"What did you order this time?"
Jodi asked as soon as Shantal was back in her seat.
"It's the limited edition Astro Sneaker that was recently released by Alpha Tech."
Shantal answered back.
Truth be told, Shantal did not exactly hate her cousin. It was just that she could hardly enjoy her company because of the constant comparison between them.
After all, who would enjoy being compared to someone?
She often gave Jodi the cold shoulder, but the other party did not seem to mind. She would always stick around regardless of how indifferent Shantal was towards her.
"You are really trying to live up with your name as the Shopaholic Queen, are you not?"
Jodi could not help but leave a comment as she watched Shantal unboxed the item.
Shantal, on the other hand only smiled back at her cousin and no longer say a word after that. She continued what she was doing and excitedly ripped the packaging apart as though a child opening a present.
When she took the pair of sneakers out of the box, she lifted it carefully right before her eyes so she could marvel it. It was a white sneaker with black stripes at the side. The design was rather plain in the eye.
Looking at its sole, and golden figure of '1' could be seen embossed to it and it stuck out within the white-color sole like a sore thumb.
Other than that, the sneaker could easily pass off as a normal shoe.
It looked normal at one glance but it was actually heavier compared to a normal sneaker because it has built-in features like it allowed its user to levitate by tapping to some sort of magnetic force.
Meanwhile, when Jodi saw the number embossed at its sole, her eyes grew wide as big as saucer plates
"You managed to snatch the Number 1?! That's amazing!"
She exclaimed with obvious amazement in her eyes. She was fully aware of how hard it was to nab Astro Sneakers, even if one had the money to buy it; not to mention the Shoe Number 1.
After all, it was not a limited edition for no reason. In fact, Jodi was actually one of the many shopping fanatics who ended up broken-hearted on the first day of the year after they failed to secure an Astro Sneaker for their own use.
"Of course, I will only take nothing but the best for me."
Shantal replied with a smirk as though buying Astro Sneaker Number 1 was an achievement that she should be proud of.
Truth be told, the feeling of outdoing Jodi in this area somehow gave her the feeling of validation. At the same time, the power of buying whatever she pleased somehow do the trick of filling the void she has inside.
It was for that same reason why she usually splurged a fortune in shopping. It helped her get her mind off the thought that she was alone. Because both of her parents died from an accident, back when she was still a kid.
"What is this for?"
Shantal asked when she spotted a catalog placed inside the box.
The catalog was of average size, although it was quite thin compared to the usual one.
Curious, she flipped through the booklet of bright colors proclaiming the great uses and amazing reviews of the products that it sells.
However, when her eyes landed on its last page, she dropped it on the floor.
"Reprobate!"
"What's wrong with you?"
Jodi asked back when she noticed that her cousin's cheek was flushed. She was just about to reach out to the book to check what was on it.
She wondered what Shantal could have possibly seen in the book for her to react that way. But before she could even lay a finger on the book, Shantal already snatched it away from her.
"Nothing."
She told Jodi as she tried to act as nonchalant as she could. But judging from how her face was turning into the shade of scarlet, Jodi already had an inkling of what was going on.
"You've seen the sexbot section, have you not?"
Jodi inquired with a playful grin pasted on her face and knowing that her cousin had already busted her, Shantal's eyes went heavenward.
"Come on, cous. What is there to be shy for?"The other party insinuated as she took the book from Shantal's hand."Fine, you're right."Shantal relented but not before letting out an exasperated sigh.Jodi was relatively more liberated than her when it came down to things like that. That was why it was no surprise to them when Jodi turned up to be one of those who gave in to the recent fad of buying robotic boyfriend online.She named it Arvin, and since then Jodi had been very open with her romantic affair of shacking it up with tin cans."For crying out loud, Shantal. We're adults now! This is the perfect time for us to explore new things. You love buying stuff anyway so might as well put it into good use."Jodi insisted as she deliberately browsed the catalogue beside Shantal."And when you said putting it into good use, do you mean buying an Android Partner? Nah... Not my thing."Shantal was quick to d
Due to her current preoccupation, Shantal failed to notice that her cousin was already eyeing her.Shantal was flipping through the booklet but always managed to end up landing on the same page, so Jodi decided to take a look as well.It turned out that Shantal's eyes were subconsciously drawn to one figure and one figure only. As such. Jodi thought that her cousin took a liking at that specific robot. Little did she knew that Shantal was only staring blankly at it, but not exactly looking.It was only when someone entered her room once again, did Shantal came back to present."Arvin, you're here."Jodi rose to her feet and walked towards Arvin. Arvin welcomed her with an open arm and Jodi happily snuggled next to him.With the way how Arvin used to stare at Jodi with those very convincing, affectionate eyes, Shantal almost forgot that Arvin was not as human as he seemed."Shantal, this is Arvin, and Arvin, meet my cousi
Shantal slowly unwrapped the box and when she noticed that Butler John was still hanging around with no intention of leaving, she deliberately told him to get out of the room."You can leave now. I want to be alone."She said without tearing her eyes away from the package.After spending the better part of two hours trying to get the box to open, the lid finally popped open with a loud gush of air.Shantal was caught off guard by this sudden movement and she fell back. She did not expect the lid to suddenly come alive on its own.The girl watched as a very tall man slowly stood up in a box. She stared at him with a dumbfounded expression and a mix of amusement.For a moment, Shantal thought that part of her brain frizzled and died because from her angle below, she was getting very intimately acquainted with her doll and that was not the purpose of it.Apparently, her face was placed directly across where the robot's groi
Right after rebooting her robot, Shantal left it and disappeared behind one of the doors. When she came back, she was already carrying a pair of jeans and a shirt."Change to this."She threw the clothes over the robot and instructed it to clothe itself because the thing was only wearing nothing but a boxer and a white tank top.The robot on the other hand did so easily. He took the clothes from Shantal while sporting a bright smile."By the way, my name is----""You have a name??!"Before Shantal could even stop herself, she already interrupted the robot from speaking and asked him back instead. However, her question sounded stupid even on her own ears."Of course,"The robot grin when it heard her asked that question."Don't you?"He added and smiled again but his eyes almost disappeared when he smiled widely."My name is---"Shantal was just about to introduce herself but all words t
Alex was just about to step out of his box when he suddenly tripped and lost his footing and seeing this unfold before her eyes, Shantal act according to her reflex.She was worried that the robot would end up injuring itself way before she could even have enough time to interact with it so she flailed her hands in an attempt to get a hold of Alex and prevent him from losing his footing.After that small mishap, Shantal let the robot seat on the sofa for a while.Regardless of how 'defective' it might be, there was no doubt that the thing still cost a fortune and she did not want anything bad to happen to it, or at least not until she signed robot insurance for it, if there was any of that sort, to begin with.At the same time, Shantal also could not help but notice that her Android Partner was relatively lighter compared to what she initially expected from a mass of walking metal that he was.Alex was simply so human-like that everything
"Please bear for it in the meantime. I will fix the robot as soon as I can and I'll notify you right away once it is done. We will issue a recall, and by then you'd be able to earn your share. The team will pay you nicely, rest assured.""You didn't tell me that I have to pretend as a robot when you asked me to be your character model before.""I know, Alex. That is why I am asking you a favor. Please, just this once. Okay?"The other party sounded static so it was hard to ascertain whether the owner of the voice was a man or a woman."How long do you think it will take before you could fix it?""A month at most but our target is within this week?"The other party replied but the tone used did not sound convincing at all and Alex heard that as well."Are you saying that I have to stay here with her for that long? You must be kidding me!"If it was not for his close friend asking for this favor, Alex would never agree to this ki
When he arrived at the place indicated in the email, someone fetched him and took him to a facility. Once inside, he saw the familiar face of Harold standing next to someone that looked exactly like him!"Remember when we paid you to be a character model to one of our robots?""Is that my robot version?"Rather than answering the other party, Alex only asked him back."Yeah. Meet 1096."Harold replied as nonchalant as he could, but he could hardly hide the proud smile breaking through his lips as he declared his very own robot that their team painstakingly created."Then what's wrong with him? Why is he not moving? And why are there so many wires connected to him.""Asked her that"Harold motioned to one direction with his lips and when Alex followed the direction where he was pointing, he saw the most beautiful girl that he had ever seen in his life.Her wavy brunette hair framed her small face and her button-like nose
Alex made it a point to wake up before Shantal did so that he would no longer have to explain himself once she caught him dozing off.After all, it would really be weird to see a robot that snored in his sleep.When morning came and the first sunlight broke into the horizon, Alex sat next to Shantal's bed. He watched her sleep soundly like a baby.They hold that position for who knew how long; and it was only when the sun rays penetrated the blinds of the window did Alex made an attempt to move and change his position.Shantal on the other hand stirred on her bed, but still did not wake up. When Alex checked on her, he saw her sleeping like an angel. Her fair skin looked supple under the sunlight.Likewise, Alex moved closer to her and made use of his hand to shield Shantal's eyes from the light.Meanwhile, the longer he stared at Shantal Alex felt more drawn to her face. For some unknown reason, he felt compelled to look at her closely and