Shopping spree.

The two women checked their hair and dresses in the elevator's mirrored walls while they made their way down to the ground floor. One of the doormen flagged a Cadillac Escalade SUV limousine parked in front of the entrance. The driver excitedly opened the back door for the beautiful women. Ryan hopped in to the front passenger seat.

"Where would you like to go, sir?" the driver asked Ryan but looked in the rear-view mirror.

"Ask them. I'm just tagging along to pay."

"We'll start at Alexander McQueen," Veronica said.

"Yes, ma'am," the driver smiled. He knew from past clients that a single dress there would cost at least a couple thousand dollars. If his passengers could afford to do a shopping spree of the luxury designer clothing boutiques along Madison Avenue, he would receive a very nice tip on top of the eye candy in the back of his car.

"I'm tempted to wait in the car with you," Ryan muttered to the driver when the limousine pulled up to the front of the store. He never enjoyed shopping and he was lucky that his ex-fiancee, when they were together, was to entranced with her career and job to bother with obsessing with shopping.

"Then you will not see us try on the dresses, love," Marlissa said after her husband opened the door for her. She kissed him on the cheek after stepping out. Veronica kissed him as well, but on the lips, when she got out of the car. They entered the opulent 3,500 square foot store with dark marble flooring, furniture with bronze animal feet and monster claws, and white walls with shapes of feathers, wings, and sea-horse tails within the plaster molding.

"It's been too long, Ms. Auberge," the manager greeted Veronica with a hug and the two women kissed each other on the cheeks. "How is your store?"

"Not as well as yours, Katherine, especially after we're done shopping today," the brunette smiled at the pretty thirty-something blonde. "I'm here to help my friend, Sam, on her wardrobe."

Katherine extended her hand to Marlissa and the succubus graciously accepted it. "Are you a model, Ms... ?"

"Mrs. Carter," Marlissa corrected, realising it was the first time she addressed as missus. "And no, I am not a model yet. Veronica is going to take me to a modeling agent today."

"In that case we will dress you for success," the manager smiled. Her blue eyes lit up at the sight the tall, handsome man standing beside Marlissa. "And this must be your husband, Mr. Carter?"

"Dr. Carter, actually," Ryan corrected but Ryan knew from her smile what she was already thinking from past experience. "I'm an archeologist, not a medical doctor."

"Please have a seat while we help your wife," the manager said, signalling an assistant to lead Ryan to a chair. He pulled out his smartphone to keep himself busy while Veronica and Katherine helped Marlissa with various dresses, skirts, and shoes. He looked up from his phone to see his wife wearing a gorgeous silk ladder high neck black dress.

"That's a perfect fit, honey," he commented. "How much is it? I think we capped my credit card at Veronica's store."

"If you have to ask then you can't afford it," Veronica joked. "Don't worry I'll cover you today. You can pay me back later."

Ryan wondered if she had something in mind when it came to payment. It was for the best he did not see the total amount when the women were finally done because it would not surprise him that they had spent as much as his lowly university professor salary on this one store.

"Where to next, ladies?" Ryan asked as he carried the bags to the SUV waiting outside.

"Valentino, Christian Louboutin, Tom Ford, Prada, Giorgio Armani, Chloé," Veronica spouted as she got into the car. "To start."

"I think I have to take out a mortgage by the time you're through," Ryan joked but he was partially serious in his tone.

"Don't worry," the brunette assured him as they pulled up to the next boutique. "We will talk about repayment over lunch."

Ryan looked at his wife as he held the door open for them. She winked and smiled innocently before walking into the door held open by a doorman, who gave a sympathetic nod to Ryan as he followed the women inside.

Veronica knew her fashion and the salesclerks, who were charmed by Marlissa's grace and beauty, wondering if she was a model they had seen in a magazine. They picked the best dresses, skirts, and shoes, which often than not meant the highest prices, for the future model. Ryan's worry about the cost of all the clothes were dashed when Marlissa came out of the changing room and display the formfitting clothing she modelled for him. If she made a career as a fashion model she could afford the clothes she was buying he figured.

"Shall we go for lunch?" he asked as they left the sixth store with more shopping bags that was filling up the back of the SUV. He hoped they would be done shopping by going to lunch.