Chapter 61 - Flavored Lube

When Lina was about to take a step forward, Stacy yanked her backwards.

"Hey!" Lina yelled when she was dragged back and held onto the railing for support.

Stacy ignored her and jumped to the bottom of the stairs.

'Did this girl just jump in her high heels?' Lina was in awe when she saw Stacy perfectly land onto the floor and said 'Ta-da!'

Though she only jumped over a couple of steps, doing that in her heels was amazing.

Rolling her eyes, Lina moved once again but Stacy screamed.

"Freeze..!" Successfully stopping Lina in her tracks.

The commotion had made all the servants in the kitchen and hall to rush over to where they were.

"What's wrong, Miss Tang?" Butler Ping hurriedly asked Stacy.

"May I have a tissue or a piece of cloth?" She politely asked a maid nearby and she handed over a washcloth to Stacy.

Lina, who was still frozen in place, saw Stacy come up to where she was and bend down.

Stacy wiped the cloth on the step right below the one where Lina stood and went back to Butler Ping and handed it over to him.

He took it and closely examined it and then turned to where Lina stood.

"Young Miss please stay right there for a while." He then whispered something in the maid's ear and she quickly ran to the kitchen.

In a matter of seconds, she was back with a mop and a bucket. She climbed the steps and started mopping them, from where Lina stood, all the way to the floor.

Lina was confused at first, looking at their weird behaviour but when Stacy had wiped the cloth on the step Lina too took a closer look at it.

'Why is that step glistening?' She bent a little and ran her finger on it when Butler Ping was giving instructions to the maid.

She felt that whatever was on the floor, it was greasy and slippery. She brought the finger to her nose and sniffed it 

'Smells like tangerines…' She frowned.

Soon the step was wiped dry and Lina carefully stepped on it and reached Stacy and the others.

Butler Ping quickly dismissed all the servants so that they might talk about what had happened.

"Thank God, you have such a sharp eye and a lithe body!" Lina exhaled heavily and praised Stacy, trying to lighten the mood.

But Stacy was in no mood to joke around with her. She looked at Butler Ping and saw him seriously nod.

"I'll give you a reasonable answer by the time you are back." He solemnly said and placed a hand over his chest. Like he was taking a vow.

"It's fine. I already know who it might be." Lina was not at all taking this situation seriously.

"Who?" Stacy asked and stared at her.

Lina pulled the washcloth from her hand and shoved it towards her nose. This made Stacy instantly recoil and push it away.

"Eww Lina!! Gross…! That was just on the floor." She cringed and rubbed her nose with a napkin that Butler Ping offered.

"Drama queen. Smell it." She gave it to Butler Ping this time and he took a sniff.

"Orange?" He guessed after smelling it.

"Close. It's tangerines." She corrected him.

"Okay super sniffer, but who buys tangerine flavored lube?" Stacy scratched her head and Lina flickered her forehead.

"It's body oil, you pervert!" She said through gritted teeth.

"Find out who uses it and we know our culprit." She said to Butler Ping.

Though she already had an idea of who that person might be, she did not want to speak without evidence.

"Yes, Young Miss!" He said and waited for further instructions.

"There's no need of informing Uncle Pat about this, at least for now. We need to get going. We'll be back before dinner." Lina said as she dragged Stacy towards the door.

----

Today Lina had given Derek the day off, so that he could spend the weekend with his brother.

They took a silver Maybach from the garage and agreed to toss a coin to see who will drive the car.

"It's a good thing that I won the toss, or else this baby would be moving at snail's pace." Stacy rubbed the steering and mocked Lina's driving skills.

"Whatever. But how did you notice that the step was slippery?" Lina asked the question that was bugging her.

"Oh that? I was checking out your rack and then my eyes fell on the step you were about to take. The sunlight from the window fell on it and the surface glittered." She said as she drove out of the Yang Manor and Lina rolled her eyes.

"And you jumped over three steps in your heels because of that?" She was amazed at her quick thinking.

"It's either that or seeing you with your front teeth missing." She joked and got punched on her arm.

"Just so you know I have catlike reflexes!" Lina huffed and turned away from her.

"Sure sure, Lina the wildcat." She seriously nodded her head and they both laughed out.

Soon they reached a shopping mall and Stacy parked the car.

"So wanna eat something or wanna shop?" She waited for Lina to decide and looked over all the stores there.

There were all kinds of high end stores all around them. Though not up to Phoenix Mall's standard, this place could be considered as second best in the city.

"Let's shop first. That place looks like it's for formal wear. Come on!" Lina dragged Stacy to a store that sold business attire.

It was a custom tailored suit store. Lina marveled looking at the variety of designs that could be worn for work.

"This place looks great!" She exclaimed and saw an old man walking towards them.

"Thank you, Miss. How may I help you?" He politely asked her and she told him about her situation.

"Hmm.. How about you let our seamstress take your measurements and I'll make a few custom designs that will compliment you." He nodded while looking over Lina's figure.

"I can quickly draw up a few drafts for you in a couple hours. Why don't you look at the other stores and come back here after you are done? Then you can decide if you want to get them stitched or not." He proposed and she accepted it.

Lina and Stacy would be back in the evening and then she would decide whether she would use this store's services or not.

After leaving that store, Stacy dragged her to a haute couture boutique. They bought gorgeous and flowy evening gowns. 

Stacy wanted to stay there longer but was dragged out by Lina and they entered the shoe store.

They bought everything that caught their attention and the manager offered to have everything delivered to Yang Manor.

The shoe shopping drained their energy and they decided to recuperate while having lunch at the revolving restaurant in the mall.

All the private rooms were booked in advance and so they had to sit downstairs but that was not a problem for them.

Lina ordered Truffle butter lobster with linguini and Stacy had the filet mignon with garlic butter.

They pigged out and then continued with their spree. 

After the jewelry store, the candy store and even the lingerie store. Lina discovered a nail salon and decided to get her nails done.

They found the place empty and soon got service. Lina opted for a french manicure and Stacy got acrylics with blue flowers on them.

They sat and spoke about her new job and Stacy's work.

"Ohh… So Nana has a crush? and you are meeting him for dinner tomorrow?" Stacy teased her after she spoke about Ivan.

"It's not like we will be alone. There will be other people as well." She mumbled and Stacy chuckled.

"Is that disappointment I hear in your voice?" Stacy made fun of her and got glared at.

"Shut up!" She whined and gave Stacy the silent treatment.

---

"How long are you going to ignore me?" Stacy waved her hand in front of Lina's face and she just turned away.

They had been in two other stores and Lina refused to even look at Stacy because of the silent treatment.

"Don't you want to buy something nice for dinner with Mr. Crush?" Stacy said when she saw Lina walk forward without her.

Hearing this, Lina stopped and turned towards her slowly.

"I just want to look good tomorrow. Not for anyone else, but for ME!" She insisted and Stacy furiously nodded her head.

"This place looks good." She dragged Lina into a NEO branch in this mall.

Lina, who already owned one piece from NEO, happily walked in and looked through the clothes.

"How about this one?" Stacy held a dress in her hand and showed it to Lina.

It was a black dress with a lace halterneck which had sheer lace strips that went through her cleavage and ended beneath her breasts. It had a low back slit and was form fitting.

"Looks great but not appropriate to meet my colleagues." She rejected it and went back to looking around.

"Stace? That one looks like something you would wear." Lina pointed at the dress behind Stacy.

"Oh la la..!" Stacy walked to the dress and touched it. 

She liked it very much. It was a skin-tight, metallic bodycon dress with thin shoulder straps and a low scoop neckline.

She then found another one for herself. This was a sexy mini dress that had a criss-cross neckline. 

After purchasing these, they finally found the one for Lina.

This one was a Boho chic flirty mini dress that had a plunging neckline with a lace-up closure, a sheer crochet trim, short sleeves, a scoop back, and a curve-hugging skirt.

"Now that's what I am talking about!" Stacy patted her back and forced Lina to buy it.

Though reluctant at first, the more she saw it, the more she liked it.

Before leaving Lina even bought the first dress that Stacy had shown her.

'It's so beautiful. I'm sure I can wear it some other time.' She convinced herself and happily swiped her card. 

The only person happier than her was the saleswoman who accompanied them. The commission for this one sale would be more than her monthly bonus.