The Alchemists

London dropped L in front of the studio. He didn't come down. Outside, Pammy was already waiting for L and accompanied her inside.

"There's a slight change in schedule. We should wait inside," Pammy informed while holding L's hand. She nodded towards London to express her gratitude for taking her artist to the studio.

London nodded in return and drove away. On the way to his penthouse to change attires before returning to the office, he smiled to himself. He imagined L's surprise when she found out how the backing dancers and musicians at the festival were all plus-sized. Their presence would surely make her look as slim and s.e.xy as she wanted.

Too bad he wouldn't be there to see her smile.

Come to think of it, L was indeed stingy with her smiles. London could only remember L smiling when she was being photographed or interviewed on television. The girl had never smiled naturally in front of him...

Except when they were... ahem... m.a.k.i.n.g. .l.o.v.e.

His face turned red at the thought of the incident.

Dammit. If this kept up, how could he possibly concentrate on working? Every time he remembered L, he would remember that event. The research said that men think about s.e.x every five minutes, and London had to admit it. He never thought about s.e.x explicitly, but ever since he was with L, he often thought of her beautiful body and s.e.xy m.o.a.n when they made love.

Focus, Mr. Schneider! You still have to think about various things that are far more important! For example, how will you take care of your child after L leaves, and most importantly... how will you tell your family about the child!

Ugh...

When he changed his clothes at the penthouse, London remembered L's comment about him only having three sets of clothes. That made L conclude that London was actually dirt poor.

Uhm... his lips smiled remembering that. It turned out that even though she seemed cold and uncaring, L was actually quite concerned about him. If L didn't care about him, how could she notice that London only had three sets of clothes?

He buttoned up his expensive shirt then sat in his office chair while opening his laptop. He had better buy some cheap clothes so he wouldn't seem too suspicious.

He opened a marketplace website and searched for clothes, then sorted them from the lowest prices.

Hmm... he found a few clothes that looked quite decent and were cheap. He clicked buy then checkout. The clothes he ordered would arrive by express delivery to his office later in the evening. He would then bring his new clothes home after work.

After he finished shopping, he returned to the office cheerfully.

***

"How strange..." L said suddenly.

"What is?" London asked while driving without taking his eyes off the road. He just picked L up from the studio, and now, they were on their way home.

"Earlier, my training schedule was changed last-minute, and all my regular dancers couldn't come. Their schedules clashed with another singer's concert. The company had to find another team of dancers to accompany me... How strange." L shrugged, looking confused.

London faintly smiled at that. He knew that Jan Van Der Ven had a magic touch. Whatever he asked for, Jan would always be able to carry them out well and efficiently.

"You don't like the new team of dancers?" he asked while glancing at L.

"That's not it, I like it. They're nice, and..." The girl smiled a little, "They're fatter than me... I'm no longer the sack of rice."

London almost couldn't believe his own eyes. L smiled! 

It looks like she's happy with her new team of dancers.

Ha. I knew it, London thought happily.

Inside, he praised his intelligence and quick wits.

Anyway, he won't let L be stressed, which would also stress their child. If it was just changing the dance team, it was basically nothing to him.

"I'm glad to hear that," the young man nodded.

When they arrived at their apartment, L asked London to bring her shopping bags from the trunk. Pammy had placed the shopping bags in the trunk when she was taking L to the parking lot. London only noticed now how numerous L's shopping bags were after he opened it in front of the apartment building.

"What are these? Groceries?" London questioned. "When did you buy all these?"

He shouldn't be surprised, considering that L was well-known as a materialistic girl, of course, she would love shopping.

"While I was waiting for the new schedule, I took the time to go to an online marketplace and bought a few clothes for the upcoming festival," L commented. "I also bought you a few clothes, so you don't just keep wearing the same clothes all the time. They hurt my eyes…"

"Eh... what?" London was stunned to hear that. He looked at the shopping bags in the trunk and saw that some of the brands were indeed men's clothing brands. One or two bags actually included men's clothing brands that were quite expensive. "You bought me clothes? Why?"

"I told you, my eyes hurt seeing you wear the same clothes all the time..." L shrugged.

London widely smiled. "You're not doing this to thank me? Or because you started liking me?"

L rolled her eyes. She didn't answer and immediately entered the elevator to the 30th floor.

London was elated because it turned out that L was so concerned about him. She even bought him clothes after she scolded him for having only three sets of shirts yesterday. He opened the shopping bags and saw that L had a pretty good taste.

If they get married, he'll leave it to her to pick clothes for him every day!

He happily took out the ten shopping bags from the trunk of his car. He walked with difficulty carrying them to the elevator. Ah, he remembered that he also bought some cheap clothing sets from the marketplace this afternoon. He hurriedly took out the shopping bag containing the clothes he had bought and threw them into a trash bin.

He couldn't let L know he also bought a few clothes...

"Eh... Boss, let me carry them for you," Dave, who appeared from behind the elevator door, exclaimed. Without having to be ordered to, he brought all the shopping bags to the thirtieth floor. London told him to put all the shopping bags in front of his apartment door. After he did so, Dave immediately left. London didn't want L to catch him asking someone else to bring things for him.

After knocking twice, he opened the door and entered carrying the shopping bags one by one. There were two shopping bags with clothes for him, and the rest were for L herself. Tsk tsk...

"Thanks," L said, taking her things and bringing her clothes to her room. She returned a moment later wearing a new set of clothes. It was a loose blue dress with a model of ancient Greek women's dresses. "What do you think?"

London smiled. L looked so beautiful in that dress.

"Lovely," he said honestly.

"Hmm..." L returned to her room and came out ten minutes later, wearing a yellow dress. It was a sunflower-patterned bohemian-styled summer dress. "How about this one?"

"Beautiful," London reiterated his admiration. L looked bright and cheerful in this dress.

"Hmm..." L frowned before returning to her room and coming out ten minutes later in another new dress. "How about this one?"

Wow... this pink dress really took London's breath away. The dress had a low cleavage and accentuated L's s.e.xy collarbone and neckline, making her large b.r.e.a.s.ts look even more charming.

"Rea...lly… lovely," Again, London gave his honest opinion. He had to swallow his saliva when he couldn't take his eyes off L's beautiful bosom poking out from under the dress's low cleavage.

"You're not objective! Everything is lovely and beautiful! How am I supposed to know which one I should wear to the festival??"

The girl raised her voice and entered the room with a frown.

God... London wanted to pinch that temperamental girl. L looked beautiful in any dress, and London had only expressed his honest opinion. Still, L instead grumbled and accused him of not being objective.

Sigh...

Why is it so hard to convince L that he's telling the truth?