Shopping and Spa Treatments ((Open to any))
Wren woke up with a cold sweat covering her chilled body and her breath coming in short gasps. She'd had The Nightmare again. She was so fucking tired of waking up scared. Sighing she crawled out of the bed and got into the the shower letting the water warm as she stood in it. She had forgotten to grab her toiletries so just used what the hotel had provided, bitching to the soap about how much lotion she was going to need. She should shave her legs, but giving them a feel she decided they could just be waxed along with her bikini area.
She stepped out of the shower and used three of their dinky towels to dry off and went back into the room. Kneeling on the floor she opened on of her cases and pulled out panties and a bra, both blue gingham with little white eyelet lace trim and little white bows, and a black belt with a rectangle button covered in pink crystals. She knee walked to her other case and pulled out a pair of faded low rise blue jeans and a pink body hugging cashmere sweater, and a pair of trouser socks.
She stood and threw the lot onto the bed. She put lotion from her toiletry bag on as much of her as she could reach, then dressed, putting on the same black boots as yesterday. She ran a brush through her hair to tame it.
She picked up her jeans from that morning and pulled everything out of the pockets. She took the wad of cash from Drev and sat on the bed to count it. 'Fifty, one hundred, one fifty, two, two fifty, three, twenty, forty, sixty, eighty, four, twenty, forty, fifty, five hundred, ten, fifteen, twenty, one, two, three.'
"Holy fucking shit."
She stared at the stack of bills a bit dumb founded. It's not like she'd never had that much, she had two grand in the lining of her suitcase, and she could earn more than that on a good night, it was just the thought of some stranger giving her that much, just because he wanted to pay for her shoes.
She gathered up the bills and tucked them into the wallet in her purse along with the hundred in assorted bills of her own. She added lip balm to the near empty space and decided it was time to spend Drev's money.
She grabbed coat, hat, scarf and glove, checking to make sure her keycard was in the pocket she'd stuffed it in while cleaning out her other jeans, and left for the mall.
It took her a little while to find the mall, but she didn't mind all that much, it gave her a chance to see what else The Strip offered. Once inside she found the little mall map thing and stood staring at it, getting a feel for the stores the placed offered. She was even excited to find a day spa in the court outside one of the department stores.
Wren took her time trying to find the store she wanted to buy a dress at. She walked into the little shop and smiled at the girl behind the counter. She had something in mind and was beyond excited to see what she was looking for. She pulled a mid thigh length red dress from the rack. It was cut with an empire waist and flared so that if one turned in a circle it would fly out dramatically with out showing ones panties.
She picked up her size and took it to the tiny fitting room in the back. It took her a little while to get all of her clothes off, and the dress on in the miniscule space, but she managed. She stepped out and went to the mirror.
"Stunning, absolutely stunning. I have seen a lot of women in that dress, but none have been made for it as you."
Came the voice of either a very masculine woman or an effeminate man. She turned to see a man in a gray suit with a pink tie standing by the counter, the girl from before was no where to be seen. Wren stared at him for a moment then smiled. 'Smarmy bastard, you just want me to buy it is all, not that you are wrong, but still.'
"Thanks."
She gave a turn in the mirror and enjoyed the flare of skirt and flash of leg. It was definitely a stunning piece. She took herself back to the dressing room and changed again. She checked the price tag and was happy to find it with in the amount she had planned to spend.
She took out the lovely dress and paid the sleazy man for it before wandering off to find a shoe store.
However, there wasn't much to be done, that wasn't being done already. The security in the condo was top notch.
Being unable to go back to sleep, she showered, dressed, and decided to take care of some errands, while her love was sleeping.
Dressed for cold weather, Shay wore her sheepskin jacket with the fleecy collar, a lavender cashmere turtle-neck over jeans, and a pair of Uggs from last year that matched her jacket. A fuzzy cap that matched her sweater was pulled down over her natural curls, and she was on her way.
Since she hadn't bought the boots she had gone to buy the day she had met Addison, Dani, and Claire, she was going to make a point of doing that now. The box the courier delivered was tucked in her purse, and she hoped to take care of that as well. She remembered seeing a jeweler in the mall, so that was where she drove to. As she parked her car and got out, she enjoyed the feel of the sun on her face for the brief walk to the doors of the mall.
Once inside the mall, she made her way to the shoe store right off. As she walked towards it, she became distracted as she saw a young mother chasing down her child, who apparently had wandered off. She curtailed her thoughts, and turned away from the tender scene, just to barely miss running into another young woman.
"Oh jeez, I'm so sorry. I should know better than to rush through a store not paying attention."
Shay gave the woman an apologetic smile, and was a bit startled by the woman's beautiful icy blue eyes. She guessed her dark hair only served to accentuate her eyes.
"And please excuse me for staring, but you have very pretty eyes."
God, Shay hoped the girl didn't think she was trying to pick her up or something.
"Oh hey, no problem." She returned the smile hoping it looked real at any rate. She wanted to snicker a bit when the woman's eyes stuck on her's, she got that a lot.
"Thanks, I like them." She gave the woman a genuine smile and stuck out her free hand.
"Wren." She might as well meet as many people as possible, one never knew what could come of bumping into another person and being polite. Hell, this woman may own a studio or knows someone who knows someone. 'Ah, it's all in who you know.'
"Wren...pretty name too. I'm Shay, nice to meet you."
Shay smiled, though not really at the other woman, but more at herself. She had come to Nachton to meet people, but never in her wildest dreams would she have expected to meet so many so soon. The unfortunate part was that it seemed once she met someone, she never saw them again, and so she really wasn't getting to 'know' anyone...with the one major exception.
"Well, Wren...I don't want to hold you up. I'm on my way to buy boots, and since I've tried this once before, and failed, I'm afraid if I don't stick to my agenda, I'll forget again. Were you headed anywhere in specific? I could always use someone else's opinion, if you've got the time."
She wondered if Shay was short for something, names like that tended to be. Then again what did she know? Her smile brightened when Shay mentioned shoes.
"Shoes actually. I was just going to wander until I found it, but if you know the way I'll walk with you. I have a date with this guy I just met and he's taking me to some swanky digs and I need shoes."
She figured after shoes she could invite Shay to a meal then she could go take care of the things on her growing list, hopefully all before her spa appointment.
She wondered if Shay was short for something, names like that tended to be. Then again what did she know? Her smile brightened when Shay mentioned shoes.
"Shoes actually. I was just going to wander until I found it, but if you know the way I'll walk with you. I have a date with this guy I just met and he's taking me to some swanky digs and I need shoes."
She figured after shoes she could invite Shay to a meal then she could go take care of the things on her growing list, hopefully all before her spa appointment.
"Yes, I do know the way... A few weeks back I stopped there to buy boots, and wound up with a fabulous pair of red heels...which turned out to be quite lucky for me, in fact. I met a guy that night, at the House of Pain, and...we've been together ever since. And I owe it all to those red heels."
Shay laughed as she spoke. It really sounded rather far fetched when she said it out loud.
"But I really need boots. I haven't been in Nachton long...I'm from the west coast, and totally unprepared for this cold."
As they began walking, Shay casually checked Wren out. It was a habit she had gotten into as a cop - always being aware of the people around her. But it also came in quite handy when she was writing up a description of a character for her book.
Wren was almost the exact same size as Shay, though where Wren had pale, almost porcelain skin, Shay's was a warmer, honey color. And where Shay had light, golden, long, wavy hair, Wren's was shorter, straighter and black. Wren also appeared to be about Shay's age, and as they walked by a large window, Shay caught their reflection and noted how they were night and day.
Since the girl didn't know where the shoe store was, Shay assumed she must be new to Nachton as well.
"And you...where were you transplanted from...if you don't mind me asking."
It was just friendly chit-chat, but Shay was mindful of encroaching on other's privacy.
"Lucky for me I'm from this half of the country, so I already have boots, and thick jeans."
She noticed Shay give her a once over, not unusual first in her line of work an second, because everyone almost always did a double take at her. She was almost too pale and her hair was almost too black, so much so that when the light caught it right it shined blue. Her boss had made her wear a goth get up for a while but it was just too cliche for her.
In high school she had been asked more than once if she was pretending to be a vampire by bleaching her skin and dying her hair. She rolled her eyes at the line of thought and returned her attention back to Shay.
"I'm from Crystal Falls, Michigan. Not as great a town as this one, but we have a nice college with a top ranking dance school."
They continued on through the mall, Wren taking note of the stores they passed. When they approached an athletic pro shop, she touched Shay on the arm.
"Do you mind if we stop in there? I want to see if they have red spanky pants."
"Sorry if I've been staring. I'm a writer, and used to be a cop, so it's a force of habit that was once a necessity and has now become a useful tool."
She grinned as she shrugged. The mention of a dance school then caught her ear.
"Is that what you do? Dance?"
Nodding as Wren asked about stopping in at another store, Shay followed, and walked over to look at some jogging shorts she thought Alexi might like. It was kind of funny, but they had yet to go jogging. Maybe once the weather warmed up again, they could start making some night runs.
"Sure, I'll busy myself over here."
She double checked the size and took them to the counter. She dug in her pockets for the $10.98 and moved over to the jogging shorts Shay was looking at.
"All set. Now I can boogie 'til the break of dawn and not show my ass."
She grinned at her new...well she guessed she could call her friend, and shook the little orange and green bag.
"I'm sure this guy you met will love that." She winked, and turned towards the door.
"So where did you meet your guy...?"
If nothing else, Shay thought Nachton was a wonderful place for meeting men, if she and Wren were any indication. Both new to the city, and both had met ones worth getting to know better. She had lived her whole life in California, and could count on one hand the number she had found caring and interesting enough to give a second thought to.
She checked the spanky pants of her list and went over the rest; 'Pantyhose, bra or maybe just nipple covers so that I don't poke his eye out, and shoes. Oh and I need a new lipstick.' She chuckled, new lipstick was always fun.
"I'm a bit nervous though, he just told me to wear something formal. I'm just trying to figure out where the hell he's taking me. Of course formal dining almost always means formal dancing, so I need dancing shoes. I really hope I can find something with a wood sole otherwise I'll just stick to the dance floor, and that would be real fun."
Wren realized she was babbling and clicked her teeth shut. She hated babbling and only did it when she was nervous, and she must be much more nervous than she first supposed to babble like that, and just like that her bottom lip was tucked securely in her mouth. She sighed and pushed it back out, she really needed to stop that.
If Wren wasn't a vampire, Shay wondered about her friend...and was Wren in danger...
"All things considered, that sounds pretty innocuous...meeting in a coffee shop. Though unless you were waiting tables, or it was in the dead of night and the place was deserted, I'm amazed you actually hooked up."
There...did Wren meet the man at night? A good indication that.
"Now I know you must be a serious dancer...all I look for in shoes, even for dancing, is how hot they look on my feet! But then I don't move my feet around much on the dance floor."
Shay winked conspiratorially.
"I wish I could help you with information of formal dining places, but I've only been to the House of Pain - which is far from formal, and The Club Eternity, which is extremely nice. I've also heard of another club...The Abbatoir, but never been there."
The body of a dancer, and beautiful features, Shay doubted the woman would look bad no matter what she wore.
"I'm sure whatever you wear, you'll do great."
Seeing the jewelers, Shay headed that way.
"Would you mind now, if I jogged in there real quick? I need to have some work done on a piece of mine."
She pulled the small box from her purse, and held it in her palm.
"I only need to drop it off with some instructions...won't be more than a couple minutes..."
Shay was enjoying the company, and hoped Wren had time.
"Oh sure, you stopped with me. Go for it."
Shay made her way quickly to the back of the store, and after telling him what she wanted engraved on the ring, and after she'd checked a ring sizer and told him what size to make it, she paid him, and arranged to pick it up in three days.
Looking in the display cases as she walked back to where Wren was, she had to admire the sparkly things, and wondered why it was she'd never developed a fondness for jewelry...at least not the real splashy, stuff, until now. Of course a cop wouldn't have looked appropriate wearing diamonds...she never even wore her studs while on duty. But now she still wasn't one for partying every night, and to have more than a couple special pieces would be just silly. But at least she could admire the beauty and longevity of the stones. Eternity had recently taken on new meaning to her, and maybe that was it...diamonds, and sapphires, and rubies signified things that seemed to last forever.
"Okay, all done. Now..onto the shoes?"
She smiled and headed in the direction of the shoe store, and went back to where their conversation had left off.
"Well then, I must admit I admire you then...for actually meeting someone in a coffee shop. I mean, I'm not shy, but then I rarely instigate anything with strangers either. If Mathias hadn't approached me, I would have probably just drooled over him all evening, and gone home missing out."
However, for some unknown reason, Shay was just lucky there. She seemed to pull people to her. Alexi...Paul...and now Wren today. Well...either they were drawn to her, or she managed to 'run into' them...whatever the case, she met people very easily, and always had. Her trick, these days, was in seeing the people a second time!
"Shoes it is." She fell in beside Shay and chuckled.
"It's his fault he cursed at the room, and I butted into his private irritation over not getting practice in. The proceeded to insult is line of work, made him talk about himself and indebted myself to him with a cup of coffee. He's actually very nice."
She shrugged her shoulders. She still had trouble swallowing all of it. There had to be something wrong with the guy. Her guess was he was a sex addict and he wanted her to be his next fix. 'Fat chance bucko.'
"Go figure, huh?"
And now she had to wonder...had she met any vampires in L.A.? She mentally shook herself, thinking they were undoubtedly everywhere, but how odd that it took her writing this book to bring her to actually see them.
"You insulted his career...and he still talked to you? Wow...you really must have captivated him. What does he do?"
"I'm cute and sassy. It helps to bat your eyes too." She turned her head and demonstrated to Shay. "He apparently is a singer in a band, or was anyway. Now he's retired and Nachton is where he ended up. Lucky for me really, since I get a new dress out of the deal."
She saw the sign for the shoe store ahead and was delighted to see a big red sale sign out front. It seemed the whole store was on sale today, just her luck.
"Ah...a girl after my own heart. One who goes after something that catches her eye."
She didn't get the statement about getting 'a new dress out of the deal', but it didn't seem like the kind of thing to inquire about.
"Here we are!"
She stated, somewhat excitedly, as she went inside the store, and headed for the boots.
Immediately she saw a very warm, and comfortable looking pair. They were similar to her Uggs, but in obviously much better condition than the things she now wore. But being comfortable meant they weren't really the most attractive...cute yes, hot no.
She took it anyway, and carried it as she walked over to look at some black ones with killer heels. As she picked up a pair and checked them out, she decided the leather wasn't soft enough, and went on to another similar pair. The second pair was of a much better quality leather, and the heels, though high and narrow, seemed much more sturdy.
Now carrying one of each boot, she moved on to another section that had more of a work type boot. Heavier heels and thicker soles, but still nice leather, she wondered if she should just go for it and get three pair today. At least then she'd be done shopping for 'practical' shoes until spring. Finding a third boot she liked she took it as well and sat down to wait for a salesperson.
She glanced over to Wren and grinned, as she held up all three boots and shrugged.
The third pair had a sleek polished sole with a sturdy heel that looked like it was simply made for the dance floor. She grinned and decided to take stock of the rest of the shoe. It was hot. The toe came to a point, but not a long elf one, and it sported an ankle strap, one that looked almost like and anklet it was so thin, not there for support, but for keeping it on. They were perfect.
She turned to look at Shay and saw the three pair of boots being waggled at her. She stifled a chuckle and went to sit next to Shay. Wren pointed to the high heeled boots.
"You'll fall on your ass in those things. Take it from a girl with experience." She grinned and waggled her own shoe choice. "Not that I have room to talk. I'd buy them too." She winked at Shay as the salesman finished ringing his sale and came over.
"Can I help you ladies?"
Wren handed him the shoe. "I need that in a seven narrow please."