Chapter 16
The phone woke me early Saturday morning, and my Mom caught it on the third ring, then called to me from the bottom of the stairs.
“Hello? I said sleepily.
“Good morning,” said Chris through the phone. “Your voice is so cute first thing in the morning. What are you up to today?” he asked.
“I think a few of us are going to Regency Mall today. Do you want to come?” I asked, still curled up, half asleep in my bed.
“Sure, that sounds fun. I’ll ask the guys if they want to come. What time are you going?”
“10:00. We’ll meet you at the Food Court. I’m going back to sleep now,” I said through a long yawn. Chris yawned, too.
“Did you know that you only catch yawns from people you care about?” he said. But before I could reply, he said, “See you there,” then he hung up.
I rolled over and fell back asleep until 9:15 when the alarm went off and I got out of bed, still feeling sore from having my muscles rubbed yesterday.
It was the first time anyone had worked on the knots of my stress.
I tilted my head and rubbed along my neck, remembering what it was like to have Chris’s hands on me, warm and sliding with the sunscreen. It was nice to feel like someone cared.
I made my way to the closet and picked out my outfit. I chose a short jean skirt and a tan t-shirt that showed just a little cleavage. I wondered if Chris would notice. Then I ran a leather braided belt through the loops and chose my favorite brown suede ankle boots.
Today I decided I was going to put on a little makeup.
I knew Isabelle would be proud of me for putting in some effort.
She always gave me a hard time for only wearing mascara.
I opened my teal caboodle, took out the eyeliner, eye shadow, and mascara, and got to work, but I didn’t want to overdo it.
Once I finished, I stepped back and evaluated whether it was too much for a Saturday at the mall, and decided I didn’t care what anyone else thought.
How about some eyelid glitter, blush, and lip gloss to top it off?
Why not. After the finishing touches, I was ready, so I headed for my Jeep and made my way to the mall.
I parked on the lower deck of the parking garage and found my way through the double glass doors and past Banana Republic to the Food Court. Everyone was waiting there around the fountain, tossing in pennies and making wishes. Isabelle saw me and turned to greet me.
“Holy shit, Allie! You look incredible!” she gawked.
“Thanks,” I said shyly.
“Why don’t you do makeup more often? You are so hot!”
That’s when Chris spotted me from the other side of the fountain and froze for a moment, just looking me up and down with wide eyes and a smile.
As I got closer to the fountain, he signaled for me to come to him, so I passed Isabelle and floated towards him as if there was nobody else in the mall.
When I got to him, I stopped and stood there, and he seemed paralyzed by my presence until he reached one hand for my waist and another for my cheek.
“Wow. Just when I thought you couldn’t be any more beautiful,” he said. The look in his eyes told me he had noticed my cleavage.
“Hey,” I said softly, then I reached into my pocket and pulled out a penny and held it up to him without saying a word. He smiled, let go of my waist and took the penny from me, and turned towards the fountain.
“Let’s see,” he said thoughtfully, as he looked over at me, then back towards the unnaturally blue water, scattered with a variety of coins at the bottom. Then he smiled and flicked it in. “Come on, let’s go get some food. What are you in the mood for?” he asked.
“Sbarro pizza.”
“Me too,” he said, then he grabbed my hand and we made our way into the food court to the pizza concession stand.
After lunch, we wandered around the mall to various stores. We laughed as we held up silly objects in Spencer’s, tried on outlandish outfits in Hot Topic, and browsed at Natural Wonders.
After that, we went into Sam Goody to browse music.
Chris trailed off with Griffin to look around and then later found me in the middle of the store looking through the Led Zeppelin albums. He came up behind me quietly, looked over my shoulder, and watched as I thumbed through the CDs in the rack.
When I picked up the Led Zeppelin IV album, I felt him get closer and then rest his chin on my shoulder as I ran my fingers over the track list. My breathing slowed as I paused at each title, letting my mind wander to the times when I would ride around town in the Jeep with my Dad, listening to each of these songs, then I set it back down in the rack.
I put my hand on the first CD in the front of the rack and rocked it back so they fell like dominoes, and the Led Zeppelin CD disappeared.
Then I walked away towards the front of the store, and Chris followed.
Isabelle was now making her way towards the front of the store, too, with Watson and Griffin in tow.
“Come on, Isabelle, let’s go to Victoria’s Secret,” I said, and Chris’s eyes got wide at the suggestion. I made a sultry face at him, then looked back at Isabelle.
“Yes! Finally! Let’s go!”
“I am not going in there,” Griffin said.
Watson and Chris shared a look of disappointment, then looked back at us.
“I guess we will catch up with you girls later. We’ll meet you at the fountain when you’re done,” said Watson.
Then Chris took a step towards me and leaned in close. With a warm breath into my ear, he whispered, “I can’t wait to see what you buy,” then he turned and walked away.
When we got into the store, we were swarmed by girls who didn’t look much older than us. They were wearing skimpy pink shorts and tank tops with the word PINK in black block letters across their chests, and headsets in their ears.
“Hi, welcome to Victoria’s Secret! What can we help you find today? Something special?” Isabelle and I looked at each other nervously, then laughed.
“We have no idea. We just want to look around,” I replied.
“Okay! Just let us know if you need anything or need help finding a size,” one of them said as she turned to greet the next guest who was coming through the door behind us.
I turned to Isabelle and pointed towards a table full of lace lingerie in the back of the store.
“Let’s go check those out,” I said shyly, and she turned to me with surprise.
“Damn, Allie! Okay!” she said, as she followed me to the table.
The large-breasted, tan, blonde-haired mannequin in the center of the round table was wearing a set of red lace panties and a matching lace bra.
It was cut low, just above the nipples, with thin satin straps.
I walked around the table, touching each pair of panties, feeling the lace on the edges as I went, and I wondered which color Chris might like best. I picked a pair of black panties, then moved to the table of bras, but I wasn’t sure of my size, so I called to Isabelle, who was looking at the colorful sea of Hanky Panky thongs.
“Hey, Isabelle, can you grab that measuring tape on the table and measure my rib cage? I’m not sure what size I need.” I tried to keep my voice down, worried about my volume for fear that the girls with the headsets might come running.
I was too late. The sales girl came flying around the corner and had her measuring tape around me faster than I could protest.
“You’re a 32,” she said confidently. “Turn around, let me see your chest,” she said, as she grabbed my arm gently, spun me around, and stared at my chest intensely.
“You’re a C-cup,” she said matter-of-factly, then she sorted through the bras on the table until she found a black lace bra to match the panties and escorted me to a changing room.
I looked over my shoulder at Isabelle, who was laughing uncontrollably at the violation of my modesty.
In the changing room, I stripped down and tried on the lingerie.
Once everything was on, I stood there in front of the mirror, tilted my head, and admired the look of lace across my body.
I was never one to buy lavish undergarments.
I always wore sports bras and cotton panties for field hockey practice, so this was an unfamiliar feel.
The lace was slightly scratchy, but I had to admit it was sexy. Just then, someone knocked on the door.
“How’s it going in there?” came the voice of the salesgirl through the door. Before I could reply, she came barging in.
“Oh! I’m not dressed!” I replied in shock.
“That’s okay, girl! No need to be shy, I just wanted to check the fit of the bra.
Turn around, let’s see the cup size,” she said as she grabbed me on either side of my arms and stood me squarely in front of the mirror.
“Yep, I knew it. You’re a C-cup. That looks amazing on you.
The cleavage is perfect, and there’s no spill-over.
Whoever gets to see you in this is going to lose their mind,” she said as she winked at me and was gone as fast as she had arrived.
What just happened?
I removed the lingerie, set them down on the bench, and put my clothes back on then went to find Isabelle. She was waiting by the cash register, just finishing her transaction.
“Are you buying those?” she asked, as I approached with the black lace lingerie in my hands.
“Yeah, I can’t believe how aggressive these sales girls are. She just came barging in like we were having a naked party in the dressing room,” I said, with a mix of shock and laughter. I paid for the lingerie, and we left to go meet the boys who were waiting by the fountain.
As we walked up, Chris’s eyes landed on the pink and white striped bag in my hand, and I caught a small smile on his face. Isabelle went to talk to Watson and Griffin about what they had purchased as Chris approached me.
“Are you going to show me what’s in that bag?
” Chris asked quietly enough that the others didn’t hear, but I just squinted my eyes and shook my head no, as I reached up and brushed my fingertips on his cheek.
As I did, he grabbed my wrist, and his eyes shot open as he pulled me in close with his other hand.
When I leaned in to kiss him, he dodged my lips, brushed his cheek across mine, and then whispered in my ear, “Don’t start something you can’t finish,” he said with a fire in his eyes that looked like he wanted to eat me alive.
“Ready to go?” Watson said as he looked up from the others who were showing each other their purchases.
“Yep, let’s go,” said Griffin.
As we walked towards the doors, I leaned my head against Chris’s shoulder, and he reached down to hold my hand.
“Do you want to come over tonight? I want to show you something.”
“Of course I do, what time?” he said, as he glanced down at the bag again.
“Nice try,” I said, and he gave me a frown. “How about 6:00 before the sun goes down?”
“I’ll be there.”
As we pushed the glass doors of the mall open and headed to our own cars with our bags, I got in my Jeep and wondered when I would get the nerve to show him this lingerie.