. That was what she did, she looked around and got a new belt and scarf, a wallet and two pair of new sandals.

The total purchase for her was around ten thousand dollars. When she was about to leave, she approached one of the staff and spoke around about handbags, and at the end before they were leaving, the staff told her that there would be a few pieces available and asked if she wanted one reserved for her. Celine had closed her victory.

They had shopped around all day and both women were getting a bit exhausted.  Clara eventually fell for Celine's words and bought a few new clothes from three different boutiques, and a new handbag. She should be careful next time when going out with Celine because the woman was as persuasive as a professional salesperson.

No, that would be an understatement, Celine was beyond that.

They had spent five hours walking and shopping around and they decided Gallery Lafayette would be their last destination before heading back. They had put their shopping bags in the car and went inside to have lunch and did some more shopping. Oddly enough, by the end of the day, the sisters were closer to each other than ever.

She was home with hands full of shopping bags. Just like what Celine had said, Raphael was not complaining. He helped her with the bags as if it was nothing and asked her if she wanted to head out together for dinner.

As expected. The rich are truly different.