I was at Westfield Shopping Centre, ten minutes from Paddington, this weekend with a rather delicious companion named Hugo. Among the crowds of shoppers and designer stores, I managed to get a lot of my shopping done. I do love shopping dates because usually, I wouldn’t get the opportunity to spend a day queuing among other shoppers, preferring to “add to cart” on Amazon.
So there we were, our arms becoming full of branded carrier bags. Hugo had dragged me into practically every man’s clothes shop there was, and I was thinking longingly of Kurt Geiger up on level one. I desperately wanted to slip my foot into the multi-coloured glitter stilettos that had been whispering lovingly to me from the website. As he tried on his twelve jumper, I mentally itemised my wardrobe to justify £150.
I wanted my shoes, and he wanted a change of scenery, so I suggested a little bite to eat, which was in the same direction as my shoes. Smelling the lure of coffee and fresh sandwiches, Hugo offered me a smile as we ascended the escalator.
They say a way to a man’s heart is through his stomach, and as I knew he was fed and happy, I was about to point him in the right direction subtly. After 10 minutes of trying to get him to go where I wanted, I nearly gave up.
But then Hugo kissed my forehead and said, you have been so patient with me today. Let me buy my beautiful girl a present. I could have jumped for joy. “Oh, you don’t have to do that…” I said through my lashes. He made a pooh-pooh noise, and we fell into step… right past Kurt Geiger. And there they were… in the window, dazzling under the lights as I knew they would be… my shoes. Ten minutes later, I had a shiny gift bag dangling from my arm, and my date was looking very pleased with himself as I let him “choose” a pair, though I can’t say product placement didn’t play a part.
