[i]“I do not believe you.” [/i]  His words echoed in her mind.  Oh he should believe her, she was terrified.  Lucia faked confidence well, but it was an act, a charade.  Something you did to get through one day after the next.  She could probably fake this too, but that didn't make her wish that having a dozen cats, several streaming services, and delivery pizza was a valid career choice.  She drew a deep breath and nodded her head slowly.  She wasn't going to argue as much as she wanted to.  There would be other times, other issues.  In truth he had certain things that seemed to matter to him a great deal, and to her very little.  What was the harm in going with it?


Lu did her best to ignore the whispering and awwing coming from the sales clerks.  Her eyes flicked across the mirror and caught a glimpse of at least two of them watching.  She fought the urge to roll her eyes at them, and jerked her attention back to Serge as he clasped the bracelet around her wrist.  She held her hair out of the way for him as he lifted it to place the necklace around her neck before letting it fall.  She met his gaze in the mirror, his smile matched by her own as he asked if she needed anything else.  

"I should be asking you that question.  I am lucky if I make it out the door in shoes that match each other."  She said as she turned to face him a brief expression of mischief crossing her face almost to fast for him to catch it, but he was quick, he probably saw it.  "Although now that you mention it, there is one itty bitty teeny tiny thing."  She said.  

She closed the gap between them so she could speak very quietly.  "Lu, Lucia, Gwen, Guinevere. Anything but Ms. Baker.  I'm pretty sure once your hands have been under my skirt, You've earned the right to call me by my given name."  She teased about her reasoning, but she was serious.  Ms. Baker was her mother.  She didn't feel like Ms. Baker, She wasn't Ms. Wilmer either, right now, she was just Lu.