“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.
17
When I got home, I headed to my room to find a pale yellow sticky note on my door.
‘Isabelle called. She says please call her back. Mom.’
I set my Victoria’s Secret bag on the bed and picked up the phone to dial her number. Isabelle picked it up on the first ring.
“Hi, Allie!”
“How did you know it was me?”
“Caller ID, silly!”
“Oh, right, duh. What’s up? You called?” I said, then waited for her to reply.
“Yep, I was wondering if you might want to come out to my house tomorrow and go for a trail ride?”
I was quiet. Did she mean horses? I didn’t know she had horses. I guess I didn’t really know much about her now that I thought about it.
“As in, ride horses?” I asked, sounding stupid.
“As opposed to what?”
“Fair. Yeah, I guess. Sure, that sounds fun. What time should I get there, and how do I get there?” I asked. “I don’t even know what to wear to ride a horse, you’ll have to tell me.”
“I live out in Manakin-Sabot on Miller Lane next to the old grain silo. Do you remember the apple festival last year? That was at my house,” she said, then she waited for me to acknowledge that I understood.
“Oh! That was your farm? Wow, okay, yes, I remember.”
“How about 11:00 tomorrow, my mom can make lunch before, and then we can go for a ride. Just wear jeans and a t-shirt, nothing you are worried about getting dirty.”
“Sounds great, thanks for the invite, Isabelle. I’ll see you tomorrow!”
“Great! I’m so excited, see you then! Bye!”
When I hung up the phone, it occurred to me just how few friends I really had, but how I had put myself in that position. In the past, I had been burned by people who had taken advantage of my kindness, so, as a result, I haven’t been as trustworthy of others. I never knew if they were only trying to be my friend for their own benefit, so it was just easier for me to be alone. Isabelle was the first person who didn’t seem to have an agenda.
I looked over at the glossy Victoria’s Secret bag on the bed, then reached for the black rope handles and pulled them towards me. The pink and white tissue paper was wrapped neatly around the unmentionables inside. When I pulled the contents out of the bag, the loosely wrapped tissue opened up, and the lingerie was before me, begging to be tried on.
Now that I was in the privacy of my own room, I stripped down and put the panties and bra on again, and stood before the full-length mirror, just admiring the body that I had worked hard for. I turned to see the view from the back, the panties cutting diagonally across the fullest part of my cheeks, then high up onto my hips. I imagined Chris sliding them to the side, his breath upon me.
I turned back around to look at the bra, with my hair falling down onto my chest, which hid it from view. I loved the year-round beach waves in my hair, a style that some people paid big money for.
I brushed my hair behind my shoulders and stepped closer to the mirror, tracing my fingertips along the outline of the lace angles across my breasts, then up to my collarbone. I tilted my head to the side and slipped a satin strap off my shoulder to see how fast my nipple would be exposed when the bra was taken off. It was sudden. I pulled the strap back onto my shoulder, then stepped back from the mirror and reached a hand down between my legs to see what the lace felt like to my fingertips. It was a texture that was softer than I anticipated. I slid the fabric to the side for a moment to imagine being touched, then stopped and let the fabric cover me again. I would wait for Chris to be the one to explore this lingerie for the first time.
