Yvonne’s eyes lit up. ‘So you’ve got yourself a fuck buddy!’ she said delightedly.
‘I suppose you could call him that.’ It seemed a pretty accurate description of her relationship with Luca – or as close as she could get without going into some very long, and mortifying, explanations.
‘And you’ll be seeing him again?’
‘Oh, definitely.’
‘Good. Because this,’ Yvonne said, waving a finger around in front of Claire’s face, ‘is a really good look on you.’
Claire wished she could tell Yvonne that it was Luca because then she could ask her about him. She had thought about looking up his mother’s book on the computer this morning when she came in, but realised she didn’t even know his last name. She had tried to think of casual ways to bring him up in conversation but had drawn a blank. She knew Yvonne wouldn’t mind – in fact, she’d probably be delighted since she’d suggested it herself. But she doubted Luca would be pleased if he heard she was telling his friends that they were ‘together’ or that they were ‘fuck buddies’.
‘I’m thinking of getting vajazzled,’Yvonne said thoughtfully. She had returned to her magazine. ‘What do you think?’ She turned the magazine around and slid it across the table to Claire.
‘Oh!’ Claire found herself staring at a page full of photos of women’s bejewelled and sparkly nether regions under the cheery headline:
Bling up your Vajayjay!
‘That butterfly is pretty, isn’t it?’ Yvonne said, pointing to one of the pictures. ‘I might go for something like that. It’s Ivan’s birthday next week, so I might do it to surprise him.’
‘But you’d have to get someone to do it,’ Claire said, horrified at the thought of having a stranger get that up close and personal with her ‘vajayjay’. ‘It’d be so embarrassing.’
‘No worse than having a wax.’
‘Well, there’s waxing and waxing.’ Claire had never even had the nerve for a Brazilian.
These vajazzled girls were all completely bald. She wondered if that had become the norm. ‘Have you ever had a Brazilian?’ she asked Yvonne.
‘I used to have them all the time,’ Yvonne said. ‘But now I always have a Hollywood.’
‘You mean – everything off?’
‘Yes, completely bare. I swear, once you get it, you never go back. It feels amazing!’
‘Do you think anyone still just… leaves it?’
‘Full bush, you mean?’ Yvonne said. ‘Eew, gross!’ Her lip curled. ‘I doubt anyone has that any more – except maybe oldsters who don’t know any better.’
Claire blushed. ‘Yeah, I was just wondering.’
‘But everything goes in cycles,’ Yvonne said quickly. ‘I’m sure that will come back. Or you could be rocking a retro look.’
Of course Claire knew that radical waxing was verypopular now, but she’d had no idea how ubiquitous it was. It had never occurred to her that her bog-standard bikini wax might be way behind the times. After all, it wasn’t as if she saw a lot of naked women. But Luca did. Damn it, why hadn’t he said anything? Maybe he didn’t want to hurt her feelings. She hoped he didn’t find it repulsive. He didn’t seem to but, then, she was paying him. People put up with all sorts of things they didn’t like for money. She would just have to ask him about it later – she might as well. He had already seen her in all her natural glory, so it was too late to make a good first impression on him.
‘You can keep that, if you like.’ Yvonne nodded at the magazine as she got up. ‘I’ve finished with it.’
‘Thanks.’
Claire spent the rest of her lunch break thumbing through the magazine. She automatically sought out the inevitable sex tips and read them with interest:
Five Ways to Drive Him Wild in Bed
and:
Bondage for Beginners!
She had read a lot of these over the years while researching her blog, but she had never had the opportunity to put them into practice. Maybe she could try some of them with Luca.
After work, she spent some time with her mother, but several of her mum’s friends arrived while she was there, so she didn’t stay long. Then she headed over to Luca’s, picking up a pizza for them on the way. Later, when they were relaxing on the sofa with a glass of wine, she steeled herself to broach the subject.
