SPEND OR DIE: THE GOURMET WEALTH SYSTEM

Chapter 5: Underdog Rises.

Damn!

Killan cursed inwardly as he almost lost his balance trying to avoid the incoming car. He had just arrived at the car park in the Armani mall, got down from the cab and headed towards the front entrance when a luxurious Rolls Royce zoomed past him. Two more inches of the car towards him, I would have been badly injured or worse, killed.

He rebuked that desperately.

He gathered himself and made towards the front door of the luxurious seventeen storey building, a massive space befitting such a prestigious brand as Giorgio Armani. The security guard at the door stared blankly at him with a weird expression on his face. Killan, noting the pattern, wasn't surprised but he still approached him politely.

“Hello.” He said calmly.

“Are you here to…..seek employment?” The younger man said bluntly.

Killan smiled, despite having gotten used to that treatment these past few days, he still didn’t like it.

“I am here to shop for tailored suits.” He responded calmly.

After a few seconds hesitation, the man opened the elevator door for him,

“Slightly affordable ones are on the sixth floor.” He said politely to Killan.

Killian pursed his lips, of course it wasn’t unexpected.

“What about the pricey ones?” He shot back.

The young man hesitated before finally responding,

“Third floor.”

“Pass me on to the third floor please.”

Killan walked into it pretending not to notice how the man’s jaw dropped. He waited for the elevation but turned back slightly only to notice the guy talking to his walkie-talkie. It didn’t take long before the result came through.

Landing on the third floor, he wasn’t certain if they had always had extra security guards there everyday but about seven black suited men stood guard by the doorway. Four out of them followed him immediately he entered.

If he could, Killan would have loved to curse the system right that moment, ending up in a place where he was being treated like a potential thief was absolutely its fault.

Killan heard the tapping sound of heels and looked up only to lock eyes with an extremely attractive well polished woman in her mid-thirties, she gave him an uneasy smile as she closed the distance between them, she stood only a few inches away from him leaving him only a space to breathe.

“Hello, I was informed that you are here to shop, what would you…..”

“You were informed?” Killan questioned suspiciously and she nodded her head affirmatively.

Killan was taken aback, not only had the extra security been probably contacted because of him, even the attendant was being wary of his presence.

“My apologies if that didn’t sit well with you, but we rarely get many walk-in customers for this section, our top customers are…..societal dignitaries.”

“Oh! I should count myself lucky that I get the breath in the air you serve here then.” Killan sarcastically responded.

The woman led him to the show room, a round shaped structure with multiple layers of complex lightning,the room temperature was slightly cold to match in the aesthetics, there they were, neatly positioned suits of different color ranges. For the first time in his entire existence, Killan had actually coveted the luxury in front of him.

He pointed towards ten different ones with each costing about fifty thousand dollars. He pointed his credit card to the attendant whose eyes remained glued on his low grade shirt.

“Would you mind fitting them on because……” she said, swiping his card hoping it didn't get declined as she had expected it would.

“Yes, I ……”

The word dried in Killan’s throat as the system notification surfaced, he had spent too much time in this store when he had six more to go.

“On the contrary, no ma’am, I am certain they would fit.” He said, smiling weirdly.

“We do not accept return nor refund any payment Mr…..” she paused,

Surprise registered in her expression, the pauper had actually paid for ten suits at once.

“Quinn, and don’t worry, I wouldn’t be back for a refund.”

The woman handed back his card and called two other younger attendants to pack up his purchases. Killan waited impatiently and once his packages were handed to him, he literally ran back to the elevator ignoring the stares of the security guards from earlier, since they weren’t informed that he stole anything, they couldn’t attack him despite his suspicious behavior.

As Killan finally descended the elevator, his stopwatch beeped suddenly, Tom Ford was his next stop but now, he knew better than to allow himself to get immersed in the fitting into aesthetics around him. He got back to his rented cab and shoved all his purchases in the back seat. He sat at the front seat beside the driver and kept urging the man to speed on.

They finally arrived at the front of the brand outlet and he rushed in not minding to admire any aesthetics it had. The attendant here was much youthful and friendly, he fitted thirteen shoes worth another half a million dollars in total. Despite the attendant’s friendliness, something wasn’t different from the usual, he hadn’t also expected Killan’s affordability of it.

The ride to Louis Vuitton outlet was crazier, Killan was breaking out sweat while staring endlessly at his stop watch, he had less than twenty minutes and sixteen seconds left before the time limit elapsed.

The system suddenly appeared in front of him and bold letterings appeared ending with a humorous emoji.

[Killan Quinn, prone to dehydration and heart attack, heartbeat rate just spiked 20%, drink up some fluids]

Killan eyed it maliciously,

Who was the culprit of his current dilemma!

He ignored the warning and focused on trying to meet up the targeted time. The cab driver was starting to feel uncomfortable with the situation but he managed to resist questioning Killan who seemed to be under intense pressure already.

The Dior, Prada & John Lobb patronage was no different except that he was more fatigued than before, a little girl had handed him a bottle of water at the Prada store which he politely declined but her mother, another customer persuaded him to have a sip, sadly, Killan finished the whole bottle in seconds giving the people around there something strange to gossip about.

Even the system mocked him for ignoring his warning from earlier.

Killan was exhausted, his stopwatch was beeping frankly but he still had half a million dollars to spend.

That minute, Killan regretted it, his old habit of hoarding money, overly cautious limited resources mentality. Even now that he was handed limitless resources, he couldn’t spend it without guilt.

This was going to cost him another life, now he regrets it.

He looked down at his stopwatch, he had only ten minutes nine seconds left before the time elapsed. The ride to the closest Richard Mille brand base was two minutes and a few seconds drive. Killan couldn’t risk it, he requested to change places with the driver who refused vehemently stating that Killan probably has no license and he couldn’t risk his car getting impounded by the authorities.

Killan had no choice but to agree, eventually they got there after four minutes. He rushed out of the car and made for inside the building. The security took extra care searching him before he was let through, when he finally walked in,

He didn’t give a damn about his style of jewelry, he rushed towards the shelf region and requested for the attendant packing all possible befitting male watches and necklaces with strict instruction that it must amount to five hundred thousand dollars. The first attendant looked at him like he was mentally deranged. She walked away from him to attend to other customers.

Killan had to move to another to explain himself but she was also too busy until a young lady at the last end volunteered to help him. He pleaded with her to hurry which she thankfully conformed to. Within a minute, his shopping cart was filled with a whole lot of accessories.

“Here it is, the other attendant over there will sum it up for you Mr…. but, I guess this should make up the desired amount.” She said with an enthusiastic smile.

Killan almost facepalmed himself, he had just two minutes and fifteen seconds. He didn’t wait to thank her before he dashed towards the cashier she mentioned. He hastily unloaded it all on her table and she had no choice but to attend to the strange situation.

As she calculated the prices, his stopwatch dropped down to the last sixty seconds.

“It is five hundred and ten dollars sir.” She said, waiting for his reaction.

“Remove anything worth ten dollars and here, swipe my card for the rest.” Killan said in a cold voice.

Now, his patience had worn thin.

The young woman gave him a shocked look,like everyone else, she expected the worst.

Killan didn’t dare afford his huge purchases but she was wrong, he did, the realization literally swept her off her feet.

At that moment, Killan had other worries, while he waited impatiently for the debit, the system’s red ink warning appeared.

[26 seconds left, the countdown clock 26, 25,24,23,22,21,20……..]

Death was almost…..inevitable.