Making the most of a morning (Open)

Rachyl realized she should have brought a notepad with her but shrugged it off. She knew where they needed to go.

She noticed Nyra's fidgeting out of the corner of her eye, and wrapped her arm around her taller friend's waist. "You know it's funny, for a lot of my life I've been shorter than most of the people I see in the mall, even some of the old people. And I've been told they shrink when they get older!"

She giggled and, as they walked, surreptitiously nudged Nyra towards Victoria's Secret. "So here's Vicky's." She stopped them outside the doors, the lights dangling over the multitude of scantily clad mannequins shining in her eyes. "We'll get you measured here, see if there's anything you want, and we'll head back over to Penney's after that. Sound good?"

Her smile was genuine to Rachyl and even a giggle escaped. Somehow the silly comments on height and age helped relax her. At least until they were in front of the Victoria's Secret store. Even the plush maniquins were pink, blushing Nyra had to assume at the skimpy things they displayed.

"Here?" She squeeked. A blush rose to her cheeks, keeping her face and ears pink as the maniquins. "Goodness Rachyl, this seems to be jumping out of the kiddie pool into shark infested ocean."

Taking huge gulps of air Nyra tried to calm down. No one else seemed to be embarassed at the scraps of lace displayed inside. Nor did the women leaving look ashamed to have purchased such things in front of the whole view of anyone in the mall. Nyra worked hard to not look quite so paniced or embarassed but felt she failed miserably as she stood clutching Rachyl's arm like a life preserver.

"Yes, here," Rachyl parroted. "The only other places I know of that would give just as good service would be a custom dressmaker over on Lacada, but she's on vacation in St. Croix, or the Bridal shop out in the 'burbs. At least here, we're driving less, and closer to the places you'd be more likely to choose from. And you don't have to get anything sexy, Nyra, not unless you want to. We're just here for measurements, and to look for functional and comfortable."

She patted Nyra's hand wrapped almost painfully around her upper arm and smiled up at her friend. The deer-in-headlights look in her eyes worried Rachyl; was she jumping too far into the deep end? No, she really didn't think so... This was pretty much how she herself was introduced to this sort of clothing and sometimes the ice just needs to be broken. An idea jumped into Rachyl's mind. She pulled Nyra aside, out of the way of the entrance path and caught the artist's gaze. Smiling gently, she offered, "If it'll make you feel better, I'll try on everything you want, before you. I'll be your model."

Nyra swallowed around the lump in her throat. But it became easier to breathe when Rachyl said she did not have to buy anything here that she didnt want. She could get measured, whatever that meant, and brouse.

"I can do this, its not that big a deal." Her minor pep talk was unconciously spoken out loud but very very quietly. Humor was restored as Rachyl offered to model for her. Laughing and smiling at the image she hugged her friend.

"Thanks, though I dont know I could do any trying on outside of a standard bra. So we can save your modeling for later."

It must be the publicness of the store that scared her. Since the nude body was no stranger to her, just not people watching her pick out underthings was. Taking several deep breaths she took two determined steps towards the entrance before looking back at Rachyl with panic clear on her face as she waved for her friend to come with her.

Rachyl clamped her mouth shut on Nyra's voiced comment about "this" not being "a big deal." It truly wasn't, Rachyl knew, for herself or another woman their age who was a little bit more comfortable with her body. But for Nyra... it was analagous to a deer stepping into headlights.

She couldn't imagine how Connie helped her get past that block enough to have shared a bed with her.

She took Nyra's hand as they entered the store, and marched with her right up to the dressing rooms. She spied the namebadge on the girl's chest. "Hi, Marcy. I'm Rachyl." She shook Marcy's hand, smiling. "I'm here to get my friend measured. For comfortable-ness' sake, and because she doesn't believe me that she's now a fourteen, as opposed to the sixteen she's got stuck in her head. We plan to pick up about a dozen or so comfortable, plain, functional bras for her, with matching panties. Marcy, this is Nyra."

Rachyl pushed Nyra towards Marcy, gently, but not overly-so, saying with that friendly push that there's no real way she was going to get out of this at the moment. She continued smiling. A tiny corner of her mind was disappointed; she would have loved to model for Nyra.

Marcy must have taken pity on her due to the scared look on her face, Nyra was sure. Moving to the back of the store their saleswoman took her near the dressing rooms and pulled the pink tape measure from around her neck and started. Soon her bra size was known as well as what shirt and waist size she should look for. Nyra was quite stunned at the smaller numbers than she had been expecting.

Then Marcy showed to be worth her weight in gold as she sat Nyra on a pink chaise and fetched her styles in her sizes. Functional but pretty in cotton, satin and even some lace. The briefs were modest as well as pretty. By the time the shopping dynamo brought a camisole and tap pants Nyra was seriously considering them. The long sexy nightgown was also set aside to purchase, in a deep purple color. She did refuse the garter belt contraption simply because they had thigh highs available as well as stockings. Picking the former, the pile of lingerie grew.

Soon she had cotton jammies, lacy camisole tanks and even a satin sleep shirt along side a dozen bras and panties. Bitting her lip at the stack she asked Marcy for assistance. "Do you deliver by any chance? This is quite a lot for us to haul through the mall."

If they could delivery it would solve all her worry and embarassment about shopping in this store. There was just no way she could comfortably walk around the mall with an armfull of undies in a telltale pink bag.

Rachyl wanted so badly to hug Nyra, to comfort the frightened look on her friend's face into oblivion. Her desires were appeased, though, when Marcy's knowledgable and gentle assistance helped move Nyra through the measuring process. Then when she began bringing "plain" articles out, Rachyl was about to protest, but a wink from the salesgirl while Nyra examined the items in her hands and tried on several items told the Jersey girl that a plan had been hatched.

This wasn't any more apparent than when Marcy brought out a sexy nightgown, several camisoles, and a satin sleep shirt.

As they checked out, Nyra asked about delivery, and the papers were drawn up. Nyra was wandering near the front of the store as Rachyl paid on the corporate card. She whispered to Marcy, "Thank you for making it painless for her. That was quite remarkable, and I can honestly tell you she didn't plan on getting any more than she had."

Rachyl asked for Marcy's name and her general schedule. This girl was a definate sales leader, and Rachyl would be happy to send coworkers, friends, or future Personal Shoppers to her.

When she joined Nyra outside the store's entrance, she asked, "Penney's, Fred's, somewhere else?"

Nyra stood happily while everything was taken care of and arranged. While she hated being unable to do things, this was one of those times she would quietly let others do for her since she simply did not feel comfortable taking the lead. Together she and Rachyl exited the store with nothing but a reciept along with a date and time for the delivery. This counted as a win in favor of ease of shopping. Rachyl and Marcy were the best in her book.

Thinking harder about her friends question she decided to pick something she had a faint idea of. "I would think Penny's would be good. I know thats a department store with lots of options. Maybe they will have some cute skirts."

Together they walked down the mall towards the store in question. The crowd had not changed much, still populated mostly by seniors and mothers. Comforted that the only males watching them exit the lingerie store were over 80 or sleepy employees Nyra walked tall. Or as tall as was possible.

They passed a nail salon with the sharp acrylic scent heavy in the air, a coffee shop with the bitter aroma of espresso wafting out the door and a candle shop that had dozens of pungent scents competing to overpower the shopper. Giggling slightly she wondered if the mall had been trying to mask each shop with the other.

Wrinkling her nose she looked at Rachyl. "We found the stinky area of the mall."

Rachyl nodded. "Yep, sure seems that way. And unfortunately," she said, turning into Penney's, "We need to go through Penney's perfume department to get to the clothes."

She ushered Nyra onto an escalator and took her upstairs to the shoe department. "First we get you a couple pairs of shoes. Ones that you can wear out and about, and be comfortable."

A thought occurred to her. "Do you want to worry about date clothes now, or some other time? You have me all day, but I doubt we could go everywhere there is to look in the city for such things today."

A sudden thought flashed through her mind, accompanied by a lovely memory. Three women together in a toy store... She tried to push it from her brain but succeeded only in heating herself up. Shivering from head to buttocks, she hoped Nyra hadn't noticed her twitch. Or her sudden increase in temperature. "If only Nyra felt that comfortable with herself," she mused.

Nyra tried not to make faces at the overpowering scents. How people worked at a purfume counter she did not know. Following Rachyl closely to the shoe department she thought this would be easy. Sneakers were simple to find.

"Shoes are good." Nyra looked around and shook her head at the tall spikey heels attached to strappy sandels. They looked so alien to her that she doubted anyone could actually wear them for an hour let alone a whole day.

Thinking about date clothes caused her to ignore the torturous footwear and bite her lip. "Lets do what we can within the mall. I would rather do the bulk of what we need to do in one fell swoop and then go to the smaller outlying places."

Looking around the shoe department she found some pretty flats with decorated toes. The embroidery and sparkly beads made them look fancy while the flat heel looked practical. Tugging on Rachyls arm slightly she pointed them out.

"Too fancy?"

Rachyl shook her head. "Not that they're fancy, but you wouldn't want to wear them with a darker skirt. You'd want light pastels or white. Maybe find a couple bracelets or a necklace that kind of matches."

Rachyl raised her arm and pointed to the shelves expansively. "Go, pick shoes. Sandals. Sneakers. Loafers, slippers, heels. We'll match them up with skirts and pants, but you need to go look." With a wink, she amended, "I need you to vamanose for just a minute or three so I can check in with Meegan. It is almost noon, you know." She gave Nyra a sideways hug, smiling.

Nodding dazedly at Rachyl, she moved off to comply with her friend's wishes. Of course she would want to call her partner. Thinking of the two made her smile and think of Connie and herself. She would not wake her love though, simply because she knew Connie came home so late.

Wandering up and down the displays she picked up an armful of shoes. From practical to silly. One pair she picked up because she knew it would look cute on someone like Rachyl. Making her way to a chair she sat down and smiled at the young man that came to assist her. Sending him into the back room for a pair of each in her size she was glad he looked strong enough to carry the 15 boxes she just asked for.

Slipping off her paintstained and into a pair of nylon footies provided she began the trying on and walking about in her chosen shoes. Ending up with a pile of three definates and four maybes was a win in her eyes. She had a simple pair of flat cloth ballet type shoes in bronze that were embroidered and beaded that was her favorite. A flat pair of sandles with simple purple cloth straps over the toe and behind the heel, a pair of ked's sneekers in bright yellow. The maybe pile had a pair of pleather half inch heels in black, a pair of flat sandels with green satin straps that wrapped up her calf as well as a strap over her toes, a pair of clog type shoes in burgundy and finally a pair wooden beaded thongs.

She found that walking in anything with a pointed heel was impossible, even the half inch height caused her to wobble dangerously. That pushed three of her options right off the table instantly. The pair of on sale ankle boots were cute but she discovered they were made of leather and turned them down. The large sneekers she tried on were too heavy on her feet and she kept tripping as she tried to walk in them. Two of the flat fancy shoes she tried simply cut into her toes painfully even through they were the correct length. Lastly was a pair of knee high boots that she could not figure out how to get on her leg since the lacing did not open it up. The carefully hidden zipper completely escaped her notice.

Looking around the store she wondered if she should have the nice salesman take the rejects away or let Rachyl look at her choices first. Chewing on her lower lip she looked at the mound of boxes in front of her and began to clean up the minor mess of paper and cardboard. It was a good thing she had sat down next to a trashcan.

The phone rang but once after dialing.

"Hey, it's me. We're doing well, if slow. Not everyone can be the whirlwind shopper you are. No, no, she did actually choose some, but at the sales girl's suggestion, not mine. Marcy, from Vicky's? Oh you have, have you. We got her measured, and we're on the second store now - we're in Penney's for shoes... Yes I know, we'll eventually go to Saks or one of the 'big' chains but I'm trying not to overwhelm her. Besides, I can always bring her out aga... Yeah, there's a box of them in my desk, left side third drawer. Should be some of your favorite, some of mine. No you -can't- eat all my snack bars, woman! Almost makes me wonder how you survived all those years without me to make sure you dragged your ass - and the rest of you - out to lunch. You are not allowed to skip it today, you hear? Go out with Jacob. We'll probably be back at the office around four-ish, for a tour and for GA stuff. No, I don't think she will, but I didn't think she got what she did at Vicky's. Hmm? Oh. Sexy nightgown, jammies, a few camis, a sleep shirt, and a dozen assorted plain and somewhat frilly bee-n-pee sets. Yup, I'll talk to you later. Bye."

Closing her phone, Rachyl had a momentary pang - as she usually did after talking to Meegan at work - wishing that she could say what she wanted.

"Bye hon." "I love you." "I want to lick you from toe to earlobe for hours." Briefly wondering if some sort of secret code would be too tacky, she slipped her cell back into her purse and stood.

Nyra was easy to find; her towering pile of shoeboxes was a wonderful indicator. "Wow. I didn't expect so much so soon. Are these the final choices or did you want another round of elimination?"

Glancing up as Rachyl joined her, Nyra smiled. Waving her hand at the discard pile vaguely she explained the problems she had with those. Turning to the definate three she stated that those she liked a lot. The last pile of four shoes had her explaining the troubles she had with them and why they were maybes.

"These are nice but black is not really a color I wear. These green satin ones are nice but not easy to get in and out of, which is something I do alot durring a day. The clogs are cute but I dont know what one would wear with them. These flip flops are nice but would they cut into my foot with the beads?"

Looking down at the shoes she bit her lip, unsure what to do. If it had just been her shopping she would have gotten the small sneakers and pretty bronze shoes and left without fussing with everything else. Though it was kind of fun if she thought of it as an adventure in style and design inspiration.

"You looked good in black at the Mayor's ball, though, Nyra, so I imagine that, for special occasions, exceptions could be made?" Rachyl put the black set back into the pile of choices. "You have to consider your own comfortability, and since you can't easily get into the green satin ones, they might have to go. Those are also," she pointed out, "the type of shoe that a woman who doesn't change her shoes as often as you would wear to, say, an office job."

Rachyl hoped Nyra didn't pick up on the last as a subtle hint to gift those shoes - or something in their style - to Connie. That wasn't the purpose of their trip. While one or two exceptions could be made, Rachyl also wanted the shopping experience to instill a little more fashion in her friend. "You could consider them for a summer gallery showing. Get a matching sun dress or something similarly summery. But that's a shopping trip for the end of April, and not early March."

Rachyl took a seat near the pile. "The clogs we could find you a skirt or a nice pair of slacks for. And the flops are cute, yes, but if you're worried about the beads cutting into your feet, then we shouldn't consider them at all. If a worry like that even pops up during the shopping process, you try them on and, if you feel the least little bit uncomfortable, you put them back. Or hide them behind a shelf far into the back of the store so no woman would injure herself with them." Rachyl reached out to take the flops. Running her fingertips along the straps, she pressed and pulled. "Now my hands aren't going to take up the footspace the same way your foot would, but they do seem like they could become irritating if not painful."

Listening carefully to Rachyl discuss the pros and cons of her own choices was good. She added the black flats, clogs and green sandels to the buy pile. The rest were taken away by the poor fellow fetching and carrying boxes of shoes for her.

"Thank you Rachyl. I think I can find a time and place these will work for me and be comfortable."

Looking around the section she decided that seven pairs of shoes was above average for her and that moving on to clothes may be ideal at this time. Speaking quietly to the young man she made arrangements for her pile to be delivered to her home. Putting on her old shoes, sans nylon footie, she headed for the counter.

"This is a good selection, right? Where to next?"

Rachyl grinned as the pile got larger. "I think you will, too."

She waited quietly while Nyra made the delivery arrangements, then whipped out the corporate card to cover the selection.

She turned to Nyra and was momentarily struck stupid. She blinked repeatedly; her brain just wasn't working... "You know, my train of thought just derailed. Unders, shoes... OH! Right. Skirts, pants. Bottoms! You want to stay here, or move on?"

Rachyl felt her cheeks color at the knowledge that she'd completely blanked on her Master Plan(TM).

Nyra couldnt help but giggle as Rachyl blinked blankly. Even the explaination made it funnier. Laughing, Nyra asked the cashier which way to the women's section and took up Rachyl's arm. They made their way through housewares and mens to their destination.

The womens area was divided by overall style. Career wear, fancy wear, jeans, slacks, skirts. Perfect! Skirts were grouped together some spilling over into slacks and career wear while others spilled over into the jeans and tee shirt sections.

Apparently this season was black and white. There was a surprising lack of color in the store. Sure here and there was a pattern in lime green or tangerine. But mostly it was all black and white. Biting her lip, Nyra looked around hopelessly. She had told herself that one skirt would be ok in black, but in this sea it was looking very heavy on the dark color. Looking over at Rachyl with panic plain on her face she bit her lip.

"Why is it all black?"

Rachyl was glad Nyra had laughed. She sincerely seemed to need the release, and it helped get Rachyl's own mind back into shopping gear.

When they reached the womens' area, her heart fell. She knew Nyra just would not go for this selection, at least not to the tune of eight to twelve skirts and tops each. Looking over at Nyra's face confirmed this; the look of panic was unmistakable on her friend's countenance.

Wrapping her arm around the taller artist's shoulders, she said comfortingly, "This spring's colors are white and black. It's rather odd, too, because these were the colors four years ago, and they don't usually repeat so soon. I know you're not a fan of monochromatics, but... Do you think I could talk you into, say, three skirts and tops, and we'll look elsewhere?" She tried to appeal to Nyra's sense of vanity - not something she would typically try, knowing the Oregonian, but she needed to pull her out of the pit of panic. "You did look so lovely in that black dress. It may not be something you'd typically choose - well actually I know it's not - but that's usually where fashion and accessories tend to help accentuate those articles of people who style themselves differently."

Chewing on her lip she tried to understand the style reasoning Rachyl was giving her. Three skirts and shirts were not much. Plus there was some color here and there. Browns, pink and tangerine. Those would be ok. Maybe one black skirt.

Still gnawing upon her lower lip she nodded her head at her friend and fashion guru. Slowly and cautiously she started through the racks. Picking up a brown three tiered skirt in her size she moved onto the next rack. The black skirts had poorly embroidered oversized flowers in white stitching. Wrinkling her nose she continued on. The next rack held a crinkled skirt that looked like it flared out slightly. It had a pretty goldish beaded belt type sash. Picking up her size she gave Rachyl a timid smile.

"I can do this." She said more to herself than to Rachyl.