by Mia Archer
"I was thinking maybe we could stop by the lingerie store…"
I looked up at her and almost expected her to laugh. But instead she raised an eyebrow and fixed me with a sexy look. A look that very nearly had me melting against the wall.
Damn.
"That sounds just fine Jessica," she said.
We breezed to the front where she quickly paid for the dress. The girl looked like she was going to say something about me wearing it out, but Ivy’s credit card went through even as my eyes bugged out at the price and then we were making our way out. I tossed my work clothes into the bag, though I felt like an idiot walking around the mall in a dress this nice.
It wasn't exactly formal wear, but it was the closest thing the store had to formal wear, and this was by far the nicest store in the mall. I felt like people's eyes were on me. I felt ridiculous. All the more so because I'd just made an offer to go to the lingerie store.
Once we got there I went to pick some things out, but she held up a hand. She grinned.
"Will you indulge me?"
I took a deep breath. I licked my lips. I looked at her, and then I looked over my shoulder to a couple of girls dressed in some pretty nice clothes working behind the counter. Only from the way one elbowed the other it seemed like they definitely recognized one of us.
Damn it. I figured it was only a matter of time before word got out that Ivy was here shopping for underwear with some random girl. And so I nodded my head and agreed as much to get Ivy in and out of here as quickly as possible as for any desire to have her pick out my underwear.
That did seem kind of hot though.
"Go back to the changing area," she said. "I'll toss something over the door for you to try on."
I shook my head. I couldn't believe I was doing this. I just hoped she didn't decide to go for a repeat performance of what she'd done in the last changing room.
I'd been weak in the knees. I'd been so damn wet. I was ready to let her take me right there. The poor girl working there probably would've called the cops, but I couldn't help myself. I was that turned on! I was surprised when I got out of there without giving into temptation!
I found a changing room and let myself in. It seemed the girls who were supposed to be helping me out weren't anywhere in sight. I imagined they were probably so caught up with the idea of finding Ivy in their store that they couldn't be bothered with me. I wondered if this sort of thing would start to happen a lot if I spent more time with her.
I shook my head. I kept having this debate. Thinking of spending more time with Ivy would make me smile, and then I'd remember who she was. I'd remember who I was. I'd remember how completely different our lives were, and that would inevitably send me crashing back down to reality. I had to keep reminding myself that this was just one night.
I figured that was all the more reason to be as crazy as possible and really enjoy myself though. And so I waited in the changing room until I heard a familiar voice on the other side.
“Jessica?”
"I'm in here," I said.
Something flew over the door.
"You might want to hurry up," she said. "I'm pretty sure those girls recognized me.”
My head was spinning. This was all too crazy. I needed to talk to somebody about this. I pulled out my phone and started tapping to Alice. Granted she probably wasn’t the best person to talk to considering how she got about the band, but she was also the only person who was in on the secret which put me in a bind.
Well I suppose Rachel was also in on the secret. Sort of. I wasn’t going to talk to her about any of this though.
"Are you around?" I tapped.
"Sure as hell am! Is what I heard true?"
I grinned and shook my head. Of course she’d know about the strange circumstances surrounding how I left work today. Everyone at the company probably knew all about it at this point. That she'd heard all about it even when she worked on another floor was proof enough of that. Usually people didn't talk between different parts of the company unless the gossip was really good.
Then again I suppose the head of one of the world's most successful bands, even if it was the most successful band a decade prior, would be worth a lot of gossip. Particularly when she showed up and swept away one of the girls working at the company.
I was never going to live this down.
"I'm with Ivy right now at the mall," I said.
I paused for a moment. Hesitated and wondered whether or not I should send the next bit.
"We've already been dress shopping for a date tonight, and now we're at the lingerie shop."
There was a pause. Finally a message came back. "Slut ;)"
I laughed. "Guilty as charged. Though I'm kind of conflicted here…"
"What's the conflict? She came looking for you, I’d say that's a pretty big deal. Especially after how she acted last night!"
I bit my lip. I thought about how I hadn't been entirely truthful with Alice last night when I was making my escape.
"I might not have been telling the entire truth last night when I said she kicked me out…"
"What?"
"I might have snuck out because I was afraid."
"Are you crazy! What could you possibly be afraid of?"
What was I afraid of? It was a damn good question. Was I afraid of having my middle school reputation for hating Sleepwalker ruined amongst the few friends I had who still remembered those days? Was I afraid of being a one night stand? Was I afraid of falling for a woman from a completely different world? A woman who'd lived a rock star lifestyle for the past decade and might be out of touch with reality, might hurt me without even meaning to?
I think we had a bingo there. I was terrified. So far she'd seemed sincere enough, but there were those glimpses of the world she lived in. Those two girls up at the front of the store staring at her and making me wonder if we needed to get the hell out of here as quickly as possible were a good example. And don’t even get me started on the crazy people snapping pictures at lunch.
Just going out on one date with her was enough to pull me into a strange world where people were watching my every move. Watching my every move because of who I was dating, and not because of anything inherently interesting about me.
Could I deal with a romance under those circumstances? I just didn't know. The thought of living in that world terrified me even as the thought of being with Ivy sent butterflies dancing through my stomach. The thought of what we might be doing later tonight with some of this lingerie I was purchasing was doing that as well.
Though I guess Ivy would be the one doing the buying. I heard somebody out in the hallway, probably Ivy wondering what the heck was taking me so long, and I tapped out a quick message.
"No time to talk right now," I said. "Someone's coming."
I put my phone back in my pocket, though I could hear it buzzing. Buzzing several times, actually. I had a feeling I was going to have as many messages waiting for me when I pulled it out again later as I had the night before when I disappeared with Ivy. I'm sure Alice had all sorts of questions, but she wasn't going to get answers anytime soon.
Not if this date night went as well as it seemed like it was going to go considering where I was and what I was trying on!
I sighed even as I pulled the lingerie down and started to take the dress off. This wasn't the kind of dress that you got in and out of quickly. I definitely should've kept my work clothes on if I was going to come over here and try something on.
It didn’t help that I felt hurried by those girls.
I distracted myself by looking down at the lingerie she'd bought for me. My eyes went wide. Damn. This is what I got for letting someone else pick lingerie!
Up top it was a strapless black bra. Straps wouldn't work with a strapless dress. The thing was practically see-through. As I took my work bra off, a plain white number that was pretty boring, I realized I could see everything. I felt a rush of excitement as I thought of wearing that. As I thought of
Ivy looking at me in this number. I might as well not be wearing a bra at all!
I shook my head. I suppose that was the point of wearing lingerie like this.
I looked at the underwear and it was the same. It was so sheer in the front, and it was basically a thong in the back. I could tell immediately that I was sold and I hadn’t even tried them on yet. I looked over to the door.
"You still there Ivy?"
"I am," she said.
I thought quickly. And on impulse I tossed the price tag over to her.
"Go ahead and pay for this," I said. "I'm going to have to wear it out."
Normally I wouldn’t wear something like this out. I’d go home and wash it. The problem was it’s not like I was going to have time to go home and run a laundry cycle before going out for dinner and maybe an after dinner treat. I’d have to live dangerously this one time.
"Yes ma'am!"
The grin was evident in her voice. I heard her disappearing back down the changing room hall.
I quickly put everything in order and stuck my head out. The coast was clear so I made my way to the front where the two girls were still standing and staring, obviously starstruck.
One was at least doing her best to help Ivy out. Both women turned to look at me when I came out, and the first one actually had the audacity to pull up her phone and snap a picture! The click was audible.
"Excuse me?" I said.
I was surprised she would actually have the balls to do something as audacious as snapping a picture! I couldn't believe it.
"What's wrong?" the girl asked.
I held out a hand, suddenly feeling some angry inspiration. "Your phone. I want to see it. Now."
"Excuse me? I'm not giving you my phone!"
"How about this? You can give me the phone, or I can call corporate and let them know you're snapping pictures of your clients like we’re some sort of circus show. How do you think they'd like that? Do you think you’d keep your job for long?"
The second girl turned and looked nervously at the first one. She was younger, and as I looked at the name tags I realized the older one who snapped the picture was actually a manager.
I shook my head. I couldn't believe somebody in management would do something like that, but at the same time I can't say I was particularly surprised. She was the one who looked old enough to actually realize who the hell Ivy was, after all.
The manager stared daggers at me, but finally she seemed decide that the idea of somebody calling corporate was more terrifying than giving up her phone. She made a big production of rolling her eyes and handed it over.
I opened her photos and sure enough there was a picture of me looking surprised and pissed off. More importantly there were a couple of pictures of Ivy. Pictures that looked like they’d been taken surreptitiously judging by the way she wasn’t looking at the camera and everything was out of focus. I wondered that she hadn’t heard that click, though maybe she was so used to people snapping pictures that it just became background noise.
Well it wasn’t background noise for me, and I was pissed off.
I held up the phone. "So do you do this with all of your customers, or just the semi-famous ones?"
“Hey…” Ivy said, but I didn’t pay attention to her. Momma had bigger fish to fry at the moment.
Manager lady looked stunned, as though she couldn't think of how to respond to that. I wondered if anyone had ever confronted her about something like this before. Then again, how many celebrities did she get coming through here?
Either way, it was not cool. It was a glimpse into some of the crap Ivy had to put up with on a regular basis, and I didn't care for it.
"Answer me," I said.
I was proud that my voice sounded so calm, because what I wanted to do was jump across the counter and rip the girl's eyes out. Meanwhile Ivy was looking between the two of us with an odd smile. she was actually enjoying this!
Then again, how often she was able to get back at people who invaded her privacy? Probably not very often. She had a public image to maintain. I didn't have an image to maintain, so whatever. I could let the claws come out.
I hit delete on the pictures. Once I was sure the pictures were good and gone I handed the phone back. I leaned forward and looked at her name tag.
"Thank you so much for being so understanding, Megan," I said.
"No problem at all ma'am," she said with a sickly sweet smile on her face.
I frowned and glared at her as she smiled at me. That "ma’am" had to be deliberate. I was probably a good fifteen years younger than that bitch and she had the audacity to call me ma'am! It was exactly the kind of petty thing I could see someone doing when they were pissed off but they knew there wasn't a chance they were going to be able to say anything outright.
Ivy finished paying and turned to leave, but I held an arm out against her shoulder. I turned to the girl who'd just been ringing her up and she smiled nervously. I looked at her name tag.
"Candace?" I asked. "Is it okay if I call you that?"
"Sure," she said, glancing nervously at her boss.
"You didn't take any pictures for your boss, did you?"
"Of course not ma'am!" she said.
I grimaced. There we were with that “ma’am” again, though Candace at least looked young enough that she could get away with it. She looked like she could still be in high school.
"Good Candace," I said. "I'll be sure not to mention your name when I call corporate to report your boss. Have a nice day!"
And with that I took Ivy's arm and made my way out of the store. I had the great fun of seeing that stupid bitch reacting as she realized I was going to call her in anyways. Good. Let her deal with the consequences of her actions. Call me ma'am.
Once we were safely out of the store Ivy burst into laughter. It started out as a small laugh, but it quickly turned into a hearty guffaw. I looked over at her and cocked an eyebrow.
"What's so funny?" I asked in what I hoped was my most innocent voice.
"Oh nothing," she said. "I'm just not used to seeing anyone stand up to somebody trying to take a picture like that. I think I'm falling in love here!"
I stopped walking. I was stunned. I knew she was just joking around, but at the same time I couldn't help myself. When I heard her say that word it did something to me. It caused my entire body to catch fire in the most delicious way. It was even hotter than what she'd done the night before, and that had been pretty damn hot. It was amazing how just a few words could get that reaction out of me, but there we were.
Ivy seemed to realize just a little too late what she'd done. She stopped, turned to look at me, no doubt got a good look at the absolutely stunned expression on my face, and then a look of dawning fear appeared as she realized what he'd said.
Her mouth worked silently as though she was trying to think of a way to back out of it, but I'd heard what I'd heard. She’d said what she’d said. Even if it was half joking, it was dangerously close to how I was feeling. So dangerously close that I figured she had to be at least half serious.
"I'm sorry Jessica," she said. "Please don't get scared away or anything…"
I decided to be a little mysterious. A little perplexing. After all, she had just said that, and girls were supposed to freak out if someone said that too early, right?
Only freaking out was the last thing I wanted to do. No, I wanted to shout from the heavens that she'd used that word. Was it crazy? Was it a little premature to be throwing that word around? Sure.
That didn't matter though. My mind was telling me one thing and my heart was telling me another. No, that word sounded just fine to me, but I wanted to make her think she was going to have to work for it just a little.
So I smiled. I walked up to her and patted her cheek, and then I was walking past her. I made sure to put as much sway as I could muster into my walk. She could eat her heart out.
When it seemed like she wasn't following I looked over my shoulder and grinned. "Aren't you
coming Ivy? I thought you had dinner planned at some big fancy restaurant or something? I'd hate to get all dressed up like this for nothing."
That drew her out of the mental blue screen she'd just suffered. she got a huge grin on her face.
"Right," she said. "Dinner at the fancy restaurant. I can't wait to see the look on your face when you see the place!"
"Well come along then," I said.
23: After Dinner
"I can't believe you took me to a burger joint!" Jessica said.
We were walking along one of the canals that ran through the downtown area. It really was quite peaceful at this time of night. And, best of all, it was mostly deserted. Sure there were houses and businesses that ran along the canal, but most of them seemed empty.
I just hoped that it wasn't an example of the locals knowing something I didn't. The last thing I wanted was to get mugged in the middle of a date that had been going perfectly so far!
"What can I say? I heard that burger place is supposed to be one of the best in the country!"
Jessica reached out and playfully nudged me. A playful nudge that thrilled me. What can I say? Just about every touch from her thrilled me!
"That was part of the fun though," I said. “It was a pretty funny joke, too! You should've seen the look on your face when we walked in there!"
"The look on my face? You should've seen the look on everybody's faces staring at me like I was crazy for showing up dressed like that!"
"They were probably just staring at you like that because you showed up with the great Ivy Thompson," I said.
She rolled her eyes. "Full of ourselves much?"
I shrugged. "What can I say? It's true, isn't it?"
Jessica rolled her eyes and moved to smack me, but this time I caught her hand and held it. I liked holding her hand. It was odd, but holding her hand like this was having almost the same reaction as feeling her body pressed against me.
Weird how I could feel that way just from feeling her hand against mine. I think it said something for how I was starting to feel about her.
It was crazy. It was way too early to say anything like what I'd said in the mall earlier, I was still kicking myself over that, but I really did have a feeling that I was falling for this girl. She had a unique blend of hotness and intelligence that I'd never gone for in a girl before, but she was driving me wild.