Louise jingled through the bead curtain and stood with her hand on her hip, whistling.
‘Woah, momma,’ she said. ‘He’ll be all over you, the lucky dog. Give us a twirl. Lovely. What knickers are you going to have with it?’
I bent to rummage among the little froths of lace on their mini-hangers. I was still in the act of bending when a man’s voice called Louise’s name.
I knew that voice. I dropped a pair of silk French knickers under the chair and was still scrabbling for them on hands and knees when the bead curtain rattled once more and we found ourselves entertaining male company. Tall, handsome, leather-jacketed, sexy as ever-living fuck male company.
‘Lou, I wanted to…oh.’
He broke off, but rather than apologising and getting the hell out of there, he seemed as frozen in mid-motion as I was.
‘Oh, hello, Tom,’ said Louise. ‘I got your message, but I thought you weren’t coming until the shop closed. Do you mind? We’re a little bit busy here.
’
‘Yeah,’ he said unevenly. I still hadn’t dared look at him. ‘Yeah, you are. Er, hello, Ella. Ellie.’
‘Ellie’s dressing for a hot date,’ said Louise. ‘But really, we could use a little privacy…’
‘Of course,’ he said, apparently coming to whatever senses he had. ‘I’ll…shall I come back later?’
‘Probably best, love,’ said Louise. ‘I shut early on a Sunday – five o’clock.’
‘A hot date,’ he echoed after a short pause, then, ‘Right, later, then.’
Only the knowledge that I was wearing nothing but a corset, a suspender belt and a pair of M&S big knickers stopped me haring out into the street after him. I needed to talk to him, but…
‘These ones, then?’ said Louise, holding up a two-pack of sheer hosiery.
‘Oh, yes, fine,’ I said. ‘You…you’re seeing Tom later?’
‘Well, he left a message on the shop phone asking if he could talk to me,’ she said. ‘To be honest, I thought he was going to ask my advice about you. Maybe buy you a present. But apparently I read that one all wrong.’
‘Apparently,’ I said, and she must have caught the anguish in my tone because she gave me a vivid, sympathetic look.
‘Oh, love,’ she said, putting a hand on my arm. ‘You do like him, don’t you? Do you want me to put in a good word later?’
‘Oh, no, it’s fine. Please don’t talk to him about me.’
‘All right. Besides, you’ve got other fish to fry. Who is the mystery man?’
‘I can’t really say. He’s pretty secretive, from what I’ve heard. I only know his initial. We’re meeting up at Maria’s, so she can play chaperone.’
‘Oh, my, we are privileged,’ said Louise, a mite tartly. She took the corset off me once I’d unlaced it and marched primly into the main shop. ‘I’ll bag these up for you.’
It seemed to have been a bad idea to mention Maria. Was there some kind of status involved in getting an invitation from her? Had Louise never been invited herself?
And how was I to know all this bloody kink etiquette anyway?
Rather crossly, I struggled back into my black skinnies and pulled my jumper over my head. Back in the shop, my goods were waiting in their glossy red plastic bag – luckily it wasn’t emblazoned with the shop’s name. I didn’t fancy advertising myself as a Wanton Woman to half the town. Even if I was.
‘Good luck tonight,’ said Louise, after I’d paid the full amount. Hadn’t she said something about a discount for friends? So much for that. ‘I hope Mr Initial-Only appreciates good-quality underwear.’
‘Thanks.’
‘Perhaps you’ll both be in here next weekend, shopping for toys,’ she suggested.
‘Yeah, perhaps. Thanks, Louise. I…I hope I’ll see you soon.’