My Own Failure - Ch1 Pt2

But then he got another idea to hopefully make his little housekeeper not just content, but actually happy. He grabbed her wrist a bit tighter than he's intended to, but still started to pull her in the opposite direction down the sidewalk.

"W-Where are we going?!" Tori cried, startled. It wasn't as if, in five years of living with Alfred, that this had never happened before, but it still surprised her every time.

Alfred turned to face her, still running and making every other pedestrian swurve out of his way, and he looked so ecstatic that she thought be might explode or be going insane. His grin was so broad and bright that it would made the Sun green with envy, and the pearly white teeth sparkled like stars. That reminded her of his flag, with his beautiful teeth sparkling like the 50 stars, and his smiling lips against cold-paled skin as the stripes.

But the stripes could've also represented the blush that would engrave the face of all those to see his gorgeous smile... like the same one the she knew crept across her own face right now...

"We're gonna get you a good jacket, what else!" His smile became almost to big for his face. This only made the young woman blush even brighter, and she thanked the heavens that the weather was cold like this. It was the best excuse she could come up with.

But she wasn't expecting what came next...

"I can't let my adorable little housekeeper freeze this winter!"

... Adorable?

After ten minutes of busy hurrying, Alfred stopped them abruptly outside a set of revolving doors leading into a large red building. He let them wait for a few minutes to allow Tori to catch her breath.

Ten minutes later, the two stood in the women's department of Macy's. Oddly enough, Tori, even being a young woman, felt rather awkward and out of place here. She usually just picked up some cheap clothing at a street vendor or made some herself. But what was even stranger was how Alfred looked so... comfortable looking through a rack of womens' coats.

Tori couldn't help but giggle at his enthusiasm as he flipped through various articles and garments. "I, uh..." she smiled brightly, but blushed again when her handsome boss turned to face her, especially with that gorgeous trademark smile of his. "I never knew you were so fond of women's department store, Mr. America, sir." She laughed softly, a little red in the face but trying to hide the obvious color. But he obviously didn't notice, because there's was no dimming in his grin.

But still, he groaned in a mock exasperation that was so over-dramatic that it would've made her giggle if she hadn't been to embarassed and shy. Though the two were friendly, and Alfred had many times before insisted that they were close friends by now, Tori was determined to keep their relationship professional, no matter how depressed it made her. She was worried that if they were to forget that she worked for him, she might try to-

"For the thousandth time," Alfred went on, "it's not 'Mr. America.' That's what people I don't know or that stuffy Arthur would call me."

"You really should be nicer to him," Tori suggested humbly. "You two may've gone your seperate ways, but even I can tell he still cares-"

"Well, either way, I just want you to call me Alfred!" he interrupted. Tori would've loved to call him such, but it was hard to maintain a professional relationship if they were on a first name bas- Wait! Was Alfred... crying?!

Tori's eyes widened noticibly, and she rushed to apologize. "I'm sorry! That was far too bold of me to say, I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have sa-!"

Tori felt cut off when Alfred looked directly at her, smiling and eyes bright under the welled-up tears. She could've sworn he was laughing, and not understanding in the slightest, she could only stare back up at him, eyes wide in innocent confusion.

"It's cute..." he chuckled.

"W-... What?" Now Tori was really confused. She had just accidentally made him cry -the perpetually cheerful Alfred F. Jones!- and now he was laughing and saying something was cute!... Tori couldn't help but wonder if her boss of five years might be slightly bipolar...

"Your voice," he replied kindly, still laughing and gesturing to his own mouth. "Well, your English, anyway. You were really ranting just then, and your accent was making you stumble over some words a little..."

Now she was really humiliated. In the middle of a crowded store, she'd just horrifically butchered the country's language! All she wanted to do at this point was to crawl into a hole and stay there for fifty or sixty years.

But before Tori could start Hole Hunting, Alfred was quick to add, "It was cute!... I thought it was cute..."

He hadn't meant to hurt her feelings. He could never do that intentionally! She was such a wonderful that... But he couldn't. And he couldn't let himsself hurt her either. So, before she could run off in shame -an idea betrayed in the redness of her plae cheeks- he changed to subject to the most easily accessible he could think of.

"Either way, I like Alfred coming from you. Everyone else can call me Mr. America, but we've been too close for too long to let you get away with it!" He laughed, and hoped she would, too. He sighed secretly in relief as he saw the corners of her lips curl up in a small smile.

But there was still the little challenge to his masculinity. "And it's not a women's store, it's Macy's!"

"But..." Tori started, smile brightening just a bit in her own amusement, "We are with the women's clothes..."

Alfred laughed. He couldn't deny or defend himself in this. "Well, that's true. But it's because you need an awesome new coat for the winter!"

Tori's face drained -finally, but not for the better. She couldn't allow Alfred to spend much on her. She was a girl of simple needs. Sure, she appreciated that he was willing to buy her a coat, but she didn't need anything fancy or even that nice.

"But, Mr. Am-... Alfred," She quickly corrected herself before he felt the need to remind her. "I don't need much. Just something to keep me warm, I guess..." She really didn't need him to buy her anything at all. It wasn't like she was his slave: she worked for money. But she was the one who insisted that she didn't need any money to spend on herself, just to keep her people from starving. Alfred was already giving her food, her own room in his humble mansion, and companionship whenever he wasn't working.

Alfred brushed her comment off, continued to flip through items on the coat rack. She deserved a new coat, a really nice one... and so much more, but a coat would do for now... "Not true! I'm not gonna just grab some ratty old thing off the bargain rack and have you where that! I want you to feel..."

Tori couldn't think of a reason for his pause. Maybe he was just thinking of a word to use. She decided to pitch in. "Presentable?" she offered.

'I was thinking "beautiful,"' Alfred thought, but he couldn't gather the courage to say it out loud. "... Yeah," he agreed, wishing he'd had the guts to speak his mind just then. What was wrong with him?

He decided to ignore it for now, and leave the thinking for that night when he could be alone with his thoughts.

After having spent too long debating over which coat would look best on Tori -was there anything that wouldn't look good on her?- Alfred finally plucked a nice one off the rack. "Ah, this looks good!" he grinned and lunged the coat excitedly into her arms. "Go on, go try it on! I'm gonna go look for something..." He smirked. "You'll be okay by yourself?"

Tori blushed an even brighter shade of red. "U-um! No, it's fine!" she stammered, not quite sure what he meant by "alone."

Alfred was a bit sad at her anxiety, but managed to hide his concerned behind another warm smile. "Alright..." He gestured to a general area a little ways off in the store. "I think it's somewhere over there. Just ask a salesperson, they'll direct you!"

He chuckled a little at whatever he thought was so funny, but Tori didn't mind. She loved that he was smiling while talking to her. It made her feel almost like she was making him smile, and that just made her feel... special.

Tori spent the next five minutes wandering the women's department. Maybe she should've asked Alfred to help her find it, but that would be too humiliating for him. She was too selfless to do any more than consider the idea.

Tori then found a tall woman with springy red hair and standing behind a counter. Tori approached the woman, carrying the coat carefully in her hands. "Um, execuse me? Ma'am?" she squeaked.

The older -much older- woman turned to her sharply. "What do ya want?" she snapped, glaring sternly at Tori. The woman was obviously Irish, if her thick accent meant anything. But with such a thick accet of her own, Tori was certainly not going to judge her for it.

Instead, she asked, "W- Where's the nearest changing room?"

The woman scoffed louly at her. "Ech! What kinda voice is dat?! Dirty Russian girl or summut?!"

Tori's eyelids opened to side she thought her eyes might fall out of the sockets. What- Why would this woman say such things? Did she have something against immigrants? Really? Because she must've been one herself, at least at some point!

But, of course, Tori wasn't so brave as to voice her opinion, so she stumbled over a response to the insults.

The Irish woman took this as an opprotunity to finish off "grandly."

"You cand find yur own dressin' room!" she snapped once more. "Now, leave me alone!"

Tori was frozen in shock. Why... it didn't make sense to her. After a long, shocked pause, she mumbled an almost inaudible "Okay" and went to find a dressing room.

Behind her back, Tori heard the saleswoman say just one more thing about her, in not such a secretive voice, not like she was trying to gossip about someone when still in the room... something, of course, Tori would never do. It was only three little words, but nonetheless the words still stung.

"Dirty Eastern whore..."

Alfred was now standing outside her dressing room door, knocking every ten seconds to ask if she was done. She'd already tried on the musty brown fur coat, and although it took a bit of convincing from Alfred, she looks great in it. Alfred now held the coat in one arm as he used the free one to rap his fist against the door.

"Tori?" he called, knocking once more. "You've been in there a while..." he laughed. It was kinda cute that she was so self-concious, when there was really no need for it. She was pretty and looked good in everything. Why did she still feel so insecure?

Well, of course, Alfred wasn't secure enough himself to tell her such things. As strange as it seemed, even the hero was too worried about what his companion thought of him. Should he be so bold as to tell her just how wonderful she is, he'd certainly go for broke and tell her everything. But what if she didn't feel the same? She was even reluctant to be on a first-name basis with him. How would she take it if she found out he...

"I'm okay," he heard her laugh inside. He wished he could've seen her face when she laughed. It wasn't like he never had before, but he didn't have time to remember it as she started talking again. "The buttons... They won't go in..." she sounded a bit sad, almost like she felt overweight just because a few buttons wouldn't go in.

"I could help, ya know," Alfred offered, not entirely aware of what he was volunteering for but wanting to help out, and to see her in the forest green dress he'd found ("You look like green would be your color.")

"Er... Okay..." Alfred heard a soft click as Tori unlocked the door, and the careful pat of her worn shoes on the carpeted floor as she reemerged.

Tori turned a little, and Alfred found himself unable to do anything but stare. The dark green cotton fit prefectly on her petite form. This was the first time Alfred had actually noticed just how well her dark hairline framed her fair face, and now he wanted to see the gorgeous locks let down. He'd only ever seen her hair in a ponytail. Or at least he thought so... was he really so oblivious all these years?

Tori took his silence as a negativity, and hung her head to face the floor. Her thin fingers began to toy with the top two buttons of her dress, which had not yet been latched into the little holes on the other side. It wasn't until she gave a quiet but audible sigh that Alfred remembered the help he had offered. He stepped in front of her, but one bound too large and things really started to heat up.

First of all, Alfred had accidentally stepped a bit closer to her than he'd intended. Now, with their faces just six inches apart, Alfred went to work on the buttons when he realized what a mess he'd gotten himself into.

As he went to start on the buttons, there -right in front of his hands- was temptation mocking him right into his ear. Tori's chest wasn't too big, but even so was certainly the right size for Alfred. He would scold himself later, he thought, as he allowed a vision to enter his sparked mind. If he were to grab on, he mused, they'd be just the right size to fit perfectly into his hands. Alfred mentally drooled at the thought of holding her like that, especially considering that his hands were none too small!

With her top two buttons innocently unhooked, it was almost too much for Alfred. But no matter what, he had far too much respect for Tori and would never thrust that upon her... But he also inwardly cringed in sorry frustration at his poor choice of words to reason with.

Yes, Alfred Jones had certainly gotten himself into a beautiful, wonderful mess.